*THE LORD PRIVY SEAL AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (THE MARQUESS OF CREWE)My Lords, I think it will be of interest to the House if I state what has happened in reference to the wonderful series of offers of assistance and support which have been received from the Indian Empire, and the response which has been made to those offers. In the first instance—although it is, of course, not the first in order of date—I will read to the House a Message which His Majesty has sent to the Princes and peoples of India. The King-Emperor's Message is as follows—
"To THE PRINCES AND PEOPLES OF MY INDIAN EMPIRE:
"During the past few weeks the peoples of My whole Empire at Home and Overseas have moved with one mind and purpose to confront and overthrow an unparalleled assault upon the continuity of civilisation and the peace of mankind.
"The calamitous conflict is not of My seeking. My voice has been cast throughout on the side of peace. My Ministers earnestly strove to allay the causes of strife and to appease differences with which My Empire was not concerned. Had I stood aside when in defiance of pledges to which My Kingdom was a party the soil of Belgium was violated, and her cities laid desolate, when the very life of the French nation was threatened with extinction, I should have sacrificed My honour and given to destruction the liberties of My Empire and of mankind. I rejoice that every part of the Empire is with me in this decision.
"Paramount regard for treaty faith and the pledged word of rulers and peoples is the common heritage of England and of India.
"Among the many incidents that have marked the unanimous uprising of the populations of My Empire in defence of its unity and integrity, nothing has moved me more than the passionate devotion to My Throne 574 expressed both by My Indian subjects and by the Feudatory Princes and the Ruling Chiefs of India, and their prodigal offers of their lives and their resources in the cause of the Realm. Their one-voiced demand to be foremost in the conflict has touched My heart, and has inspired to the highest issues the love and devotion which, as I well know, have ever linked My Indian subjects and myself. I recall to mind India's gracious message to the British nation of goodwill and fellowship, which greeted My return in February 1912 after the solemn ceremony of My Coronation Durbar at Delhi, and I find in this hour of trial a full harvest and a noble fulfilment of the assurance given by you that the destinies of Great Britain and India are indissolubly linked."
I received yesterday a summary of offers of service and money made in India to the Viceroy, of which I think it will be interesting if I convey the general gist to your Lordships. The rulers of the Indian Native States, numbering nearly 700 altogether, have with one accord rallied to the defence of the Empire and offered their personal services and the resources of their States. From among the many Princes and nobles who volunteered for service in the war the Viceroy has chosen the Chiefs of Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Rutlam, Sachin, and Patiala, Sir Pertab Singh (Regent of Jodhpur), the Heir Apparent of Bhopal, and a brother of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, together with other Princes belonging to noble families. It will, I know, be of interest to your Lordships' House, where he has so many personal friends, to know that the veteran Sir Pertab Singh, in spite of his seventy years, refused to be denied the right of serving the King-Emperor in person and is himself going to the front, accompanied by his great-nephew the reigning Maharaja, who is only sixteen years of age and who was brought up at Wellington College and has also, perhaps, become known to some of your Lordships. These have already joined the Expeditionary Force. There are some other Princes, the Chiefs of Jaora and Dholpur, and the Maharaja of Gwalior—also known to many of your Lordships—who, together with the Heir Apparent of Palampur, were, to their great regret, prevented from quitting their States.
