Current Topics

LORD ROSEBERY

Lord Rosebery, scholar and statesman, has passed away. The writers of obituary notices are careful to remind us that he was not only the last survivor amongst the Premiers of

Queen Victoria, but also the last Premier of England to win the Derby. Lord Rosebery was a typical Whig nobleman to whom a political career was as much a matter of heredity and tradition as his broad acres or his race-horses. Wealthy and talented, his eminence in public life was a foregone conclusion. But he relinquished office and retired from politics, all too prematurely, because he felt that while he was a Liberal by conviction, he was not fitted by temperament to lead the Gladstonian Liberals. And his exclusion, as a Peer, from the House of Commons was a severe handicap. But with Lord Rosebery, politics was by no means an absorbing passion. He will long be remembered as an ornament of English society, and as the brilliant ‘orator of the empire,’ who on great occasions could be trusted to give utterance to the most exalted sentiments in choicest diction. His memorial tributes constitute a literature by themselves. Men like Lord Rosebery cannot organise a nation for victory in war, nor lead it in times of crisis. But their work is of more enduring value than that of the ‘mere’ politicians untouched by a glow of idealism or the refinement of learning. We can never have too many men of this class–the class to which belong Viscount Bryce and John Morley of England and Mahadev Govind Ranade and Srinivasa Sastri of India.

SCHOOLS OF POLITICS

We desIre to invite the reader's attention to Mr. E.S. Sunda's article in the present number on ‘Politics as a Profession.’ We are in entire agreement with him as regards the need for provincial schools of politics, where politicians in the making might get the requisite equipment for public life. Mr. S. Srinivasa Iyengar has such a school in contemplation, and Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya has long been wishing to start a like institution for Andhradesa. For some years now, the patient study of public questions and the eagerness to be posted with facts and figures, have been lamentably lacking in our country, more especially amongst Congressmen. The Liberals were poor fighters, and their advocacy was always vitiated by a too great anxiety to accommodate themselves to the view-point of the ‘other side.’ But they were great scholars and took infinite pains to apprentice themselves to public life. Their example is certainly worth imitating in this respect.

Mr. Sunda, intellectual aristocrat that he is, flings a cheap gibe at the younger Congressmen of today. In his view, they are mere ‘nobodies’. But it is worthwhile remembering that but for these young men who left their schools and colleges at the call of the Congress in 1921, the national movement would not have made any headway. While the older men were involved in endless discussions about the validity of the Non-co-operation programme and kept aloof from the great struggle for freedom, these young-men gave up their all–though their ‘all’ might not amount to much in Mr. Sunda's view–and literally stepped into the breach. They covered the land with a net-work of village Congress Committees, preached the gospel of Swaraj from a thousand platforms, filled the gaols to glutting and brought imperishable glory to the Motherland. It was ‘war-time’ when every single unit was valuable. They were ill-equipped for their task, but if their ‘betters’ sulked in their tents, was it not their manifest duty to rush to the fray and keep the flag of Swaraj flying?

But all this by the way. The need for provincial schools of politics is imperative, and we are sure none would welcome them more than the intrepid young men of the land. The various Provincial Congress Committees ought to address themselves to this question. Such schools have their value, even apart from work in the Legislatures, which in the conditions of non-Swaraj India is like ploughing the sands.

GANDHIJI AND THE KALASALA

With reference to the note about the Kalasala in our March-April number, Gandhiji writes to the Editor:

‘I do not know what more I can do than what I have done, which you may not know. I purposely invited the teachers at Dr. Pattabhi's residence, and in his presence had a long chat with them. I needed no enquiry in the matter. My opinion was fixed, namely, that on no account could that institution seek affiliation. After having accepted large sums of money from the public on the strength of its rigidly, national character, I suggested that it was a matter of honour with them to preserve the national character of the institution even if it was deserted by every single boy. Even if I stayed in Andhra Desh for a month and that at Masulipatam, I could not carry the matter any further."

This only proves that not even Gandhiji can help those that refuse to help themselves.

K.R.

THE BRITISH ELECTIONS

It is hazardous to indulge in election forecasts. The task is much more difficult in the case of the forthcoming British elections in view of the ‘flapper’ vote. Yet, a careful analysis of the electoral conditions may help us to know which way the wind is likely to blow. It is better that we should recall at this stage how after the General Elections of 1924, the House of Commons opened with 413 Conservatives, 150 Labourites, 40 Liberals. 1 Irish Nationalist, 7 Constitutionalists and 4 Independents, and how at the time of the dissolution of the House, the Conservatives lost 15 seats, the Labourites gained 13 and the Liberals 5, apart from other variations in the strength of the minor parties. Thus, ominously enough for Mr. Baldwin, the Conservative stock had already begun to fall. This has not, however, unnerved the Premier and he is now, inspite of the huge alarm sounded in his ears by valiant and veteran fighters like Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, placidly smoking his briar pipe. He has now put up 588 candidates against 570 Labourites, 510 Liberals, 25 Communists, and 31 members of other parties. It may incidentally be mentioned that there are 68 women candidates. The nominations, it is further understood, altogether total 1274 which is a record for British Parliamentary elections.

Everyone who has so far entered into a conjectural competition in regard to the election has invariably thrown .a cold douche on the Premier's feet. Mr. Baldwin has been in the saddle for five years without commanding a good press and capturing public imagination. It is certain that he will have no majority huge enough to defy the Opposition benches, while it is even doubtful if he will lead the single largest party in the House. And now, on the eve of the elections, he is hardly in a position to counteract the growing influence of the Welsh Wizard who startled the electorate with a catching slogan. That therefore in any case Mr. Baldwin will drop a considerable number of seats, none can deny.

Then there is the Labour Party under the leadership of ‘the good old Mac.’ As the Conservative ranks are sure to be thinned and as the Liberals have no prospect of sweeping the field, though they can be sanguine about increasing their numbers, it is Mr. Macdonald and his party that I will stand to gain most in this turmoil. But can he get to 10, Downing Street? The possibility is not ruled out. If he does, it must be only as a result of an understanding he arrives at with Mr. Lloyd George. And Mr. Lloyd George, the most consummate political strategist that he is, is certainly not the man to put Mr. Macdonald at the head of the Cabinet, without demanding a good price from him. These negotiations are not unlikely to lead to the formation of a Coalition Cabinet. Mr. Lloyd George has, in an electoral sense, "got away with a flying start" by bringing the most startling issue of Unemployment to the forefront and compelling even his opponents to fight on that very issue. Great Britain is once again under the spell of his wizardry. In the next House he will be a force to be reckoned with.

But after all, much depends upon the mood of the Woman. And who can count upon so fickle a thing as a womanish mood? The three million votes Miss John Bull has gained, will decide the issue. As A. G. G. puts it, while summing up the parties’ prospects in an English Weekly, "If she smiles upon Mr. Baldwin, she may still save him. If she smiles the other way, anything may happen." But whatever may happen and whichever party may come into power, it makes no difference to India. That ought to be plain to everyone from the incontrovertible fact that all the parties have agreed upon omitting the question of India in their election programme. India must deliver India from bondage. That is the moral we can learn from the campaign in Great Britain that is now in full swing.

I. D.