Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/288

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formed contributions on Indian Affairs unwelcome but even paid advertisements of Indian meetings are not always accepted.

In the general election of 1918, Mr. Tilak was busy drawing the attention of English men and women to the problems of India. He issued four leaflets " each consisting of a page tastefully printed on one side only." Thousands of copies of these leaflets were distributed during the electioneering campaign.

Mr. Tilak 's pamphlet on " Self-determination " attracted much notice. It was sent to hundreds of statesmen and politicians in England and abroad. Similarly his petition to the President of the Peace Conference as an elected representative of the Congress, was widely read. Of this no fewer than a lakh of copies were issued. Besides these, a number of stray publications sought to attract England's attention to the cause of India.

"On August 6th, Mr. Tilak, on behalf of the Indian Home Rule League, of which he was the President, appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the two Houses, set up to consider the Government of India Bill, and was asked by Lord Selbourne, the Chairman, to make any statement that he cared to make to supplement the answers that he had given to the list of questions compiled by the Committee. Speaking without hesitation, in clear theough rather low tones, Mr. Tilak declared that the League in behalf of which he appeared, had accepted the Declaration of August 20, 1917, in regard to His Majesty's Government's policy in India, though he and his colleagues put their own con- struction upon the latter part of the Declaration, which