There are twenty-seven States in India that maintain Imperial Service Troops, 575 and immediately on the outbreak of war the services of all of those corps were placed at the disposal of the Viceroy. From twelve of those States the Viceroy has accepted contingents of Infantry, Cavalry, Sappers, and transport, and also the Bikaner Camel Corps; and some of those have already embarked on active service. Further than that, a number of Chiefs, entirely of their own volition, combined to provide a hospital ship, to be named "The Loyalty," for the use of the Expeditionary Force. I think I mentioned to the House before that the Maharaja of Mysore had placed a sum of Rs. 50 lakhs at the disposal of the Government for expenditure in connection with the Expeditionary Force. The Viceroy adds that the Maharaja of Gwalior, besides sharing in the expenses of the hospital ship—the idea of which was started by himself and that eminent lady the Begun of Bhopal—has placed large sums of money at the disposal of the Government of India for the purpose of providing a great number of horses as remounts. From Mahomedan Loharu in the Punjab and from two States in Baluchistan there are offers of camels with drivers to be supplied and maintained by the Chiefs and the Sardars of those States. The Maharaja of Rewa, a distinguished Chief in Central India, has offered his troops, his treasury, and even his private jewellery to be placed at the disposal of His Majesty the King-Emperor. I ought to add that a number of Chiefs, the Maharaja of Kashmir, the Maharaja of Bundi, besides the Maharaja of Gwalior, the Maharaja of Indore, and the Maharaja of Orchha have besides independently subscribed large sums to the Fund of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The Maharaja of Kashmir gave a large subscription to the Indian Fund, and, what will seem to your Lordships rather a new departure in the case of an Indian Prince, presided at a meeting of 20,000 people held at Srinagar and himself delivered a stirring speech, as the result of which large subscriptions were collected. The Maharaja Holkar offers, free of charge, all the horses belonging to his State forces which the Government may find it convenient to accept. The Nizam of Hyderabad has made a similar offer, as also have the Jam of Jamnagar and some of the other Bombay Chiefs. The Viceroy adds that every Chief in the Bombay Presidency has placed the whole of the resources of his State at the disposal of Government.
576 Then we go further afield. The Mehtar of Chitral—a name which evokes memories of quite a different kind—and the various tribes in the Khyber Agency have sent loyal messages and offers of support to His Excellency's Government. All States, however remote, and some of the quite small States, have expressed their desire to give such assistance as they can. The Viceroy goes on to say, very truly, that last but not least, outside India altogether, generous offers of assistance were received from the Nepal Durbar. The Nepal Government have placed the whole of their military resources at the disposal of the British Government, and the Prime Minister, who is known also I am sure to some of your Lordships because he has been here, offered a sum of Rs. 3 lakhs to the Viceroy for the purchase of machine guns for the equipment of some of the British Gurkha regiments, and also gave large donations from his private purse to the Indian Relief Fund and to the Prince of Wales's Fund. He also offered Rs. 3,000 for the purchase of machine guns for the 4th Gurkha Rifles.
Then we go still further on to the Heights. We find that the Dalai Lama has offered 1,000 Tibetan troops for service under the British Government. He also states that innumerable Lamas all over Tibet are offering up prayers for the success of British arms. In fact, there is only one spirit and one movement over the whole of India. The Viceroy has received thousands of telegrams and letters from every quarter expressing loyalty and the desire to assist; and the local administrations have also received a vast number. They have come from every community, from all manner of different associations, religious and political, from all the different creeds, and from countless numbers of individuals offering their resources or their personal services. The Viceroy mentions in his telegram sonic typical examples: the All India Moslem League and a number of other Moslem associations in Bengal and Rangoon; the Trustees of the Aligarh. College; others from Behar and Calcutta; another from the Khoja community, who are followers of a gentleman also well known to your Lordships, the Aga Khan; the Punjab Moslem League, the Behar Landholders' Association, the Taluqdars of Oudh, the Association of the Punjab Chiefs; the Provincial Congresses of Madras and of the United Provinces, which are branches of the India Congress, 577 which is well known by name at any rate to most of your Lordships; and the Punjab Association representing the orthodox Sikhs, and the Parsee community of Bombay.
There has also been a number of enthusiastic offers of medical help, of some of which I hope we shall be able gratefully to avail ourselves. The Zemindars of Madras offered 500 horses at quite an early stage in the proceedings; and the Imperial Indian Relief Fund, which was started, of course quite independently of any fund here, for the relief of distress caused in India itself, has been responded to with great enthusiasm and vigour. There were a certain number of Indian Chiefs in Europe at the time. These have not been any more backward in offering their assistance and help. I find that of those who were in these parts the Maharaja and the Maharani Maji Sahiba of Bharatpur subscribed to the Indian Relief Fund and offered the whole resources of their State to Government. The Raja of Akalkot, a Bombay Chief, offered his personal service; and the Raja of Pudukota placed his entire resources at the disposal of Government. The Gaekwar of Baroda placed at our disposal the whole of his troops and the resources of his State. The son of the Mir of Khairpur, a Mahomedan magnate in North-West India, offered his personal service. And I find also that of the British Indian residents in this country a great number, young and old, have shown their one desire to offer some form of assistance—personal service, or medical service, or some form of contribution to the Empire—in a most loyal and generous manner.
