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45 of an alien creed? What does it matter to him and his like that, by a stroke of the pen, they have torn up the most solemn agreements in the spirit as well as the letter, and undermined the most cherished principles of British sovereignty in India ? In gross violation of the historical antecedents and juridical precedents and principles affecting this dispute; in wanton disregard of the cannons of taxation and demands of statesmanship; in monstrous opposition to the dictates of equity and honesty, Mr. Watson has issued a decree, whose only merit is that it has made the dispute worse than it was at its start.
In the whole episode, however, we cannot exonerate the leaders and spokesmen of the Jain community altogether from censure. They knew the dispute was brewing. What did they do to stem the tide of opposition, which they could not but have realised was setting in against them in the councils of the Palitana Thakore? They, it must be said, engaged experienced counsel and entrusted their case to tried and trusted hands, taking care to make such huge payments as to secure the undivided attention of even the most gorgeous luminaries of the legal profession. We have no quarrel with their throwing away the monies of the community in paying fabulous sums for such luxuries as the services of the leading lights of the legal profession.
