HL Deb 18 November 1914 vol 18 cc92-101
EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTON

My Lords, the further Question which stands in my name on the Paper is to ask the Secretary of State for India whether any attempt is made, by daily telegrams to the Viceroy or otherwise, to supply the public of India with information concerning the progress of the war, and particularly the doings of Indian troops; and if this has not been done, whether steps can he taken to that effect.

The reasons for putting this Question and commending it to your Lordships' attention are, I think, obvious. Since the war began we have in this country been strongly pressing upon the Government the publication of more information with regard to the achievements, though not, of course, the dispositions, of the troops; and there are many in this House and elsewhere who have thought that the reticence which has been observed by the Government in this respect has been both excessive and unwise. But any one who has served in India—and there are some noble Lords in this House who have—will agree that those remarks apply to India with an even more exaggerated force than they do to this country. Remember that in the first place India, by sending this huge force to Europe, has taken an entirely novel and striking departure. The despatch of this immense number of Indian troops produced a thrill throughout the world greater than anything of a similar nature that I can remember in 111V tine. You may be certain that a similar excitement was manifested in India; and the movements of this large force—larger, I think, than Many of your Lordships have an idea—drawn as it is from the country villages of the whole of the Northern parts of India at any rate, excite an interest there quite as great as the interest which the movements of our own troops arouse in the various country districts in England.

These troops in coming to Europe have rendered and are rendering a very substantial service to the national cause, and I submit to your Lordships that they are entitled to the simple and obvious reward of having their achievements narrated to their fellow-countrymen whom they have left at home. I saw a letter from India only yesterday, written by a resident in one of the great towns, and he said that the newspapers there, in so far as they contain news from the field of war in Europe, were filled with stories of German atrocities and German brutalities. There was nothing whatever about the achievements of the Indian troops. Now any one acquainted with the East knows that the last thing you want to do is to terrorise the public by narrating the misdeeds of the enemy. What you want to do is to encourage them by the record of the brave deeds of their own people. I submit that the more you satisfy them in that respect the better it will be for their own spirit and endurance in the conflict.

There is another reason why we should be particularly careful about this. All of as who have been in India or who have served in that Dependency know that India, in common with most of the countries of the East, is susceptible to false rumour to a degree that is scarcely credible to a European who has never left this Continent. The' slightest stories are believed, the most ridiculous impressions created, and the most absurd panics arise almost out of nothing. The proceedings of the "Emden" in the Bay of Bengal were the source of not merely idle rumours but absolute panic in some of the cities in the neighbourhood of that coast. A bazaar story in the East is really a byword for the extreme of imagination and falsehood that the brain of man can conceive; and therefore, as I argue, you ought to be particularly solicitous about giving information to a country where those panics are likely to occur.

One other reason I would urge for giving information to India—and again it arises oat of the psychology of the people. The Indian of all creeds, and I think of all classes, is extraordinarily mercurial in temperament; the barometer of his feelings goes up and down with startling rapidity; he is either at a pitch of elation over good news, or of depression over bad news. What you want to do throughout this war, particularly if it is going to be long as many of us think, is to maintain a steady level of Indian interest and Indian enthusiasm. The excitement of sending away troops will soon subside; stories of deaths and woundings will come home; there will not be the glare and glitter and sound of warfare, and the spirits of the people will fall to a low ebb. On the other hand, if you keep them supplied with news, particularly if you send encouraging news from the Front, you will do a great deal to keep up their spirits throughout the struggle. My suggestion is, if it has not already been done, that an official telegram of what is going on on the battlefields in Europe, particularly of the doings of the Indian troops, should be sent to the Viceroy as oft en as von can, and the Viceroy should be asked, with the large administrative machinery at his disposal, to communicate it to the provincial districts where the information might be put up at, say, the police stations or wherever it is thought best., in order that the country people in the districts and the towns may know day by day what their comrades are doing in the field.

LORD SYDENHAM

My Lords, may I say a few words in support of what has been said by the noble Earl. There are two lines of Virgil which seem to me particularly applicable to the present situation— Fama, malum quo non aliud velocius ullum, Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo. Those lines might, I think, be well studied by the members of the Press Bureau at the present time. It must not be forgotten that the "Emden" stories and such rumours pass through India like lightning. As the noble Earl has said, those of you who have not lived in India can form no idea, not only of their strangeness, but of their apparent incredibility. A story goes like a flash through the bazaars, and then spreads far and wide. We do not know who starts it, and we do not know how far it goes and what harm it may do. That process is going on even in normal times, and of course it is going on to a very much greater extent at the present moment.

The noble Earl alluded to the story of the "Emden," but only a few weeks ago a much stranger story of the "Emden" passed through India. It was said, after the "Emden" had accomplished an abortive bombardment of Madras, that she was passing up the river Jumna and would shortly reach Allahahad. Another story was that the whole Royal Family had passed through Bombay to seek refuge in Delhi from the war because the Germans had already got into England. Such stories can only he met in one way, and that is by the furnishing, I hope at least every week, of an official bulletin to be published in every large town and every district and taluka town, and also translated in all the vernaculars and distributed throughout the bazaars. In that way we may stop a very great and real danger in India, because we cannot here realise what extraordinary things the Indian will believe, how quickly he yields to depression, and how very liable he is to panic.