This afternoon I received a telegram from the Viceroy describing what happened yesterday at the meeting of his Legislative Council at Simla. The Viceroy tells me that, in opening the proceedings, the members stood while he conveyed to them the Message from the King—the Message which I read to the House at the commencement of my remarks. The Viceroy made a speech, in which he said that he was sure he was expressing the views of the Council and of the whole of India in assuring His Majesty of unflinching loyalty and devotion. He went on to dwell upon the causes which led up to the war and the wicked and wanton manner in which it had been thrust upon the British Empire, and he explained the wholehearted efforts which had been made by 578 Sir Edward Grey for the preservation of peace so long as such preservation was possible. He expressed, of course on his own account also, the warmest gratitude for the attitude of the people of India which has been described in what I have just stated to your Lordships. Then when the Viceroy had concluded, Mr. Chitnavis, representing the Indian community, expressed the gratefulness which they all felt for His Majesty's Message, and asked the Viceroy to assure His Majesty that the whole country was with him in this hour of crisis and would loyally and devotedly do everything possible to ensure the success of the British arms. He then moved the following Resolution—
That in view of the great war involving most momentous issues now in progress in Europe into which our August Sovereign has been forced to enter by obligations of honour and duty to preserve the neutrality guaranteed by treaty and the liberties of a friendly State, the members of this Council, as voicing the feeling that animates the whole of the people of India, desire to give expression to their feelings of unswerving loyalty and enthusiastic devotion to their King Emperor and an assurance of their unflinching support to the British Government. They desire at the same time to express the opinion that the people of India, in addition to the military assistance now being afforded by India to the Empire, would wish to share in the heavy financial burden now imposed by the war on the United Kingdom, and request the Government of India to take this view into consideration and thus to demonstrate the unity of India with the Empire. They request His Excellency the President to be so good as to convey the substance of this Resolution to His Majesty the King-Emperor and His Majesty's Government.That was seconded by one of the principal Mahomedan leaders, the Raja of Mahmudabad, who made an important speech. It was supported by one of the Punjab Sardars, and was further supported in an eloquent speech—the Viceroy states—by Mr. Malabiya, one of the leading representatives of Indian opinion. It was also supported by a distinguished Parsee gentleman, Sir F. Azullbhoy Currimbhoy, who speaks for Bombay; by Mr. Ghuznavi, speaking for the Mahomedans of Eastern Bengal, and by Mr. Banerjee, who is well known as an exponent of liberal views in Bengal. Mr. Banerjee, in supporting the Resolution, pointed out that—It was the duty of the Council to focus the sentiments of support and enthusiastic loyalty by which every province of the Empire was animated. They desired to tell the world, the enemies of England and all else whom it might concern, that their loyalty was not lip-deep, but that behind the serried ranks of one of the finest armies of the world were the vast and multitudinous races and peoples of India bound together as one man.579 The Viceroy replied, and the Resolution was carried without a single dissentient.I think, my Lords, that we must all agree that this demonstration of true and heartfelt loyalty in India to the King-Emperor and to the Government is one of the most gratifying facts as the outcome of the present war. As we all know, the devotion and the offers of support from the self-governing Dominions of the Crown have been not less striking. Those Governments are manned by people of our own blood, with countless memories and traditions which centre round these islands. But it is, perhaps, even more striking, certainly not less gratifying, that those who speak for the various races in India—races which represent a civilisation of almost untold antiquity; races which have been remarkable in arms, in arts, and in the science of government—should in so whole-hearted a manner rally round the British Government, and, most of all, round the person of their Emperor at such a moment as this; and I am certain that this House will desire to express, through those of us who are entitled to speak for it, its appreciation of their attitude and our recognition of the part that they have played and are playing.
