Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/471

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INDIA
435


was the sending of two punitive expeditions against the Moh- mands and the Zakka Khels in the spring of 1910. Operations were over in less than a month.

Lord Kitchener's Army Administration. The present military system of India, as regards the organization and administration of the army, is largely due to the changes effected by Lord Kitch- ener in Lord Minto's viceroyalty (see also the section on Army below). With the disappearance of the military department and military member of council, the administration of military affairs in the Government of India and the executive command of the army were united in the person of the commander-in- chief. As an exception to this unification, certain branches of army supply were at first made a separate department and placed under a supply member of council. But after three years' experience of the new system Lord Minto obtained the Secretary of State's assent to bringing supply under the com- mander-in-chief and making the latter supreme over all branches of the army. Briefly stated, Lord Kitchener's scheme was to provide a field army of sufficient strength to meet the maximum danger to which India was likely to be exposed, to distribute the troops composing the field army and those assigned for internal defence into self-contained divisional commands, and to give to the divisional commanders powers and responsibilities that hitherto had been exercised by army headquarters. As sub- sidiary measures the defences of the N.W. frontier were strength- ened, and military equipment and the pay and conditions of serv- ice of the Indian army improved. The increase of military expenditure which the scheme involved was viewed with in- creasing disfavour by Indian nationalists. Lord Hardinge's Government, threatened with the loss of the opium revenue and anxious to find money for education and other civil needs, came to the conclusion that the Anglo-Japanese alliance and improved relations with Russia justified a reexamination of the military requirements of India. The Secretary of State agreed to refer the question to a committee presided over by Field-Marshal Lord Nicholson. The committee were not unanimous and pre- sented a majority and minority report. Before action was taken on these reports war with Germany and Austria broke out.

Lord Hardinge as Viceroy. In the spring of 1910 the appoint- ment of Lord Kitchener to succeed Lord Minto as Viceroy seemed probable. Lord Morley records in his Recollections (vol. ii., page 333) the objections he felt to the appointment of a soldier, and was prepared to carry them to the point of resignation. His view prevailed. Fate reserved Lord Kitchener for greater tasks and the choice fell on Sir Charles Hardinge, permanent Under- secretary for Foreign Affairs and formerly ambassador at St. Petersburg. On his elevation to the peerage he took the title of Lord Hardinge of Penshurst. Lord Hardinge's long viceroyalty (Nov. 1910 March 1916) was strenuous and eventful. The earlier years were marked by the visit of King George V. and the Queen to India, the selection of Delhi as the site of the future capital of the Indian Empire, the revision of the " partition " of Bengal and the nefarious attempt of anarchists to compass the deaths of the Viceroy and his wife on the occasion of their state entry into Delhi. The closing years saw India in the throes of the World War. Lord Hardinge, like his predecessor, had an hereditary connexion with India, as his grandfather, the ist Viscount Hardinge, was Governor-General (1844-8) in the stirring times of the first Sikh War. The goodwill of Indians toward the new Viceroy deepened as they saw his genuine liking for their country; his zeal, carried on one occasion to the point of an indiscretion, to obtain redress of the grievances of Indians residing in other parts of the Empire; and his endeavours to as- sociate their political leaders to the fullest extent possible with the work of government under the reformed Councils scheme. His diplomatic and Foreign Office experience and knowledge of the politics and conditions of the East enabled him to handle dexterously and effectively the external affairs of India and to enter into the difficulties and apprehensions of Indian Mahom- medans. He cordially pursued the policy of friendship and cooperation with the ruling chiefs of native states that Lord Minto had inaugurated. Events outside India were beginning

to attract the attention of Indians as in no former time. The Mahommedans watched with disquietude the Italo-Turkish War, the revolution in Turkey and the Balkan wars, while Indian politicians and the durbars of native states noted the signs of coming trouble in Europe and speculated as to the results of a catastrophic war. It was an advantage that at this juncture the head of the Indian Government was exceptionally qualified to interpret these world commotions to the Indian public and to explain the attitude of the British Government. Lord Hardinge's addresses to his Legislative Council and to deputations and his speeches on occasions of ceremonial visits to native states, removed misconceptions and inspired confidence. When the World War came in 1914 the popularity of his administration and the personal influence and friendship which he had acquired with the ruling princes had much to do with the magnificent response of India to the call of the Empire.

Working of the Morley-Minto Reforms. Lord Minto's pre- diction that the conciliatory measures associated with the reform of the Councils, coupled with the preventive measures which his Government had taken, had cleared the political atmosphere proved correct. On Jan. 5 1911 an important deputation from the Indian National Congress presented an address to the new Viceroy in which they expressed deep and heartfelt loyalty to the Crown and appreciation of the reforms, which " had given the Indian people a larger opportunity than they had before of being associated with the Government in the administration of the country," and which " had done much to bring about a better understanding between the Government and the people." The hope subjoined to these expressions of goodwill that " the regulations in connexion with the Councils which had evoked criticism will be modified in the light of experience " had reference to the provisions for communal and class representation and indirect voting, to which the advanced nationalist party had taken objection on the publication of the regulations. They had set their hopes on large territorial constituencies based strictly on numbers, and were disappointed with a constitution which in these and other respects fell short of their political ideals, and which gave special protection to the Mahommedan community, the landowning classes and other important interests. But as the enlarged Legislative Councils settled down to their work, even the advanced party found in the new powers a healthy outlet for their energies. Social and economic measures, such as compulsory education, alteration in the Hindu law of marriage and the Mahommedan law of property, the encouragement of indigenous industries, the prohibition of emigration beyond seas under indenture to labour, were brought forward in the form of resolutions or bills. Acts of the executive government or its officers were made the subject of questions or debate. The annual financial statement of the Imperial Government or local government, as the case might be, was closely scrutinized and criticized and gave openings for discussion ranging over the whole field of imperial or provincial finance. As already said, the Councils might influence but had no direct control over the Government. They could not turn the executive out of office or refuse supplies. Later on this and other limitations became a serious grievance, but at first they were little dwelt upon. The Governments, Imperial and provincial, showed themselves anxious to adapt their policy and measures as far as possible to popular needs as expressed by the elected members, to show deference to Council resolutions having public feeling behind them, to investigate and remedy alleged grievances and abuses, and when legislating to rely less on voting power than on argu- ment in debate, coupled with concessions on points of detail or secondary importance. As consultative and critical bodies the reformed Councils exercised a real and growing influence and were an educative force. They formed, directed and developed public opinion in political matters. They acted as a restraint upon the autocratic tendencies of the executive and made it more responsive to popular demands, and they strengthened its hands when it had to sustain Indian interests against the interests of Great Britain or of the self-governing Dominions.

The temper of the Legislative Council was tested in the