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February 13th, 1925. JNUIAN OPINION .45 '
TH~ CONTRAST IN INDIA
BRITISH OrUII'IOIi ON !NDUN POLITICS
The fQllowing \$ an editorial artide in a' recent
hltme of Tlte Natlll'" and Athenaeum -
It ;s rar() for any eouutry to dillPlay so striking a
eontraHt between commerciaJ prOSPel ity and politic.
: distress as that which Iwlla I1ffords to-day. If
we are to take the Vicerof's word for it, (and there
can be" no reasoJ). why we shoul£! not). Indian
ecopomic cOJ)d).tions }lave not for many years been
call).parable with those of the prellent winter. The
AHElociated Cbambers of Commerce, which have
been meetiQ/l in C,llclltta, are 'theijlselves a sign of
the till).es. They repre&,ent the cO-Qrdmated businei\li
(orces of Britjsh India. n was to this hody
that Lord Reading presented his "prosperity" report
of the Indian year. Abounding crol?/!. the railway
earnip8s leaping up by crores of rupees, and II­
Reaborne tra,de rapidly overtaldngtJIe highest rej}Ords;
jute and tea "bMWng in the sunllhine Of an abundant.
pI'oflperjty;" an expected B\}dget SUrphli! bringin"
relict o! taxation-sucb are ~he principal items iIf
t~e VjceroY'i! ilurvey. The reCItal of theD;l. is,
inveitably, bnked With certain fjtatements ~ULl
in;IpliGations conceming the change of GovernJIlent
ill London and the ~ssumption that the direction of
Imperial _II-ffairl\l mar not be altered within a term
of five years W' so. Tbat is as mllY b~; but it
should be remarkf'd that the Brjtjs4 commercIal
community in India rejlards tbe contlitioJ)s descnbed
by Lord Reading I1S being bound up with the
return to a more resolute temper iu the Administrati9U,
an