THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND
READER: Then from your statement, I deduce the Government of England is
not desirable and not worth copying by us.
EDITOR: Your deduction is justified. The condition of England at present
is pitiable. I pray to God that India may never be in that plight. That
which you consider to be the Mother of Parliaments is like a sterile
woman and a prostitute. Both these are harsh terms, but exactly fit the
case. That Parliament has not yet of its own accord done a single good
thing, hence I have compared it to a sterile woman. The natural
condition of that Parliament is such that, without outside pressure, it
can do nothing. It is like a prostitute because it is under the control
of ministers who change from time to time. To-day it is under Mr.
Asquith, to-morrow it may be under Mr. Balfour.
READER: You have said this sarcastically. The term "sterile woman" is
not applicable. The Parliament, being elected by the people, must work
under public pressure. This is its quality.
EDITOR: You are mistaken. Let us examine it a little more closely. The
best men are supposed to be elected by the people. The members serve
without pay and, therefore, it must be assumed only for the public weal.
The electors are considered to be educated and, therefore, we should
assume that they would not generally make mistakes in their choice. Such
a Parliament should not need the spur of petitions or any other
pressure. Its work should be so smooth that its effect would be more
apparent day by day. But, as a matter of fact, it is generally
acknowledged that the members are hypocritical and selfish. Each thinks
of his own little interest. It is fear that is the guiding motive. What
is done to-day may be undone to-morrow. It is not possible to recall a
single instance in which the finality can be predicted for its work.
When the greatest questions are debated its members have been seen to
stretch themselves and to dose. Sometimes the members talk away until
the listeners are disgusted. Carlyle has called it the "talking shop of
the world." Members vote for their party without a thought. Their
so-called discipline binds them to it. If any member, by way of
exception, gives an independent vote, he is considered a renegade. If
the money and the time wasted by the Parliament were entrusted to a few
good men, the English nation would be occupying to-day a much higher
platform. The Parliament is simply a costly toy of the nation. These
views are, by no means, peculiar to me. Some great English thinkers
have expressed them. One of the members of the Parliament recently said
that a true Christian could not become a member of it. Another said that
it was a baby. And, if it has remained a baby after an existence of
seven hundred years, when will it outgrow its babyhood?
READER: You have set me thinking; you do not expect me to accept at once
all you say. You give me entirely novel views. I shall have to digest
them. Will you now explain the epithet "prostitute"?
EDITOR: That you cannot accept my views at once is only right. If you
will read the literature on this subject, you will have some idea of it.
The Parliament is without a real master. Under the Prime Minister, its
movement is not steady, but it is buffeted about like a prostitute. The
Prime Minister is more concerned about his power than about the welfare
of the Parliament. His energy is concentrated upon securing the success
of his party. His care is not always that the Parliament shall do right.
Prime Ministers are known to have made the Parliament do things merely
for party advantage. All this is worth thinking over.
READER: Then you are really attacking the very men whom we have hitherto
considered to be patriotic and honest?
EDITOR: Yes, that is true; I can have nothing against Prime Ministers,
but what I have seen leads me to think that they cannot be considered
really patriotic. If they are to be considered honest because they do
not take what is generally known as bribery, let them be so considered,
but they are open to subtler influences. In order to gain their ends,
they certainly bribe people with honours. I do not hesitate to say that
they have neither real honesty nor a living conscience.
READER: As you express these views about the Parliament, I would like to
hear you on the English people, so that I may have your views of their
Government.
EDITOR: To the English voters their newspaper is their Bible. They take
cue from their newspapers, which latter are often dishonest. The same
fact is differently interpreted by different newspapers, according to
the party in whose interests they are edited. One newspaper would
consider a great Englishman to be a paragon of honesty, another would
consider him dishonest. What must be the condition of the people whose
newspapers are of this type?
READER: You shall describe it.
EDITOR: These people change their views frequently. It is said that they
change them every seven years. These views swing like the pendulum of a
clock and are never steadfast. The people would follow a powerful orator
or a man who gives them parties, receptions, etc. As are the people, so
is their Parliament. They have certainly one quality very strongly
developed. They will never allow their country to be lost. If any person
were to cast an evil eye on it, they would pluck out his eyes. But that
does not mean that the nation possesses every other virtue or that it
should be imitated. If India copies England, it is my firm conviction
that she will be ruined.
READER: To what do you ascribe this state of England?
EDITOR: It is not due to any peculiar fault of the English people, but
the condition is due to modern civilization. It is a civilization only
in name. Under it the nations of Europe are becoming degraded and ruined
day by day.