Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/473

Rh

secondary and technical schools and colleges. Research and post-graduate instruction were promoted in the universities. The existing universities, which were of the affiliating and ex- amining type, had become unwieldy. They served vast areas and required to be supplemented by resident universities, in which teaching would predominate over examinations, and an academic atmosphere would be created. The universities now established at Dacca, Patna, Rangoon and Lucknow are of this type. The Benares Hindu University, the creation of which was largely due to the energy and capacity of Mrs. Annie Besant, is on similar lines, though sectarian in character. The Moslem University at Aligarh is also of this type. With the problem of university reform the organization and condition of the affiliated colleges and of the secondary schools which feed the latter were intimately connected. Their improvement formed part of Lord Hardinge's educational programme, but the sub- ject was full of difficulty and in most provinces reform was delayed by the war. With regard to technical education men- tion may be made of the establishment of a well-equipped medi- cal college at Lucknow, raising the number of medical colleges in India to five, of schools of tropical medicine in Calcutta and Bombay and of an institute of science at Bangalore. In the domain of public health Lord Hardinge's Government similarly encouraged progress in the provinces by imperial grants. Non- recurring grants to the amount of 2,700,000 and recurring grants of 368,000 were made. A great impetus was thus given to sanitary measures. The capital grants rendered practicable the execution of sanitary measures which a few years before seemed beyond the limits of financial responsibility.

In several other cases the action of Lord Hardinge's Govern- ment faithfully reflected the views and sentiments of Indians and had the strong support of the Legislative Council. Regrets and some resentment were expressed by that body when proposals made by the Government of India for the establishment of a High Court in the Punjab and an Executive Council in the United Provinces failed to obtain the sanction of the home authorities. The appointment of a royal commission to inquire into and report on the public services of India with a view to increasing the proportion of Indians in the higher offices met aspirations expressed in a resolution moved in the Legislative Council and was warmly approved. Another popular measure was the es- tablishment of a Legislative Council in the Central Provinces. But much greater feeling was provoked by the position of in- dentured labour in the Colonies to which it was permitted and by the treatment of Indian residents in South Africa and Canada. The first trouble arose over the refusal of the Natal Government to accept Indian immigrants as permanent citizens of the Union after the expiration of their indentures. As no redress was obtained the Government of India in 1911 prohibited for the future indentured emigration to Natal. In the following year the grievances of the Indians domiciled in the Union against the Union Government came to a head. The Immigrants' Regulation Act of the Union Government was considered by them to deprive them of rights guaranteed under an agreement. The Indian settlers resorted to " passive resistance." The situation was aggravated by strikes and riots among Indian labourers in Natal. Intense feeling was aroused in India by reports of the treatment of passive resisters by the magistrates and the rough handling of strikers and rioters by the police. Lord Hardinge in a speech delivered in Madras (Nov. 24 1913) expressed evident sympathy with the passive resisters in their struggle against " invidious and unjust laws," referred to allegations that the movement had been dealt with by measures that would not be tolerated in any civilized country, and pressed for an inquiry in South Africa by a strong and independent committee on which Indian interests should be fully represented. The Union Government resented the Viceroy's language, which admittedly was not very discreet. But the calculated indiscretion served its purpose. A Commission of Inquiry was appointed, but objection was raised to its com- position by the Indians in South Africa. Eventually, after a period of tension, the Union Government agreed to the deputa- tion of a distinguished Indian civilian to represent Indian griev-

length reached and embodied by the Union Government in its Indian Relief Act, 1914. This closed the passive resistance struggle. The controversy had been followed in India with passionate interest. In the action they took Lord Hardinge's Government had the warm approval of the educated classes. With regard to Canada the grievances of Indians were less easy of settlement. Indians resented the refusal of the Canadian authorities to admit them as settlers and contrasted it with the more liberal treatment accorded to Japanese under an arrange- ment with the Japanese Government. In the face of Canadian feeling on the subject Lord Hardinge considered that the only course which was likely to conciliate Indian public opinion and secure a lasting settlement with the Dominion Government was a policy of reciprocity, which could be made effective with- out direct retaliation and would not raise questions of the personal status of Indians in Canada. Some progress has been made towards an agreement on these lines.
 * ances before the Commission. A satisfactory solution was at

Attempt on Lord Hardinge's Life. In the period immediately preceding the World War the only exception to the general tranquillity of the country was the persistence and extension of the revolutionary movement in Bengal and the growing unrest of the Mahommedan community. In Bengal the revolutionary societies which had been quiescent for a time again became active towards the close of 1912. On Dec. 23 1912, as the Viceroy was making a state entry into Delhi, a bomb was thrown and ex- ploded in the hovidah of the elephant on which he and Lady Hardinge were riding, severely wounding him and killing an attendant. The assailants were never brought to justice, but there is little doubt that they were connected with the revolution- ary movement in Bengal which had extended to the Punjab. The organization of the revolutionary societies, their inter- connexion and propaganda methods, their success in corrupting the educated youth of the country, are minutely described in the report of the Sedition Committee (1918) over which Mr. Justice Rowlatt presided. By 1912 the movement had largely lost its religious and national motive and had become definitely terroris- tic, anti-British and predatory. It sought to demoralize the police by violent crime, often committed in crowded thoroughfares and open daylight, to overawe the public, and ultimately to subvert the Government. Recruits were attracted by the bold- ness of the conspirators, their practical immunity from capture .and punishment, and the booty^ which they acquired by midnight robberies in force. By the end of 1913 the ordinary forces of law and order had been definitely beaten. The Bengal Government found itself in a very dangerous position, but still hesitated to resort to extra-judicial methods. Matters grew worse in the following year, when war broke out. To complete the narrative it may here be mentioned that German agents in America and the Dutch East Indies, getting into touch with Indian anarch- ists abroad, arranged to support a general rising in India by supplying arms and money. Some ships were fitted out for the purpose in 1915 and arrangements for the landing of the arms were made with the revolutionary leaders in Bengal. Fortunately the undertaking miscarried; the ships failed to arrive; the Indian authorities got on the track of the scheme; the chief conspirators were hunted down; and a vigorous use of the power of intern- ment given by the Defence of India Act broke up the revolution- ary gangs and restored order in the presidency.

Mahommedan Discontents.- The outbreak of war between Italy and Turkey in 1911 followed by the Balkan War in 1912 excited the feelings of Indian Mahommedans, always sensitive to events affecting their co-religionists in other countries. Turkish reverses aggravated the situation and created the impression that the interests of Christendom and Islam were in serious conflict. The tension was increased by the intemperate language of a section of the Mahommedan press, by meetings to express sympathy with Turkey and by collection of funds for sending medical relief to the Turkish forces. The local governments found it necessary to enforce the Press Act and other restrictions. A state of alarm and irritation in the Indo- Mahonmedan community invariably leads to bad relations