DEVOTED TO THE DISCUSSION OF ALL TOPICS OF INTEREST EDITED BY G. A. NATESAN. THE REVISED INDIAN REFORM BILL i. BY MR. G. A. NATESAN ii. BY SIR P. S. SIVASWAMI AIYAR THE REVISED BILL: A SYMPOSIUM SIR P. C. RAY; SIR R. N. MUKERJEE; MR. KRISHNA KUMAR MITRA; DR. PRAMATHANATH BANERJEE; MR. K. NATARAJAN; SIR NARAYAN CHANDAVARKAR ; HON. MR. PARANJPYE; MR. JINNAH; SIR BENODE MITTER; MR.J. N. RAY; HON. P. C. MITTER; DR. SAPRU; MR. J. CHAUDHURY; MR. SATYANANDA BOSE; MR. PRITHWIS CHANDRA RAY; MR. SYED HASAN IMAM; MR. B. C. CHATTERJEE; MR. ERFAN ALI; HON. MR. B. N. SARMA. TO ENGLAND: A Poem BY MR. AKSHAY KUMAR MUKERJI THE PUNJAB DISORDERS ENQUIRY WOMENS' EDUCATION IN INDIA BY PROF. D. K. KARVE SELF-GOVERNMENT No. 11. 1919. BY MR. GULSHAN RAI, B.A., LL.B. CHILD WELFARE IN INDIA BY DR. LAKSHMANASWAMI, B.A., L.M. & S. THE MODERATE DEPUTATION BY HON. SURENDRANATH BANNERJEA TWO MOTTOES DR. MAULVI MUHAMMAD AHMED, M.A., LL.M. A LITERARY BUDGET BY PROF. P. SESHADRI, M.A. THE ORIENTAL CONFERENCE NARASINGH MEHTA BY MR. K. V. RAMASWAMI, B.A., B.L. THE CHIEFS' CONFERENCE MYSTICISM : THE HIGhest religION BY MR. C. N. KUPPUSWAMY IYER, B.A., M.L. SONG AND ACTION: A Poem BY MR. A. YUSUF ALI, I.C.S. 2000000 00000 A MONTHLY PERIODICAL PUBLISHED BY G. A. NATESAN & CO., GEORGE TOWN, MADRAS. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION TO THE INDIAN REVIEW RS. FIVE 10/s. * SINGLE COPY RE. ONE. PANDIT MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA'S SPEECHES & WRITINGS. Price Rs. 3. To Subscribers. I.R., Centre, 2nd line:-Mr. Banerjea; to his right Sir B. C. Mitter; to his left Sir K. G. Gupta; next to Sir K. G. Gupta is Hon'ble Dr. Sapru; A MONTHLY PERIODICAL DEVOTED TO THE DISCUSSION OF ALL TOPICS OF INTEREST. EDITED BY MR. G. A. NATESAN. Vol. XX. NOVEMBER, 1919 No. 11 THE REVISED INDIAN REFORM BILL TH I. BY MR. G. A. NATESAN HE Indian Reform Bill, amended in the light of the recommendations of the Joint Committee is an undoubted improvement on the original and one can unhesitatingly say that it is a substantial fulfilment of the pledges held forth in the famous announcement of the 20th August. The country will have greater satisfaction indeed if in the Bill, some provision had been made for an element of responsibility in the Central Government a point on which men of all parties and of all shades of opinion had laid considerable stress. But even those who may regret this defect, must admit that the new Bill provides for a considerable amount of popular influence being brought to bear on the administration at large. Fiscal autonomy, another demand rightly insisted on by all parties, is virtually guaranteed "though not by statute yet by a convention of non-inter ference." Lord Selborne and his colleagues deserve the thanks of the Indian people for the considerate and impartial manner in which they have discharged a great and responsible task. It only remains for us to express the hope that the Bill will soon be passed into law and that every endeavour will be made to start India on the road to responsible Government. We need hardly add that any delay in this direction will be fraught with the gravest disaster. For, as has been rightly pointed out by the Moderate, Deputation in an appeal to the Parliament, "delay in the grant of constitutional political reform will strengthen the forces of disaffection and disorder to an extent not understood by those who are not in living contact with the affairs in India." II. BY SIR P. S. SIVASWAMI AIYAR HE Indian Reform Bill as originally published was incomplete in several respects. It was the barest skeleton of a scheme of Constitutional Reform and left many of the most important matters to be settled by rules to be subsequently framed. The report of the Crewe Committee on the Home Administration of Indian Affairs had not been submitted and the retrograde views of the Government of India in their several despatches on Indian Reforms created the liveliest apprehensions about the actual scope of the Reforms which had been eagerly looked for. Past experience of the history of the MintoMorley scheme led people to fear that the intentions of Parliament, however generous, would, if not actually translated into statutory language, be liable to be diluted in the process of rulemaking by bureaucratic agencies. When the Joint Committee was appointed, nothing was known of the views or predilections of the chairman and the inclusion of some reactionary elements like Lord Sydenham in the personnel gave rise to serious misgivings as to the outcome of the labours of the Joint Committee. But the summaries of the proceedings of the Joint Committee and the accounts of those who attended the sittings testify to the spirit of conscientious fairness which throughout guided Lord Selborne in his conduct of the proceedings of the Joint Committee. The Report of the Joint Committee and the Bill as revised by them which have been just published must be pronounced remarkably satisfactory. It is of course not possible to predict whether the Bill is likely to encounter any serious obstacles in its passage through Parliament or is likely to undergo any alteration to our prejudice or to our advantage. The Bill has been greeted with unfavourable criticism in certain sections of the press in this country. It is unnecessary to deal here with the criticism of the reactionary section of the Anglo Indian press. By the extremist portion of the Indian press the revised bill has been belittled, so much so that one journal has gone the length of des |