India Office.

Part of Civil Services and Revenue Departments Estimates, 1926–27. – in the House of Commons at on 20 July 1926.

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Photo of Sir Frank Nelson Sir Frank Nelson , Stroud

May I pay a small tribute to my Noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for his statement on Indian affairs; not only for the subject-matter which it contains, but also for the manner in which he delivered what must necessarily be, to the majority of Members here, a somewhat dry statement of facts? In the ordinary course I should not have intervened in this Debate at all, for have no comment even in the nature of constructive criticism to offer on events in India during the past 12 months, but the hon. Member for North Southwark (Mr. A. Guest), whom I regret to see is no longer in his place, made some remarks which I cannot allow to pass without a word or two of criticism. I am sure he will believe me when I say that I do not in any way desire to be pedantic, but, as one who has returned from permanent residence in India more recently than anyone in the Rouse, possibly he will permit, me to say, with all deference, that his whole attitude in regard to the standard of living of the peasant or ryot in India is based upon the most abysmal misunderstanding of the real situation. I say again I wish he were present, because I do not desire to misquote him, but he seemed to me to rebuke the present Government of India for not having raised or ameliorated the present standard of living of the ryot or peasant of India.

It is undoubtedly true that during a long period of years, and certainly during the last 15 or 20 years, the standard of living of the peasant and the ryot in India has been improving. The hon. Member above the Gangway has been speaking about a starvation diet, but if he had been with me in some of the districts of Northern India or in Gujerat and seen how the peasants of India live he would realise that to call it a "starvation diet" is a perfect misnomer. The ordinary daily diet of a peasant or ryot is gram, chupattis, fruit, water and possibly a little unleavened bread. In no sense is this diet much inferior to that of the high class wealthy Indian gentlemen, many of whom are true ascetics. The hon. Member went on to say that apparently the Government of India were to blame for not instituting methods which would bring a quicker amelioration of the standard of living of the labouring classes.

The hon. Member is probably ignorant of the fact that we have had to contend against obstacles which no one who has not lived in India can understand, such as the age long prejudice of the Indian lower classes against modern day methods of hygiene, sanitation, and all kinds of modern science. The hon. Member is probably unaware that a former Member of this House Sir George Lloyd (now Lord Lloyd) built chauls in Bombay which remained empty for 18 months because he could not get the natives to go into them; they had a bathroom, several windows, good ventilation and sanitation, and were much better and healthier than the attap huts in which they were living. These people could not be persuaded to go and live in those (hauls. With regard to improving the standard of living, I challenge anyone to deny that the peasant of India has consumed more wheat and worn more clothes year by year, and I hope he will continue to do so. The standard of living of the ryot of India is being ameliorated year by year, and during the last 10 years it has undergone a change out of all recognition. The recent abolition of the Cotton Excise Duty is another action of the Government of India tending towards assisting the peasant, for it means cheaper cloth to make their clothing.

The Noble Lord in his speech—I hope I am not misquoting him—mentioned one subject on which I am so whole-heartedly in agreement that I must allude to it. I understood him to say that he hoped that the best brains of India would continue to give of their very best to the common good. If he meant, as I understood him to mean, and as I hope he meant, by the best brains of India, the best European brains and the best Indian brains, I cannot support him strongly enough in my desire that his wish should be gratified, for, during the years before I retired from India three years ago, in all my public speeches, I hammered away at that point. I pointed out that, especially as regards Europeans going to India, it seemed to me that in many cases the be-all and end-all of their existence was to amass the largest possible fortune in the smallest possible time, and then retire borne to England. I pointed out, at the expense of some unpopularity to myself, that that was not a right idea, but that it seemed to me that all Englishmen and Indians should realise that there is a tremendous difference between making a business of politics and the politics of business. The whole-hearted co-operation in Indian politics of Indian business men and English business men would build up such a combination of brains and intelligence in the Legislative Assembly and in the Council of State that we should very shortly have a Legislature in India which would be second to none in the world.