2. by the demonstration of the possibility, on a commercial scale,
of particular industries;
3. by affording, directly, or indirectly, financial assistance to
industrial enterprise; or
4. by any other means which are not incompatible with the existing
fiscal policy of the government of India."
The tariff question was excluded from the scope of the Commission's
inquiries, though it was expressed that the "building up of industries
where the capital, control and management should be in the hands of the
Indians" was the "special object" which the government had in view. The
Government spokesman in the meeting of the Legislative Council at which
the appointment of the Commission was announced further emphasized "that
it was of immense importance, alike to India herself and to the Empire
as a whole, that Indians should take a larger share in the industrial
development of their country." He "deprecated the taking of any steps,
if it might merely mean that the manufacturer who now competes with you
from a distance would transfer his activities to India and compete with
you within your boundaries."
The Commission has now submitted its report which has been published as
a Parliamentary blue book in a bulky volume of about 500 pages including
a separate lengthy note by one of the leading Indian members of the
Commission. The note is, in our judgment, very valuable, as it gives the
Indian point of view of the industrial problem in such a lucid and
exhaustive way as to leave no room for doubt as to what articulate India
thinks in the matter. The note does not express only the personal
opinion of the author but the considered views of the Indian Nationalist
Party.
Both the report and the note have been the source of much personal
gratification to us as they corroborate and confirm to an extraordinary
extent what the author said in his book "England's Debt to India,"
though the report is by no means free from fallacies and one-sided
statements of fact and opinions.