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Vol. L
KARMAYOGIN
FACTS AND OPINIONS.
A WEEKLY REVIEW
National Religion, Literature, Science, Philosophy, &c.,
The Bomb Case and Anglo-India.
The comments of the AngloIndian papers on the result of the appeal in the Alipur case are neither particularly edifying nor do they tend to remove the impression shared by us with many thoughtful Englishmen that the mperial race is being seriously demoralized by empire. From the Englshman we expect nothing better, and in fact we were agreeably surprised at the comparative harm. lessness of its triumphant article on the day after the judgment Its reference to the nonsense abou there being no sedition in di and no party of Revolution leaves our withers unwrurg. We ourselves belong to a party of peaceful revo lution, for it is a rapid revolution in the system of Government in India which is the aim of our political efforts, and it is idle to object to us that there have been peaceful revolutions and cannot be. History gives the lie to that statement, whether it proceeds from Mr. Gokhale or from Anglo-India We have also always admitted that there is a Torrorist party, for bombs are not thrown without hands and men are not shot for political reasons unless there is Terrorism in the background. All we havo contended, and our contention is not
no
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11th Agrahayana 1316.
overthrown by the judgment in the Alipur appeal, which merely proves that the conspiracy was not childish, and by no means that it was a big or widespread organisation, is that the attempt of the AngloIndian papers to blacken the whole movement, and especially the whole Nationalist party, is either an erroneous or an unscruplous attempt, and the disposition of the police to arrest every young Swadeshi worker as a rebel and a dacoit is foolish, wrong-headed, often dishonest, and may easily become fatal to the chances of a peaceful solution of the dispute between the Government and the people. The Englishmen, however, represents a lower grade
of intellect and refine ment to which these considerations are not likely to present themselves. The aver age respectable Englishman is better represented by the Statesman, and the one dominating note in the Statesman is that of regret that the Courts had to go through the ordinary procedure of the law and could not effect a swift dramatic and terror-striking vindication of the inviolability of the British Government. One would have thought that a nation with the legal and political traditions of the English people would have been glad that the procedure of law had been preserved, the chances of error minimised and the State still safeguarded; and that no ground
No. 21.
had been given for a charge of differentiating between a political and an ordinary trial to the prejudice of the accused. It is evident, however, that the type of Englishman demoralized by empire and absolute power considers that, in political cases, the Law Courts should not occupy themselves with finding out the truth, but be used as a political instrument for vengeance and striking terror into political opponents. The Nadiya President's Speech.
We congratulate Mr Aswini Banerji on the able and vigorous speech delivered by him as the President of the Nadiya Conference. He took up an attitude which was at once manly and free from ex cess or violence. For ourselves the first point we turned to was the pronouncement on the Reforms. We do not think the judgment of the country on this ill-conceived measure could have been put with greater truth and force than in the periods of goodhumoured contempt and irony, scathing yet in perfectly good taste, in which Mr Banerji disposed of the claime of the Reform Scheme to be a measure of popular self-government. If all public men take the same attitude, the day of a true measure of popular control will be much noarer than if we affect a qualified atisfaction with this political bauble. As Mr. Banerji forcibly pointed out,
