Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 17.djvu/412

 INDIA

396

IKDIA

Bombay presidency. The Church of England costs Rs. 296,734; the Church of Scotland Rs. 45,881; while the Catholic Church receives only Rs. 35,252.

CHRISTIANS

Europeans

Eurasians I Natives

Total

Church ol England..

Presbsrtehans

Baptists. . . :

Methodists

Cungregationalists. ..

Lutherans

Latin Catholics

Syrians

Sect not returned

125.392

34,553

332.807

15,150

1911

164,069

2816

2239

332.171

6904

2573

162,367

736

289

134,240

1460

189

216,842

40,119

57,024

1,393,720

7

628,291

1233

872

15,849

492,752 181.130 337.226 171.844 135,265 218.500 1.490,863 728,304 17,954

In some respects, it is true, the Government has departed from a strict neutrality, as in the case of giving a guaranteed number of posts in Govern- ment service to Moslems. The Mohammedans were given special representation with separate elec- torates in 1909, and regard these as their only ade- quate safeguards. The Hindus' acquiescence was embodied in an agreement between the political leaders of the two communities. To be fair to the Sikhs, a distinct and important people, supplying a valuable element to the British army, but forming a minority and virtually unrepresented, the Montagu-Chelmsford report recommended one con- stituency.

Thb Government and the People. — There has arisen in India of late years a wave of national aspiration, which is by some viewed with alarm, and by others with indifference. It originated or first manifested itself by the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1886, which began to hold annual meetings wherein ''to give voice to our aspirations and to formulate our wants" (Gokhale in 1905). In 1904 a party-protest against the parti- tion of Bengal was followed by an attempt to force the hand of the Government by the boycott of imported goods in favor of Indian manufactures (Lwadeshi movement), which in turn developed into an effort after. "national revival." This move- ment caused a certain amount of seditious writ- ing, systematic spread of disaffection among the masses and even resort to antiarchistic methods such as the use of bombs, etc. Outside of Bengal attempts to quell the disaffection by the ordinary law were successful, and though recourse was had to the deportation of persons without reason as- signed to it under an Act of 1818, special Acts had to be passed to meet the situation, viz : — an Explo- sives Act, a Prevention of Seditious Meeting Act, etc. Concurrently with these, steps were taken to extend representative institutions. In 1907 a Hindu and a Mohammedan were appointed to the Secre- tary of State's Council, and in 1909 a Hindu was appointed to the Viceroy's Council. The legislative Councils were reconstituted and given wider powers of discussion. More trouble occurred in September, 1914, when a riot at Budge-Budge among a number of Sikh emigrants returned by unwilling Canada, revealed the wide influence of the "Ghadir" con- spiracy and its German affiliations. That plot had little influence on the general attitude of India to the Great European War. The Indian Expedi- tionary Forces, including the British garrisons and native troops served in good stead during the critical winter of 1914-15. Again, the brilliant victory of Armageddon in Palestine was largely the triumph of Indian troops. For the first time Indians were admitted into the innermost councils of the Empire

and sat at the war conferences in London. How- ever, India was at no time included in the theatre of war except when the "Emden" bombarded Madras, though shipping off Bombay was severely affected by mmes laid by the enemy.

In 1917 Mr. Montagu, who succeeded Mr. Cham- berlain as Secretary of State, visited India with the purpose of determining what steps should be taken in the direction of establishing government responsible to the peoples of various provinces. The result was shown in a joint scheme of reform evolved, for the Secretary of State, Mr. Montagu, and the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, aimed at carry- ing into effect the annoimcement made in Parlia- ment 20 August, 1917, that "the policy of His Majesty's government is that of the increasing association of the Indiana in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self- governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the Empire." Shortly after this report there was issued another by the Special Committee of Inquiry into seditious crime in India, over which Mr. Justice Rowlatt presided. The' Committee recommended that the Government /of India should arm itself with special powers to deal with such crime, to come into operation when it attained proportions dangerous to public safety. The result was the Rowlatt Act (1919) introduced into the Legislature and carried against the solid opposition of the unofficial members. This was the signal for violent agitation throughout the country. Riots occurred at Calcutta, Delhi, and Amritsar, the sacred city of the Sikhs. At Bombay the Pas- sive Resistance League (Satyagraha) was formed under the leadership of Mahatma Ghandi, who had successfully championed the cause of Indian laborers in South Africa.

In the meantime the Montagu-Chelmsford report was bearing fruit. It advocated immediate estab- lishment 01 responsible government in the prov- inces, through committing certain branches of the administration to Indian Ministers chosen from the Legislative Councils and the eventual liberalization of the government of India. A Bill framed on the lines of this report passed both Houses of Parlia- ment and received the Royal Assent in December, 1919. This Government of India Act (1919) makes several important constitutional changes more par- ticularly in the government of the provinces. The various functions of government are classified as Central and Provincial subjects, the latter being practically definitely committed to the Provincial Governments, which for purposes of convenience, Central subjects, such as the collection of income tax, are to be dealt with by the Provincial Govern- ment at the discretion of the Central Government, The inauguration of the new Government, met with determined opposition from the Nationalists under the leadership of Mahatma Ghandi, anti- English agitator ana disciple of Tolstoy. At the Indian National Congress neld 8 September, 1920, Ghandi 's program of passive resistance to the Brit- ish included gradual withdrawal of Indian children from British schools and colleges, gradual boycott of British courts and the establishment of private arbitration courts for the settlement of industrial disputes, refusal to serve in the Government ser\dce, or army, or in any of the Reformed Coun- cils, and boycott of British goods. Despite all obstacles, the new Government was organized, ap- pointment of governors made in August, 1921, and Sir William Meyer became first High Commissioner of India. On 8 February, 1921, the Parliament or Advisory Assembly was opened at Delhi by the