IV. Resolved — That this Congress, concurring with previous
Congresses, is of opinion that, to ensure the adecpiate protection
and efficient defence of the country, it is desirable that the GovelTi-
ment should conciliate Indian public opinion and encourage and
qualify the Indians to defend their homes and their Government —

(n) by so modifying the rules under the Arms Act, as to
make them equally applicable to all residents in, or visitors to,
India, without distinction of creed, class or colour ; to ensure the
liberal concession of licences wherever wild animals habitually
destroy human life, cattle or crops, and to make all licences, granted
under the revised rules, of lifelong tenure, revocable only on proof
of misuse, and valid throughout the Provincial Jurisdiction in which
they are issued ;



THE SEVENTH CONGRESS 137

(6) by establishing Military Colleges in India, whereat
natives of India, as defined by Statute, may be educated and trained
for a military career, as commissioned or non-coinmissioned officers
(according to capacity and qualifications) of the Indian army ;

{(•) by organising, throughout the more warlike races of the
Empire, a system of Militia service ; and

{d) b)^ authorising and stimulating a widespread system of
Volunteering, such as obtains in Great Britain, amongst the people
of India.

Taxation and Excise

V. Resolved — That as one step towards ensuring the wider
employment of Indians in the administration of the country, and as
a matter of simple justice to the people of India, this Congress,
agreeing with previous Congresses, declares it to be essential that
all examinations for any and all of the Civil branches of the Public
Service in India, which at present are held only in England, should
henceforth be also held simultaneously in India.

VI. Resolved — That this Congress concurs with its predecessors
in strongly advocating —

(ff) the reduction of the salt tax, by at least the amount of
its latest enhancement ;

(6) the raising of the income tax taxable minimum from
Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000;

(c) persistent pressure bj^ the Government of India on all
Provincial Adniinisti'ations, to induce them to carry out, in its
integrity, the excise policy enunciated in paras 103, 104 and 105
of the despatch, published in TJic Gazette of India, oi March 1st,
1890, and the introduction of a simjjle system of local option in the
case of all villages.

Liaw and Police

VII. Resolved — That having regard to the unsatisfactory
character, in many respects, of the Judicial and Police Administra-
tion, this Congi-ess concurs with its predecessors in strongly
advocating —

(a) the complete separation of Executive and Judicial functions,
such that in no case shall the two functions he combined in the same
officer ;

(Z)) the extension in many parts of the country, where it
is not at present in force, of the system of trial by jury ;

(c) the withdrawal from High Courts of the powers, first
vested in them in 1872, of setting aside verdicts of acquittals by
juries ;



138 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM

(d) the introduction, into the Code of Criminal Procedure
of a provision enabling accused persons, in wariant cases, to demand
that instead of being tried by the Magistrate they be committed to
the court of sessions ;

(e) the fundamental reform of the Police Administration, by
a reduction in the numbers and an increase in the salaries, and in
the qualifications of the lower grades, and their far more careful
enlistment, and by the selection for the higher posts of gentlemen of
higher capacities, more in touch with the respectable portions of
the community, and less addicted to military pretensions, than the
majority of the existing Deputy Inspectors-General, Superintendents
and Assistant Superintendents, of Police.

Education

VIII. Eesolved— That this Congress, concurring with pre-
vious Congresses, affirms the importance of increasing (instead of
diminishing, as appears to be the present policy of the Govern-
ment) the public expenditure on all branches of education, and the
expediency, in view to the promotion of one of the most essential
of these branches, the technical, of appointing a mixed Commission
to enquire into the present industrial condition of the country.

General Booth

IX.

Read the folloiinng telegram from General Booth :

" May I be allowed to commend to the attention of the Congress,
the claims of the millions of India's starving poor, and to urge the
consideration of some scheme by which these destitute multitudes
can be placed upon the waste lands of the country, in such an
organised and befriended manner as will enable them to gain for
themselves, those necessaries of a healthy existence which, in their
present circumstances, are denied ; praying for the blessing of God
upon the labours of the Congress, yours, in sympathy with every
effort for the amelioration of the miseries of mankind."

