Formal
XX. Resolved— That this Congress re-appoints Mr. A. O.
Hume, C.B., to be General Seci-etary and Mr. D. E. Wacha to be
Joint General Secretary for the ensuing year.
XXI. Resolved — That the Fourteenth Indian National Con-
gress do assemble on such daj^ after Cliristmas Day, 1898, as may
later be determined upon, at Madras.
CHAPTER XIV
The Fourteenth Session of the National Congress
was held in Madras, on December 29th, 30th and
31st, 1898. The clouds were gathering on the
political horizon, coercion was showing its hideous
face, ensuring the growth of secret conspiracy, and
alienating from the Government, which confessed its
weakness by employing it, all that was best and no-
blest in the land. The famine and the plague had
exercised a depressing influence in the country, and
the dislike shown to the vivifying influence of English
education had increased. The number of delegates
fell to 614, distriljuted as follows :
Madras
... 519
Berar, C. P. and Hyderabad
18
Bombay
... 27
N. W.'P
... 11
Beno-al and Assam ...
... 38
Panjab
1
614
The Congress met on December 29th, and was wel-
comed by the Chairman of the Reception Committee,
the Hon. Mr. N. Subbarau Pantulu, who, after a few
THE FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 271
words referring to the loss of Mr. Gladstone, the
Maharaja of Darbhanga and Sardar Daj-al Singh —
two towers of strength to the Congress- — ^dwelt on the
value of the Congress as an interpreter of the Indian
mind to the British Government and to England.
He complained of the attitude to the Indians of the
officials, who saw conspiracy where there was none,
who narrowed personal liberty in times of peace,
brought in laws against sedition, and made distinctions
between the British-born and the Indian subjects of
the Queen-Empress. He pointed out that the func-
tion of the Services was not to shape the policy of
the State, but only to carry it out when declared, and
that their inroads on Government should be checked.
The Hon. Rai Bahadur P. Ananda Charlu, CLE.,
proposed Mr. Ananda Mohan Bose as President,
Mr. R. N. Mudholkar seconded, Mr. John Adam and
Mr. Jaishi Ram supported, and the election was
carried by acclamation.
The President opened his speech with a very
beautiful tribute to Mr. Gladstone, who had passed
away during the year, and then said a few words on
the arrival of the new Viceroy, Lord Curzon, who had
landed at Bombay on that day, expressing a hope —
not destined to be realised — that when he left the
counti'y, he might carry with him some of the love
that followed Mr. Gladstone on leaving the world. He
then turned to the unfortunate tendency which was
showing itself, which would become disastrous if not
checked. However slow progress towards freedom was
in this country, it had at least been almost continuous.
272 HOW INDIA WEOUGHT FOR FREEDOM
Twenty years before, tliey had a brief reaction, in the
Vernacular Press Act of Lord Lytton,. but it was
quickly withdraw^n ; now they had had two years of
re-action, a reversal of the wise and beneficent policy
of the past. In the Educational Service, Indians had
been admitted to the highest grades on exactly the
same terms as Englishmen ; about twenty years ago,
their pay was reduced, but the highest grades Avere
still open to them. In 1896, the year of the Diamond
Jubilee, they were excluded from some of these
appointments for the first time, their status lowered,
and their pay further reduced. In this same year,
the Engineering College of Eoorkee was closed to
Asiatics of pure descent, whose domicile was in one of
the three Presidencies.
It is quaint to notice in this that Asiatics of impure
descent were not excluded ! To give privileges to
illegitimacy is peculiar to the Government of India.
The next great wrong was tlie imprisonment of the
brothers Natu, who had been lyiug for 18 months
in prison without trial. England pointed at Russia
with scum for similar deeds, and everyone felt his
personal liberty insecure where such measures were
allowed. Again, there was the new law of sedition,
and the changes in the Criminal Procedure Code,
which put public sjDcakers and editors of newspapers
on a level Avith rogues and vagabonds, liable to be
called on to furnish security for good behaviour,
and allowed a District Magistrate, the head of the
police, to try cases of sedition. Many other retro-
grade measures had been passed, among them the
THE FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 273
Calcutta Municipal Bill, which proposed to take away
almost all power from a Corporation which had used
its powers with marked success, thus striking a severe
blow at Local Self-Government. The President then
criticised the Frontier policy of the Government,
crippling by its cost every internal reform. What
was to be the future policy of the Government — back-
ward or forward ?
Are we to march backwards into the methods of
despotism, to the weapons of coercion, to the policy of
distrust â– ? or we are to march onwards in the path which
was traced out by those noble Eng-lishmen who have been
the founders, the consolidators, the saviours of the Empire,
the path which leads to advancing and not to receding-
freedom, to greater trust in the people, to rights enlarged
and not to concessions withdrawn r*
Alas ! the first alternative has been chosen, despite
the one item of the Council Reforms, with much of
their value juggled out of them by the policy of
distrust.
In a letter received by him while in England, the
President said, from a gentleman who had taken no
part in politics, the following occurred : " Are you a
friend to British Rule ? try your best to induce the
authorities to withdraw the suicidal policy of Govern-
ment. If you are an enemy, well, my advice is keep
quiet and let things take their course." Mr. K. C.
Dutt had lately said that he could hardly remember
any time " when the confidence of the people of India
in the justice and fair play of English rulers was
so shaken, as it has been within the last two years ".
The President eloquently urged on the British ta
give up coercion, and to
22
274 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM
find the path of safety, of honour, of mutual advan-
tage, and the truest and most abiding glorj, in going
forwards in fearless confidence, trusting the people,
extending the bounds of freedom, not forging new fetters
but gradually removing those that exist, not taking away
but adding to the rights of the people, helping on the
cause of India's regeneration with the passionate longing
and the loving ardour that come from the consciousness
of a duty and a solemn responsibility from on high.
