THE DAILY PROVINCE
SEPTEMBER 12, 1910

BECOMING ALARMED.
------------------The latest intelligence regarding grave developments of unrest among
the native population of India is filling the public mind in Great Britain with
anxiety. In the face of the revelations of the last few days it is easy to perceive
that there has not been, as it was hoped there would be, a considerable
revulsion in favor of British rule. The truth appears to be that only the upper
classes of the native population are well disposed towards Britain and that
among the masses of the population in every province disaffection is
prevalent, leading to outrage, dacoity(Sic), and conspiracy against the
established order. That this dangerous movement is led and fostered by the
natives whom Britain has helped to endow with the advantages of higher
education is undeniable. But to comprehend the causes of this unrest it is
necessary to study closely a most valuable series of articles in the London
Times. The writer has discussed the problem with great knowledge, and in
commenting on his conclusions the London journal says: “He seeks to show
that we are in the presence of forces, still only partly visible, which have
slowly gathered momentum during many years. They do not spring from,
though they may have been partly stimulated by, objection to this or that
measure. They have their roots in the aim beginning of Indian history, they
derive such vitality as they possess form the very spirit and character of the
Indian peoples.”
It is obvious then that Great Britain is confronted with a very delicate
and complex problem, which is not to be solved by easy going optimism. How
deeply disturbed are the relations of the native population and their rulers
may be guaged(Sic) by the latest news from India of a large number of arrests
for conspiracy subversive of the British supremacy. The suspects include
many persons of wealth and education, and this is but the culmination of a
long series of political outrages in the two Bengals. The authorities, we are
told, think they have unearthed a far-reaching and active conspiracy to
overthrow British rule in India, and the foundation of this belief must be
exposed when the trials take place. But, whatever the issue of the present

THE DAILY PROVINCE
SEPTEMBER 12, 1910
development may be, such news is most disquieting. We have heard so often
of the change for the better in the attitude of the native races towards their
rulers, and so much of the pacificatory(Sic) effect of the recent political
changes on the native mind, that it must come as a shock to find that the
severest measures are still deemed necessary by the Indian Government.
Undoubtedly Britain is in a measure responsible for some of the present
difficulties, because she has enabled numbers of the natives to participate in
the presumably enlightening advantages of a Western education, and have
thus saturated them with Western ideas of liberty. That these principles can
be at once grafted on the Oriental stock is palpably absurd; but the ardent
protagonists of Indian independence do not realize that fundamental fact.
Therein the prime danger lies. It is no doubt a most estimable policy to show
sympathy towards all legitimate aspirations, but the peril of such a disposition
is that it is liable to be misinterpreted by the mass of the uneducated, in whose
minds the seeds of sedition, sown by the cunning and ambitious agitators of
their own color, are most likely to open and germinate. Sentiment, however
worthy in itself, is wasted when applied to the problems of Great Britain’s
relations with Indian peoples, for consideration is construed as a sign of
weakness and tolerance is accounted craven. The inevitable result of the
contact between two vastly divergent civilizations is before us; and when the
solvent of Occidental thought is applied to Oriental systems disturbances is
certain to ensue.