Resolved— That the following telegram be despatched in reply
to General Booth :

" The Congress, having received and considered your kindlj''
message, thank j'ou cordially for the same. No possible scheme of
internal immigration can perceptibly relieve the fifty to sixty
millions of half-starving paupers, whose sad condition constitutes
the primary raison d'etre of the Congress. It is only by modifying
the adverse conditions out of which this widespread misery arises,
and by raising the moral standard of the people, that any real



THE SEVENTH CONGRESS 139

relief is possible. As regards the first, the Congress programme
now embodies all primarily essential reforms; as regards the second,
in every Province and in every caste, associations, public or private,
are working with a yearly increasing earnestness. Many good
missionaries are labouring in the same field, and we have to thank
you that your Army too is now engaged in the good work of
elevating our masses. May your eiforts and ours, in both directions,
be crowned with success. Congress, including men of many creeds,
welcomes cordially all who seek to benefit our suffering brethren."

Congress Work



Read the Report of the Committee appointed, under Resolution I,
which runs as follows :

" Your Committee ha^'e considered the matter referred to them
and have also consulted, informally, various members of the
Subjects Committee and other delegates. They are clearly of
opinion that it is not advisable to discontinue the Annual Session
of the Indian National Congress until after the British Session, and
that future Congresses should be held under the same regula-
tions as heretofore."

Resolved —That the Annual Sessions of the Congress in India
continue to be held until all necessary refomns have been secured.

XV. Resolved — That in view of the General Election now
impending in England, and in accordance with the recommendation
of our British Committee, the provisional arrangements, set on foot
in pursuance of the Resolution passed at the Calcutta Congress of
1890, for holding, all things being convenient, a Congress of not
less than 100 Delegates in England in 1892, be now suspended until
after such General Election.

XVI. Resolved — That a sum of Rs. 40,000, e.Kclusive of
individual donations, is assigned for the expenses of the British
Committee of the Congress, and Rs. 6,000 for the General Secretary's
office and establishment, and that the several circles do contribute
as arranged in Committee for the year 1892.

Forest Laws

XI. Resolved — That having regard to the very serious discon-
tent created, especially in Peninsular India, by the practical
administration of the Forest Laws, the Government of India be
most respectfully, but eai-nestly, entreated to investigate this care-
fully, and endeavour to mitigate its harshness and render it less
obnoxious to the poorer classes.



140 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM

Thanks of Congress ,

XII. Resolved — That this Congress hereby tenders its most
grateful acknowledgments to Sir W. Wedderburn, and the members
of the British Congress Committee, for the services rendered by
them to India during the past year, and respectfully urges them to
widen henceforth the sphere of their usefulness, by interesting
themselves, not only in those questions dealt with by the Congress
here, but in all Indian matters submitted to them, and properly
vouched for, in which any ju-inciple accepted bj' the Congress is
involved.

XIII. Resolved — That this Congress puts on record an expres-
sion of the gratitude felt, thi'oughout India, for the signal services
rendered by the late Mr. Charles Bradlaugh to that country's
cause, and of the deep and universal sorrow which his untimely
death has engendered ; and that a copy of this Resolution, signed
by the President, be transmitted through the British Committee
for presentation to Mrs. Bradlaugh Bonner.

XIV. Resolved — That this Congress, hereby, puts formally on
record its high estimate and deep appreciation of the great services
which Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji has rendered, during more than a
quarter of a century, to the cause of India ; that it expresses its
unshaken confidence in him and its earnest hope that he may
prove successful, at the coming elections, in his candidature for
Central Finsbury, and, at the same time, tenders, on behalf of the
vast population it represents, India's most cordial acknowledgments
to all in England, whether in Central Finsbury or elsewhere, who
have aided, or may aid him, to win a seat in the House of Commons.

Formal

XVII. Resolved— That Mr. A. O. Hume and Pandit Ayodhya-
nath are re-elected General and Joint-General Secretaries for the
ensuing year.

