Lord Hardinge’s term of office

THE extension of Lord Hardinge’s term of office as Viceroy seemed so imperatively called for in the interests of the Empire at large that we must confess we were not prepared for a refusal, such as is indicated by the Statesman’s special cablegram. There were a number of contingencies under which such an attitude on the part of the Home Government could be explicable. Had Lord Hardinge himself been unwilling to stay on any longer, much as we might have wished him to continue, we could not expect the Home Government to persuade him to do so. Lord Hardinge’s weight of anxieties has been extremely heavy as his task has been unduly arduous, and India, even in her own interest, has no right to call upon His Excellency to continue against his will after what he had done and suffered for India. But, so far as we can see from his reference in Council to the subject.