Allan Octavian Hume, C.B./Proposed Memorial
A Proposed Memorial.
We learn from India that influential friends in different parts of the country desire to raise a memorial to Mr. Hume; and it seems very appropriate that such a movement should be initiated, as it has been, in the United Provinces, in which he worked for many years, and where he was so well known and so well beloved. May I venture to make an appeal with regard to the form of the memorial, and to remind his friends of the views expressed by him in a circular letter which he addressed to Congress workers on the 16th of February 1892, regarding a proposed memorial to Pandit Ajudhia Nath? As is well known, there was no one for whom he had a more sincere personal regard than Pandit Ajudhia Nath, but in this letter he wrote, "For God's sake waste no money on memorials or any other minor enterprise; give every farthing you can spare to the general cause." The purpose for which he claimed the money was for propaganda in this country: "Our only hope," he wrote, "lies in awakening the British public to a sense of the wrongs of our people." What then is my suggestion? It is this: Mr. Hume's dearest wish was for the emancipation of India, and he held that this could be secured only by an insistent appeal to the British people. The best memorial therefore to the faithful friend who has now passed away would be an "Allan Hume Memorial Fund," having for its object to perpetuate his work, and prevent the destruction of his dearest hopes.