§ *THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, we have listened to an announcement from the noble Marquess which seemed to us to be one of surpassing interest—an announcement which I venture to say will prove to be of historic importance in the annals of the British Empire. And let me, before I go further, express the admiration with which we listened to the words in which His Majesty the King was pleased to acknowledge the offers which his Government had received from the peoples and Princes of India. I do not think it would have been possible to express in simpler, more dignified, or more appropriate language the feelings which animate us at this moment and which lead us to embark in this great struggle with absolute confidence in the justice of our cause. The noble Marquess spoke of the "wonderful series of offers" which have been received from the peoples of India. It is indeed a wonderful series of offers, and they were doubly appreciated by those of us who have been concerned with Indian affairs as we listened to the noble Marquess while he travelled over, not only the Indian Empire in the more restricted sense of the 580 term, but the confines of the States which adjoin it, and described to us how one and all of them had come forward at this critical moment to assure us of their support in whatever form they were able to provide it.
Quoting from a speech in support of the Resolution passed in the Legislative Council the other day, the noble Marquess spoke of the "multitudinous races and peoples" of India. It is indeed a great thing that those multitudinous races and peoples should have joined in this movement without reference to geographical limits, to religious distinctions, to political divisions, or to differences of race. We know how deep those cleavages are, and how often it is that they separate one part of India acutely from another. But in this case they were not allowed to prevail, and I am sure that the result will produce an immense impression not only upon the people of this country but upon all who, no matter in what part of the world, are anxious spectators of the great struggle which is now proceeding.
The noble Marquess will not think it unnatural on my part if I say that I listened with special interest to that part of his speech in which he gave us an account of the manner in which the ruling Chiefs of India have come forward at this moment. There was a time when I had the honour of enjoying the friendship mid intimacy of a number of those Chiefs; and I left India deeply convinced of the sincerity of their desire to bear, whenever the opportunity was offered to them, a useful and honourable part in the affairs of the Empire. Their generosity is proverbial. The word "generosity" is often coupled with the word "princely," and in India, as the noble Marquess knows, we have every reason to be aware of what "princely generosity" means. But in this case, great as that generosity has been, they have given us a great deal more. I well remember the pride which these great Chiefs and rulers took in the Imperial Service Corps instituted in the time of my predecessor, Lord Dufferin; and I know that it was their ambition that those Imperial Service troops should not merely be, as they were, extraordinarily efficient and smart on parade, but that they should be given a chance of fighting alongside of our troops in the cause of the Empire. I heard with great interest the noble Marquess's catalogue of the Princes who are 581 to accompany the Indian Force on this campaign—with some of them I have the honour to be acquainted, others are the sons of fathers who were well known to me—and I may perhaps be permitted to echo what he said with regard to one whom I am able to describe as an old personal friend of my own. I mean the Regent of Jodhpur, better known to his intimates as Sir Pertab Singh. I also heard with special satisfaction the noble Marquess's account of the support which he was receiving from the Maharaja of Nepal. We owe a great debt to the Nepal Government, for it is with their assistance and concurrence that we are able to raise those magnificent Gurkhas, of whom I am glad to know a certain number will accompany the Indian Expedition.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEI am glad to hear that. I doubt, my Lords, whether every one in this country realises how great a thing it is that these ruling Chiefs who have come forward in this way upon our side are doing, or how important a position they occupy in their own country. I wonder, for example, whether every one realises that the Maharaja of Mysore, to whose munificent gift the noble Marquess referred, rules over a population which exceeds in numbers the whole of the population of Sweden. I wonder whether every one calls to mind that the Maharaja of Gwalior has more subjects than the King of Denmark; or that the Nizam of Hyderabad governs a people twice as numerous as the people of the Netherlands and three times as numerous as the people of Ireland. It is no small thing that these rulers, standing where they do in our Indian system, should have come forward without exception and given such practical proof of their desire to help us. I venture on the part of those who sit on this side of the House to congratulate the noble Marquess on the manner in which the India Office has been supported at this critical time, and I add to that our congratulations to the Viceroy to whom, at a moment when he must have many sad preoccupations, the magnificent response of the people of India must bring consolation and encouragement. I am sure it will be the desire of the House, in whatever way may be fitting, that our cordial thanks should be conveyed to the people of India and to the Indian Chiefs who have stood by us in so conspicuous a manner.