It has been said in this House this evening that German gold had been spent in Ireland. I am quite certain that German gold for some years has been spent in India. And I think I can understand now some facts which puzzled me very greatly while I was in India. Among the stories that have been circulated there are some of a distinctly sinister aspect, and I trace those to the German agents who have been spending their money throughout India. Therefore I hope that the noble Marquess will tell us that some arrangement of the sort suggested has already been made, or, if not, that it will soon be made and continued with out intermission through out the war.

VISCOUNT MIDLETON

My Lords, before the noble Marquess answers, may I press one point beyond that of publishing real news in India. I refer to the absolute necessity of giving more mention to individual acts of gallantry and to the actions of particular regiments. It is almost impossible to understand why the system which has obtained in all previous wars has been omitted in the present war. It was the custom of the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula to make these mentions; it was constantly done in the Crimean War; it was done by Lord Wolseley, and published constantly during the Egyptian War; and it was the practice both of Lord Roberts and of Lord Kitchener during the South African War. Yet although we know that certain Indian regiments have distinguished themselves in two or three important actions recently, not one single word has, so far as we know, been allowed officially to transpire of the actions in which they have borne so distinguished a part. I myself happened, in talking to some of the wounded soldiers, to hear from them of the magnificent charge made by a particular Indian regiment who came up and rescued them at a critical moment and drove the Germans back a considerable distance.

I am quite certain that those who know India a great deal better than I do would bear me out in saving that nothing could so stimulate the spirit of the people as the knowledge of the distinction won by a particular Indian regiment and by the Indian Forces generally. Since we discussed the matter before, attention has been called to the fact that perhaps the most brilliant action by our troops in the war, the repulse of the Prussian Guard last week, has been allowed to go with the scanty chronicle that— A General ordered his Division to fix bayonets and succeeded in restoring the line. We have a right to know who the General was. And why should the honour won by that Division be concealed? I do not know whether there were Indian regiments in it or not; but I think it is due to the Army, and it is due to the taxpayer, and, above all, it is due to those who have near relatives and friends at the Front and who are mourning the loss of others, that they should be at least allowed to know the acts of heroism and gallantry that have distinguished their friends and the regiments of which we are proud.

THE MARQUESS OF CREWE

My Lords, I can assure the noble Earl who asked this Question and the other two noble Lords who have spoken that, from the first when the Indian troops were ordered to Europe, it was in the minds of all those who have Indian experience that some special steps should be taken for the purpose of supplying authentic information in India itself. All that has been said by the various noble Lords who have spoken as to the Indian character and the flight of rumour in India is no doubt true. But one is tempted, after what we have recently known during the last few months, to wonder whether this country may not claim an almost equal fame in the dissemination and the acceptance of bazaar rumour. But be that as it may, the importance of supplying authentic information to India cannot possibly be disputed. I may, in passing, say that I was told from India at quite an early stage the story of the doings of a German battleship even more remarkable than those mentioned by my noble friend on the Cross Benches [Lord Sydenham]. This story was that a German battleship of the largest size had proceeded up the Indus a great distance and had finally gone aground and been captured by an Indian Cavalry regiment—a particular touch which, I consider, added to the charm of the story. That was believed, I think, in many quarters.

As a matter of fact, all the British official announcements about the war from the very first, regarding both naval and military operations, have been sent by telegram to the Viceroy for insertion in the Indian Press —both the English-owned and Indian-owned Press. Since the beginning of this month a News Bulletin has been telegraphed every day, which is compiled under the supervision of a distinguished Indian ex-official from our own official statements, from the French Government's statements, from the Russian statements as they appear, and from any other sources which are considered to be trustworthy. The Viceroy has made special arrangements for the dissemination of news in various ways, including some of those which have been mentioned in the course of the debate. In addition to that, three officers have been deputed to serve with the staff of the Indian Expeditionary Force. Their sole duty is to supply accounts of the doings of the Indian troops. These accounts as they are received at somewhat uncertain intervals, are telegraphed to the Viceroy for him to disseminate in India in the same way.

The noble Viscount who spoke last touched on the more general subject of the supply of information concerning particular regiments and even particular individuals, and he stated that a departure had been made from all previous precedents in that respect in the course of the present war. That I have no reason to dispute. But it is important to note that the departure is being made by all countries engaged in this war. I was told the other day by a Frenchman that the French Government viewed with some amazement the freedom with which we allowed news to be published in our Press as compared with the reticence which they exercised themselves. I did not hear it from a Government source, and therefore I have no reason to quote it as being authoritative. Neither the German nor the Russian authorities name in their public Press any one of the units engaged in ally part of the theatre of war, or the names of the commanding officers. It is undoubtedly considered that information of that kind is of value to the enemy in this particular war, and that therefore it ought to be concealed. In one of the previous conversations we have had this evening great stress has been laid upon the importance of keeping all information away from the enemy; and it is understood, I take it, that in this particular matter if correspondents, or official scribes, note the names of the particular units engaged in particular operations at all near the time at which the operations have taken place, thereby the enemy is able to piece together a puzzle and learn the composition of the whole force which it is the object on each side to conceal from the opponent.