XVIII. Resolved — That the Eighth Indian National Congress
do assemble on the 26th December, 1892, at Allahabad.



CHAPTER VIII

The Eighth National Congress met at Allahabad on
December 28, 1892, in the same place as the Fourth,
in Lowther Castle and its grounds, but these were
now lent by the Maharaja of Darbhanga instead of
being leased, hot-foot, to secure an abidiug-place
against the efforts of the official elements in Allaha-
bad. The Maharaja had been a warm supporter
of the National Movement, and, as he had become
possessed of Lowther Castle, he gladly placed it at
the disposal of the Congress. There was raised the
Pavilion for the Congress, holding 3,500 chairs, to
accommodate the delegates and the expected visitors.
The country was represented as follows :



Madras


... 38


Bombay


... 77


C. P., Berar and Secunderabad


... 63


Bengal


... 105


N. W. P. and Oudh


... 323


Pan jab


... 19



625



The Chairman of the Reception Committee was
Pandit Bishambharnath, whose health was very
•weak, but who succeeded in delivering a short but



142 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOE FEEEDOM

admirable speech. After welcoming the delegates,
he made a touching reference to the loss the move-
ment had sustained in the passing away of that
sterling patriot, Pandit Ayodhyanath, and then said
a few strong words for the Congress :

Every true Eugiisbman, with whom the love of
liberty is an instinct, must rejoice in bis heart to witness
that that proud day in the history of the British occupa-
tion of India has come, when the children of the soil have
learnt to stand upon their feet, and are now claiming their
just rights in a constitutional manner. Both posterity
and the history of our movement when written calmly,
will, I am convinced, accord a just appreciation to its
legitimate aims and reasonable objects. They not only
err, but sin, and sin criminally too, who insinuate that this
movement is calculated to sap and undermine the founda-
tion of constituted authority .... We are now at the
fag-end of the 19th century, and live under the ^gis of
a rule which recognises only lawful agitation by consti-
tutional means. Hence the necessit}^ of our resorting to
such a course. Whether such agitation is a blessing or
a curse of the present civilisation, I do not propose to
discuss here. We must go on, and go on vigorously, and
not cease to agitate until we reach the goal of our
am^bition.

Mr. P. Ananda Charlu proposed, Mr. D. E. Wacha
seconded, the election of Mr. W. C. Bannerji as
President. It was put and unanimously carried, and
he took the chair. A telegram from the Maharaja
of Darbhanga was read, which welcomed the delegates
to Lowther Castle, and expressed his pleasure " that
the first use of this property, since my acquiring it,
has been for Congress purposes ".

Mr. Bannerji, in delivering his Presidential Address,
referred to the reasons for the non-interference by*



THE EIGHTH CONGRESS 143

the Congress with social questions, and then said a
few words on the loss the movement had sustained in
the passing of Pandit Ayodhyanath and Mr. George
Yule, who had been respectively the President of the
Reception Committee and of the Congress, when the
Congress met in Allahabad in 1888. He alluded to
the passing of Lord Cross ' India Councils Bill, the
value of which depended on the Rules framed to give
effect to it, and then congratulated the Congress on
the election to Parliament of Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji
by the Central Finsbury constituency — a noble and
generous recognition of the claim of India to make
her voice heard. He spoke warmly against the
withdrawal of grants for higher education, and
scathingly against the withdrawal of trial by jury
in seven of the districts of Bengal in serious cases.
In closing, the President made a powerful appeal
on the right of Indians to be heard, in answer to some
who had said that an agitation of theirs might
be disregarded because " it was only a ' native '
agitation ".

Is our voice not to be listened to because, forsooth,
to that voice has not been added the voice of our European
fellow-subjects ? We would welcome, welcome with open
arms, all the support which we can get from our European

fellow-subjects But, apart from that, why is our

voice to be despised ? It is we who feel the pinch ; it is
we who have to suffer ; and when we cry out, it is said
to us : " Oh, we cannot listen to you ; yours is a con-
temptible and useless and a vile agitation, and we will
not listen to you." Time was when we natives of the
country agitated about any matter, witli the help of won-
official Europeans, the apologists of the Government used
t,o say triumphantly : " This agitation is not the agitation



144 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM

of the natives of the country, but has been got up by a
few discontented Europeans ; don't listen to them, it is not
their true voice ; it is the voice of these Europeans."
And now we are told : " Don't listen to them ; it is
their own voice, and not the voice of the Europeans."

