He follows that up by saying on November 22nd:
"There must be no shams or shows or delusions. We have had too much of
this commodity in the past."
No shams, no delusions. I follow the noble words of Mr. Surendranath
Banerjea. I love them so much that I am prepared to follow his
teachings. But if the Surendranath Banerjea of to-day does not follow
the S. N. Banerjea of yesterday is it my fault that I cannot follow
him? (laughter) I adore the Surendranath Banerjea of yesterday, but if
he cannot remain true to his trust I cannot be false to my faith. Hear
the leader of yesterday again:
"The Minto-Morley scheme, if it was not a dead failure, did not
satisfy popular aspirations and was behind the growing requirements
of the times. We hope the mistakes will not be repeated in the coming
constitutional changes. Provincial autonomy must be the basis of
the reforms, not an emasculated, half-hearted, system of Provincial
self-government."
Noble words again and I repeat them and I follow them.
"but in full measure with a full share of responsibility. The time for
half-measures is past and gone."
Then in the same article he goes on to say:
"The counsels of caution are often the counsels of timidity."
Mark these words, gentlemen. Then he says:
"If the Government will not make over the whole of the provincial
administration to a popular Ministry responsible to a popular
Assembly, let them at least, entrust to them such departments, as
Education, Sanitation, Local Self-government, Police, etc."
Mark these words again. He includes the Police but I was told the other
day that we ought not to take the Police; it is a difficult department
to administer, (laughter).
Then on the 27th of November, the "Bengalee" writes:
"The country is rushing at a giddy pace and Lord Morley's reforms have
failed to meet the exigencies of the times which cannot be satisfied
by anything short of a full measure of responsible government."
Further:
"Any scheme that does not fully provide for this and secure full
autonomous power for the provinces and falls short of the irreducible
minimum put forth in the Congress-League scheme stands self-condemned
and will totally fail to meet the wishes and requirements of the
people and win their support."
But now he is urging the people of this country to support a scheme
which may fall short of his ideal and he says even if it is not
satisfactory we should accept it. Even on the 29th of November he says:
"Any tinkering reform of a patch-work kind will not avail to meet the
necessities of the situation but will rather intensify the present
difficulties."
Gentlemen, I will not weary you with any more extracts but I will quote
just two passages, for which I hope you will pardon me (go on, go on).