THE MARQUHSS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, I desire to ask the noble Earl, the Under-Secretary of State for India, if he has a communication to make to your Lordships.
THE UNDER-SEORETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (EARL RUSSELL)My Lords, a statement is being made in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister to-day, and I think your Lordships might wish to hear it. It is to this effect:—
"The House will remember that the suggestion of a Conference was first made in the letter addressed to me by 970 the Chairman of the Indian Statutory Commission on the 16th October. He suggested 'that in this Conference His Majesty's Government would meet both representatives of British India and representatives of the States.' His Majesty's Government have been considering how, without changing the character of the Conference as indicated in this letter, it can be used so as to give an opportunity to the representatives of India and this Parliament for exchanging and discussing views on the problems with which they are dealing and for understanding each other; and His Majesty's Government are impressed by the advantages that would result from the presence in the Conference of representatives of the other Parties in Parliament. Thus we believe that difficulties and differences will be removed and that the legislation to be undertaken hereafter will be facilitated.
"For this reason His Majesty's Government propose to invite the Leaders of the other two Parties to nominate representatives to attend the Conference from both Houses. But I must make it clear that His Majesty's Government cannot throw off their constitutional responsibility and must retain complete freedom in regard to the proposals which they will subsequently lay before Parliament as the outcome of the Conference to advance the purpose announced by the Viceroy after consultation with His Majesty's Government."
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, in view of the circumstances of the case, perhaps your Lordships would permit me, on behalf of my friends, to make a statement of policy, so far as we are concerned, on the present occasion. It is perhaps desirable that I should say something of the views which we on this Bench and those with whom we have the honour to act hold with regard to the Conference to which delegates from India are being invited in October next. We are as anxious as are His Majesty's Government to see an amicable settlement of the difficulties which have arisen in India, and no one will be more glad than we shall be should the Conference prove to be the means by which such a settlement is reached. But we hold very 971 strongly that, if any settlement that is reached is to possess the element of durability, it must be the outcome, not of a Party, but of a national, agreement. And it follows that we are prepared to accept the invitation which thas been extended to us by the Government to participate in the coming Conference.
Then as to the spirit in which we are prepared to enter the Conference. It has been stated by the Viceroy, speaking more particularly on behalf of the Indian representatives, that it is to be a Free Conference at which those who take part in it will be entitled to submit for consideration alternative schemes for the future government of India. We should naturally claim for ourselves the same measure of freedom as is to be accorded to others. We do not pretend to have any cut and dried scheme of our own. We should certainly require that full and careful consideration be given to the scheme contained in the Report of the Simon Commission. Indeed we recognise in the proposals set forth in Volume II of the Report the greatest constructive contribution which has yet been made towards the carrying out of the policy laid down and agreed to by all Parties in this country in August, 1917.
It sometimes seems to be forgotten that the Report is the outcome of an exhaustive inquiry by representatives of all three Parties in this country, who not only brought to bear upon the problems which they were called upon to investigate fresh and wholly unprejudiced minds, but who sought and received the collaboration of Indian Committees representative of the Indian Legislatures, both in the Provinces and at the centre. No one who has made a careful study of the Report can fail to have been impressed by the fact that the proposals put forward in Volume II have been made, not in disregard of, but, on the contrary, with a very clear recognition of, the special difficulties which have to be overcome. And while we should be prepared to examine with care and with sympathy any alternative proposals which might be submitted to us, we should certainly require that they should be subjected to the test to which the Commission have voluntarily subjected their own proposals —namely, the test of their practical applicability in the special circumstances which prevail in India and which have 972 been set forth, with undeniable fairness and with admirable lucidity, in Volume I of their Report.
§ THE MARQUESS OF READINGMy Lords, perhaps you will permit me to make a very few observations upon the statement that has been made by the noble Earl. May I, at the outset, express my complete concurrence with everything that has fallen from the noble Marquess who leads the Opposition? The Party with which I am associated will of course accept the invitation of the Government. It will be ready to serve by its representatives and to do the utmost in its power to reach a settlement of this difficult and anxious problem. May I say, also, that nothing will give us greater satisfaction than to find, at the end of the deliberations of this Conference, that a settlement has been reached which will have the assent of Indians and of all Parties in this country? It is eminently to be desired that such an agreement should be reached. As the noble Marquess has said, nothing else can really be durable in the way of a settlement.
It is inevitable that at this Conference, free and open as it has been declared to be, there should be much and very important discussion and deliberation in regard to the Report of the Statutory Commission. It may be well to recall, for one moment only, what has happened. The Commission was appointed by the unanimous voice and vote of Parliament to perform duties under the Act of 1919. It proceeded to India and, as your Lordships know, laboured incessantly for a period of close upon three years, and in the end a unanimous Report has been presented to Parliament. That Report must necessarily be one of great authority and influence. It must be considered with the greatest care. At the same time, let me not be misunderstood. The recommendations made in that Report are not sacrosanct. They will be discussed at the Conference. They may be criticised at the Conference. I think the Chairman of the Commission himself has said that they were meant to advise and not to decide. It is a constructive scheme presented by them, reached after much anxious deliberation. It bears on the face of it the evidence of most careful thought and investigation. It is impossible for the Conference to sit without 973 having this Report before it and giving it a great part of its attention.
To my mind the hand of friendship that was extended to India by the invitation to the Conference was wisely extended. It offered to Indians the opportunity of coming to this country, of formulating their proposals and presenting their views to the Conference, and of taking part in all the deliberations and discussions of the Conference. Equally, it is open, as I think the noble Marquess has said, to delegates from the three political Parties here, if they so choose, to make their own proposals; but I think what is essential to be remembered is that all who attend the Conference should attend it with a free and open mind, prepared to consider all that may be said. We have some advantage no doubt in the Report that is already before us. No one can deny that. I think that those who took part in that Commission, who at great personal inconvenience devoted themselves for this period of nearly three years to the work which Parliament had entrusted to them, are deserving of the gratitude of the people of this country and especially of Parliament. I doubt very much whether there can be found a State document which bears the testimony of more careful thought and work than the Report which has been presented.
For this reason I confess that I much regret that His Majesty's Government have not seen fit to indicate any intention—indeed, I rather gather that they have expressed an intention to the contrary—of appointing a representative or representatives of this Commission to sit at the Conference. I think it is an unfortunate decision. No one who attends that Conference can present with equal authority and influence the views of the Commission, after their long study of the problems of India, as well as those who were members of that Commission, and I regret that we shall, according to what I understand from the Government, not have the opportunity of representation of that Commission at the deliberations of the Conference, for again it has been said that no one would be better pleased than the Commission if some better plan could be presented than that which they recommend. On the whole, while expressing satisfaction that the Government have seen fit to continue the course which has hitherto been pursued in Parliament, of 974 associating the three Parties in the work which is being done in connection with India, I regret that they have nevertheless omitted what I think would be a roost desirable step—namely, that of appointing a representative of the Commission.