The Subjects Committee, elected by the delegates
was then submitted to and approved by the Congress.
A telegram was sent to Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji,
congratulating him on his election to the House of
Commons and thanking the electors of Central
Finsbury, and the Congress adjourned.

The meeting of December 29tli began by sending
a congratulatory telegram to Mr. Gladstone on his
83rd birthday, and then the President read out the
rules for the conduct of business.

The first Resolution, accepting the India Councils
Bill, but regretting that it did not formally recognise
the right of the Indian people to elect their repre-
sentatives, was moved by Rai Bahadur Ananda
Charlu, who emphasised the regret. He quoted
Mr. Gladstone, who looked forward to " not merely
a nominal, but to a real living representation of the
people of India," and Lord Salisbury, who said :

If we are to do it, and if it has to be done, let us do
it systematically .... taking care that the machinery
to be provided shall effect the purpose of giving repre-
sentation, not to accidentally constituted bodies, not to
small sections of the people here and there, but to the
living strength and vital forces of the whole community
of India.

Mr. Surendranath Bannerji seconding, alluded to

the statement (often heard since) that the Congress

movement was discredited and enthusiasm on th§



THE EIGHTH CONGRESS 145

wane, and remarked that this very Act was due to the
Congress, and pointed to other signs of progress.
Mr. Gladstone had spoken in 1892 of representative
institutions as the " consecrated possessions . . .
entrusted to the care and the guardianship of the
English people ".

We appeal to Mr. Gladstone, we appeal to his
colleagues, to admit us into this inestimable legacy of the
Anglo-Saxon race. Wherever floats the flag of England,
Self- Gov ei'nm.ent is the order of the day. Wherever
Englishmen have gathered together in their Colonies, be
they in the frig'id zones of the north, or amid the blazing
heat of the Equator, or in those distinct tracts watered
l)y the southern seas. Self- Government again is the order
of the day. We are not Englishmen, or men of English
race or extraction, but we are British subjects, the
citizens of a great and free Empire ; we live under the
protecting shadows of one of the noblest Constitutions the
world has ever seen. The rights of Englishmen are ours,
their privileges are ours, their Constitution is ours. But
we are excluded froni them. How long is this exclusion
to last ? That will depend very much upon ourselves.
If we are true to the traditions of the Congress, and loyal
to the noble teachings of our great Chief, who, though not
present in body is present in spirit with us — if we live
up to the exalted standard of his noble life, if we con-
secrate our eiforts by the spirit of self-sacrifice, if we are
unsparing in our pecuniary sacrifices, unremitting in our
personal efl^orts, then the great God who presides over
the destinies of fallen Nations will, in His own due time,
pour clown upon us, in plentiful abundance. His choicest
blessings ; and though we may receive a temporary
check, and the flag we now hold aloft may drop from our
sinking hands, I am confident that in the near future there
will rise up others, wdio, more fortunately situated than
ourselves, will carry that standard to victory, and
establish in this luckless land those principles of
, liberty, wdiich, while they will serve to weld together
13



146 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM

the diversified elements of our common Nationality,
will at the same time place the Empire of Britain in this
country upon the only unchangeable basis upon which it
can rest, the loye, the g-ratitude, and the contentment of
a vast and immeasurable population.

The Eesolution was supported by Raja Rampal

Sinha, Mr. M. B. Namjoslii, Mr. Uma Shankar, Hafiz

Muhammad Abdul Rahim and Moulvi Wahab-ud-din,

and carried unanimously.

The second Resolution expressed the deep regret
of the Congress with the resolution of the Govern-
ment of India on the Report of tlie Public Service
Commission, narrowing even the proposals made by
that Commission. It was proposed by Mr. G. K.
Gokhale, who pointed out that the Report of the
Commission actually put Indians in a worse position
than they were in before. They had had by the
rules of 1879 " one-sixth of the whole recruitment"
each year, and as there were 600-J-150 posts, reserved
and unreserved, Indians wou.ld have had 125 posts.
But, by a juggle, they had only 108 set apart for
them. These 108 should have been incorporated in the
Provincial Service, created by the Commission for
Indians only. But the Secretary of State managed
to have 93 or 94 of these kept on a separate list, and
would appoint to them under the Act of 1870.
Mr. Gokhale drily said that he was not sure that the
discretion of Govermnent would not be abused. Thus
India lost the certainty of tlie 108, or 93, appoint-
ments, and they were made discretionary. I^he
number recommended was reduced, the highest
were withheld, and



THE EIGHTH CONGRESS 147

a large and perilous discretion has been reserved
by Government to itself which is almost sure to be abused.
And all this as the outcome of the labours of a Commission
solemnly appointed to do full justice to our claim.s for
larger and more extensive employment in the higher
grades of the Public Service !