All this seems a little obscure to a civilian, but it is a view which is held by the military authorities in all the countries, and they-are the responsible people to whom we have to bow. I do not think myself that it can possibly be the case that the mention of a particular Indian unit in India could be held to have any deleterious effect upon the course of the campaign; and I have understood—but I will make myself still more sure on the point—that in the communications that are sent to India no direct embargo is placed upon the naming of some particular regiment which has distinguished itself on a particular occasion. Names of places, no doubt, would still have often to be carefully omitted in order that news might not be telegraphed back 'from India which by any possibility could be of service to the enemy. I can assure the House that we are doing the best we can to keep India informed, being entirely convinced, as noble Lords opposite are, of the importance from all points of view—from the point of view of allaying the anxiety of those who have relations in the field and also from the public point of view—of keeping Indian opinion on the line on which it is now, I hope, steadily set; and therefore we shall continue to do our best to send, and see to the distribution of, all the information that can possibly be sent.

EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTON

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Marquess for his reply, but I hope he will not think me unduly persistent if I venture to suggest that the preparations which he describes are really not adequate to the case. How does he propose to meet the case we put before the House? in the first place, he tells us that in the India Office there is a competent staff which, from the composite information that comes in from Russia, from France, and from our own forces, makes an abstract of the general movements of the combatant forces on the field of war, and that is sent out to India. Believe me, that is not in the least what India wants. India does not want the kind of report of which we are ourselves complaining in this country. The only good news that we have here are in the despatches of Sir John French, which are usually and necessarily about a month behindhand. From the carefully guarded military reports from day to day of the position of affairs on the field of battle we can gather very little. A condensed or combined account from all these European sources will not interest India in the slightest degree. What they want is something personal to India.

I pass to the method which the noble Marquess suggests for meeting that need. He told us, I think, that two or three officers have been sent to the Front whose special duty it is to note the operations and the exploits of Indian regiments. The probability is that they will only report at somewhat rare intervals, and I imagine that their reports have to come here and be edited or at any rate supervised in the India Office or in the War Office, and that only after those operations have been performed is the information to be sent out to India. Now, cannot we accelerate that process a little? Is not what is wanted the very thing which the noble Marquess admitted in his concluding sentences to be legitimate and to be attended with no danger—namely, the mention without place and without date of particular regiments, their services, and their deeds? Why could not these three officers at the Front have the authority to telegraph any exploit of this description home, and why should it not be known in India within a week or even three days of the day on which the gallant deed was performed?

I have only one remark to make about the general position taken up by the noble Marquess in the concluding parts of his speech. Is it really the case that, because it appears to be the custom or the tradition of the Russian, French, or German or other Continental Armies, we are therefore to be precluded from following the invariable practice of our Armies in bygone days and drawing attention to the achievements of our men? The rule which the noble Marquess has laid down is one that has been violated by the General commanding in the field himself. One of the first incidents of this campaign was some peculiarly gallant exploit performed, I think, by the Suffolks. Field-Marshal Sir John French made some sort of public announcement, or speech, congratulating them on their valour, which he said would be known within a few days throughout England. It was not known, because his despatch did not come for some weeks afterwards, and when it came their name was not mentioned. Take the case of the London Scottish. By an exception the extraordinary valour of the London Scottish was known at once; but on the tenet of the noble Marquess, that was giving information to the enemy because the enemy would have been able to locate the position of this particular regiment upon the battlefield. I do not want to press the matter unduly or to be unfair to the Government, but it seems to me that the principle which is laid down here, and which was also laid down by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons the other day, is not one to which they consistently adhere; and even if there is anything to be said for it in the case of troops from England, it certainly does not apply to the case of the troops from India. I hope the noble Marquess will not think we are unduly persistent if we ask for a more rapid and accelerated despatch of news to India.

THE MARQUESS OF CREWE

I will certainly see what acceleration is possible in regard to this particular Indian news. In cases where news can be telegraphed out and it is important that it should be telegraphed, I certainly think that it ought to go as soon as possible. But in many cases, particularly if it is a long descriptive account, it can go by post, because news of that kind is acceptable and read with almost as great eagerness if it is received some weeks after the event. As regards the general question, what the noble Earl opposite calls "my rule" is not my rule at all, or indeed the rule of the Government. As the Prime Minister pointed out in another place the other day, we with the smaller Army are fighting in France by the side of a much greater French Army, and it is considered right, and I think the country here would so consider it, that we should conform precisely to the rule which the French lay down in this particular respect; and that is what we are doing, with possibly occasional exceptions.