Then our editor goes on to say:
"If they are satisfactory they should be welcomed; if they are partly
satisfactory they should be welcomed to that extent."
(Never)
And why?
"For the British public would then feel inclined to drop them
altogether."
To drop them altogether! Now, gentlemen, you have seen what that
article is. The letter which was written by the Secretaries of the
Provincial Congress Committee is merely put forward as an excuse.
What is put forward before the people of Bengal is this; if it is
satisfactory, of course, we should accept it. If not? In the article
which appeared the next day, he made his position clearer. He said
the difficulty is this: The Europeans are clamouring against it--the
Indo-European Association in England is fighting against it--and if
you, the people of Bengal say that you do not want it, why the British
people will say 'then drop it altogether.' My answer to that is: let it
be dropped if it is not satisfactory. Mr. Surendranath Banerjea admits
it in this writing--let me quote his exact words:
"We quite admit that there have been many paper announcements in the
past: and it is only too true that the pages of Anglo-Indian history
are strewn broadcast with the fragments of broken pledges."
Let it be another fragment of broken pledge; but let not the people of
Bengal consent to that! If their position is this: we will give you
this and no further, let them give what they choose; but is it for us
to say what little of self-government you choose to give us is amply
sufficient for us at the present day? I venture to think that you will
not accept such a proposition as that (No, no). We want self-government
for a purpose. We do not want that self-government which some people
brought up in European politics want--we do not want simply a weapon
to fight against the bureaucracy--we have got tired of that and we
say for God's sake, let us have peace in Bengal. (cheers) Let us have
some sort of self-government which will enable us to look after the
agricultural, industrial interests of the country, and to take up the
work of education and sanitation which will enable us to work for the
real good of the country without being obstructed at every step. That
is why we want a change in the system of Government (cheers).
"BENGALEE'S" WRITINGS BEFORE MR. BANERJEA WENT TO DELHI.
Now, gentlemen, supposing Mr. Montagu says you can't get all that,
take a little, just a little, a pinch. My position is this: I do not
know what others will say. I hope the people of this country will have
the courage to say: we want none of it, take it back: if we are to be
slaves of the bureaucracy, if all our activities in every direction
are to be controlled, and it may be, stifled at the sweet will and
pleasure of the bureaucracy, we want none of it. Take it back to
England (cheers). We do not want it here. We want courage to say that,
I admit. But what right have you to ask for Home Rule if you cannot
have the courage to say that--if you cannot have the courage to say to
the Government that we don't want it: it will not serve our purpose.
What is the good of giving something to the people which they do not
want. Now, gentlemen, that I am right in taking this position I shall
try to show to you, if you will bear with me--(go on) from one or two
extracts from the "Bengalee" newspaper, before a change came over the
spirit of its dreams. I will read to you just two or three extracts
from the "Bengalee"--not after March when the editor went to Delhi but
before that in November and December, 1917. I quote from the "Bengalee"
of November 2nd 1917:--
"Mr. Montagu will not be deceived by these tactics (of the
anti-Congress-League party). He will know how to appraise them at
their proper value. The British Cabinet consisting of politicians of
the type of Lord Curzon and Lord Milner have decided that India is to
have responsible government and that a substantial advance is to be
made in that direction as soon as possible. There is no going back
upon this announcement. It must be accepted as a settled policy, from
which there can be no departure. Mr. Montagu is coming out to discuss
the details and how best this policy can be carried out. It is no use
saying "we don't want responsible government; we are not fit for it."