Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/188

 questing him to take up the four old resolutions for reaffirmation.

Lala Lajpat Rai who arrived at Surat on the morn- ing of 25th, saw Messrs. Tilak and Khaparde in the afternoon and intimated to them his intention to arrange for a Committee of a few leading Delegates from each side to settle the question in dispute. Messrs. Tilak and Khaparde having agreed, he went to Mr. Gokhale to arrange for the Committee if possible ; and Messrs. Tilak and Khaparde returned to the Nationalist Conference which was held that evening. At this Conference, a Nationalist Committee consisting of one Nationalist Delegate from each Province was appointed to earry on the negotiations with the other side ; and it was decided that if the Nationalist Committee failed to obtain any assurance from the responsible Congress Officials about status quo being maintained, the Nationalists should begin their opposition from the election of the President. For the retrogression of the Congress was a serious step, not to be decided upon by a bare accidental majority of any party either in the Subjects' Committee or in the whole Congress as then constituted, and the usual acceptance of the President would have under such circumstances greatly weakened the point and force of the opposition. No kind of intima- tion was received from Lala Lajpat Rai on the night of the 25th, or the morning of the 26th December regarding the proposal of a joint Committee of reconciliation proposed by him, nor was a copy of the draft resolutions supplied to Mr. Tilak or any delegates to enable them to judge if sHding back from the old position was really intended.