The Viceroy’s speech

THE only event at Thursday’s meeting of the Legislature was the speech of the Viceroy, and the only part of that speech that will be read with widespread interest is the one relating to His Excellency’s visit to England. It was expected that His Excellency would make some material additions to Lord Birkenhead’s speech, in fact, that he would make a new pronouncement of policy, that had made some people look forward to the speech. On August 17, a Simla correspondent, in his letter to us, had stated that the general belief at Simla was that the Viceroy’s speech would contain some very important announcement about the policy of the British Government in India, and had added that this gained considerable support from the report contained in certain British journals that Lord Reading had come back with an offer from the British Government to the Home Rule party. As will be seen from the text of the speech published elsewhere in this issue, there was no such announcement in His Excellency’s speech. All that he said in effect was that the words of the announcement of 1917 and the preamble to the Government of India Act stood, that it was only by cooperation that India could attain her goal of responsible government, and that if she did co-operate it was his own firm belief that she would walk triumphantly to her goal. Not only was there nothing new in this, but it was exactly the thing which His Excellency must have been aware the country was sick of hearing. Of course, His Excellency sugared the pill, as far as it was possible for him to do.