Lord Sydenham’s Libel

IT appears from the fuller summary of the debates in the Houses of Parliament on the subject of constitutional reforms in India, which is now available, that Lord Sydenham had the effrontery to state that if the war had accelerated the demand for Home Rule in India, it was because “the little band of Home Rulers had, through German influence, tried to raise trouble in India.” The statement was libellous on the face of it, and had it not been for the absolute privilege of a member of Parliament speaking from his place in either House, he would have had to answer for his folly. But he was not protected from being told by his fellow members that the statement was as foolish as it was untrue.