On simultaneous examinations Mr. Gokhale spoke

forcibly and indignantly :

Unfortunately the fact cannot be gainsaid, that of
late our rulers have been showing a disposition to regret
the promises given us in the past ; and I should not be
surprised if they one day turned round and said that
these promises were never intended to be carried out. In
that case I say it would be well for them to openly and
publicly fling into the flames all these promises and
pledges as so much waste paper, and tell us once for all
that, after all, we are a conquered people, and can have
no rights or privileges. That the Government has, of
late, been pursuing a policy of retrogression is clear to
every one. Turn whichever way we may, we find that a
change, and a change for the worse, is coming over the
spirit of the Government. Whether you consider the
Jury Notification in Bengal, or the curtailment of edu-
cational grants, or the treatment accorded to Municipali-
ties, you cannot help feeling that Government is treating
us with increasing jealousy and mistrust every day. And
vmless . this regime of distrust is soon changed, unless
the policy of Government is inspired by more sympathetic
feelings, darker days cannot but be in store for this poor
country.

The warning' was disregarded. Mr. Gokhale was

looked on as an enemy, and followed by police spies,

I instead of being looked on as a friend, warning the

• Government of dangers which he, as an Indian, knew
to exist, but to which the Government were blind.
When, out of despair, anarchism was born, his words

• were remembered — too late.



148 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya seconded the

Resolution, and after giving some figures to " show

the great and inordinate drain of India's money

because of the inordinate employment of Europeans

in the higher ranks of the Public Service/' that

was " at the bottom of the increasing poverty of

the people of this country," went on to support

Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji in pressing upon the attention of

Parliament the injustice done to India by the refusal

of simultaneous examinations in India and England

for the Indian Civil Service. The examinations

ought really to be held only in India, since the

Service was Indian.

It is sing-ularly unjust to compel the people of this
country to go 10,000 miles away from their country to pass
an examination to qualify themselves for service in their
own country. No other people labour under such an
awful disadvantage. Must we alone be subjected to it
because we are the subjects of a strong Power like
England P England, we know, has got the strength of a
giant, but she should not use it as a giant in enforcing
unfair terms and conditions against a people placed by
Providence under her care, but should allow her nobler
instincts to guide her in this matter as they have guided
her in many others, and see that we are governed
practically, and not merely theoretically, in consonance
with tliose noble principles of justice and good govern-
ment which her honoured Sovereign and her statesmen
have laid down for the purpose, and whicli guide her
in the conduct of her own affairs. We pray only for
a fair field and no favour.

Mr. Gokhale and Pandit Madan Mohan spoke in

1892. Twenty-three years have passed, and this

little concession has not been made ! Still India's

sons must travel 10,000 miles on the chance of.



THE EIGHTH CONGRESS 149

entering the Indian Civil Service in a competitive
examination for the number of posts open every year,
for the privilege of employment in their own country.
And in the face of this, a concession that would cost
England nothing, and would not touch the funda-
mental injustice of her autocracy here, we are asked
not to raise any controversial question now, but to
trust to her good-will that after the War she will
give us Self-Government.

The Resolution was supported by Mr, Janardana
Raghunath Nimkar, Moulvi Umrao Mirza Hairat,
and Rai Jotindranath Chaudlniri — who said very
pertinently :

To serve one's own countiy is a rig'lit inalienable
from its people. So in this view I look upon all those
appointrQents which can be safely given to the natives of
the soil and which are filled by foreigners, as so many
appointments robbed from the people to whom they
belong by natural right, specially in India, where we
Indians are most cruelly debarred from all the higher
employments.

Munshi Roshan Lai pointed out the caste difficulty,