No invitation to prominent leaders

WE do not attach any excessive importance to the announcement made by the Under-Secretary of State for India in the House of Commons that it is not the intention of His Majesty’s Government to invite prominent Indian leaders like CR Das, Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Srinivasa Sastri and Annie Besant to “come to Great Britain for the purpose of a discussion and conference as regards the best means to be adopted for securing the full cooperation of all classes in India for the re-establishment of social and industrial peace.” As we said the other day, we were not among those who expected Lord Birkenhead or, for that matter, the Government of which he is a member, to prove courageous or statesmanlike enough to initiate so radical a departure from the traditional policy of the British Government in this respect. The only English statesman of our time who has in one notable instance made himself responsible for such a departure is Lloyd George, and even in his case the general belief, which is probably true, is that in inviting the Irish leaders to come to England for a conference with His Majesty’s Government, he only made a virtue of necessity. In the case of India, the necessity, though equally great, is not equally obvious, and George has nothing to do with the present Government. The ordinary English practice in such cases is to throw out hints rather than issue invitations, and, when the hint is acted upon, to hold informal discussions, and, that, too, often only through intermediaries. There is nothing in Earl Winterton’s recent statement to show that this will not be done in the present case.