The educated classes of India are the friends and not the
foes of England, her natural and necessary allies in the
great work that lies before her.
The President further touched on various reforms,
and suggested the direct representation of India in
Parliament ; urged that the Congress should work
continuously throughout the year, and choose special
items to press each year. He concluded with a noble
peroration on " God and tlie Motherland," and sat
down amidst enthusiastic applause.
The Subjects Committee was then approved and
the Congress adjourned.
On the second day, December 80th, the first three
Resolutions, expressing grief for the deaths of
Mr. Gladstone, the Maharaja of Darbhanga and Sardar
Dayal Singh were moved from the Chair and passed
by the audience standing up in solemn silence.
The Hon. Mr. C. Jambnlingam Mudaliar moved
Resolution IV, a protest on the law of sedition which
had been passed in the Supreme Legislative Council
against the stubborn opposition of the non-official
members and an unprecedented agitation in the
â– country. He traced the history of laws against sedi-
,tion, and the iiitroduct ir)n of the words "hatred and
THE FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 275
contempt," which included all criticism of Govern-
ment, since criticism implied that the action criticised
was against sound reason or common sense ; also
Indian Native subjects, not Eurasian or Anglo-Indian,
might be punished on return home for words spoken
abroad. The eifect of this and of the " good
behaviour " clauses was that an Empire which had
been consolidated " by confidence and goodwill has
been converted into a Government of suspicion and
distrust. ... A permanent bitterness of feeling has
taken root over the land, over its whole length and
breadth." He concluded with a hope that the new
Viceroy would repeal " the iniquitous legislation of his
predecessor ". Mr. Tarapadu Bannerji seconded,
and the Resolution was supported by Pandit K. P.
Kavyabisharad and Mr. T. Venkatasubba Iyer, and
carried.
Resolution V welcomed Lord Curzon and expressed
a hope that he would govern according to the best
traditions of British rule ; it was moved by the Hon.
Mr. Surendranath Bannerji, who, referring to speeches
delivered in England by the new Viceroy, said that
these speeches inspired a hope that Lord Curzon's
name might be linked with those of Bentinck, Canning
and Ripon. Such was the friendly feeling which Lord
Curzon changed into bitter hatred. The Resolution
was seconded by Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur,
supported by the Hon. Rai Bahadur P. Ananda
Charlu and the Hon. Mr. D. S. Garud, and carried.
Resolution VI, on Permanent Settlement, was
moved bv Mr. G. Venkataratnam, who showed how
276 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM
the promises of Government as regards the land had
been treated as waste paper, and pointed out that
the ryotwari tenure had been so changed as to have
lost its valuable characteristics. Mr. M. R. Bodas
seconded, and dealt with the retrograde land policy
in Bombay, shown by the legislation. The Khots
were being forced to give up their villages, because
the assessments they were compelled to pay to the
Government were far higher than the rents they
received from their tenants. A Khot who received
Rs. 700 for a village had to pay Rs. 2,000, and so
the Khots gave up the villages and the Government
attached them. By legislation the Government were
confiscating private property enjoyed for long, and
under sanads from Musalman Emperors. The
Resolution was carried.
Resolution VII dealt with the Frontier policy of
the Government, and was moved in a spirited speech
by Mr. G. Subramania Iyer, who condemned " this
mischievous and dangerous Frontier policy .... a
policy prompted by that spirit of aggression abroad
and repression at home which has prevailed for some
time ". All improvements at home were starved for
want of the funds wasted in foolish aggression. If
the wars were made for Imperial purposes then let
Britain pay the cost, and leave Indian money to be
spent on Indian needs. Mr. Charu Chandra Ghose
seconded, quoting English opinion, civil and military,
against the forward policy, and asking the Government
to return to the policy of Lord Lawrence and Lord
I^ipoii, and find a scneiitiflc frontier in the hearts of a
THE rOURTEENTH CONGRESS 277
loyal and contented people. The Resolution was
carried.
Mr. W. A. Chambers, in moving Resolution VIII,
against the establishment of Secret Press Committees,
said that, as an Englishman, he could not understand
such an institution being established in any country
administered by his countrymen. He gave as an
example an article published in the Bombay Pre-
sidency, which had drawn down on the Editor a
letter from his Magistrate ; the article and letter
were sent to Sir William Wedderburn, and came
into his own hands. He took them to the Editor
of a large London paper, who characterised the
article as innocent, and the letter as " monstrous ".
He said to the Editor : " This is the sort of
thing that is takiug place, not in Russia, not in
Germany, but in a country for whose Government
you and I are responsible." In his own paper, he
had always been ready to correct any mistake he had
unwittingly made, and all Indian Editors would do
the same if treated with courtesy and candour. Mr.
N. C. Kelkar seconded, and asked for the indignant
vote of the Congress against " the hateful institution
of the Press Committees, which are only a thinly
veiled Press censorship, and as such a distinct dis-
grace to British Rule in India ". They were part of
the re-actionary policy adopted by the Government,
the natural sequel of the amendments to the criminal
law. The Resolution was carried.
Resolution IX continued the protest against re-
action, this time with regard to Local Self-Government,
278 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM
by the introduction of the Calcutta Municipal Bill
and the Bombay City Improvement Trust. Mr. G. S.
Khaparde moved it, remarking that Lord Ripon
inaugurated a policy of Locail Self-Government,
but the executive officers spoiled it in carrying
it out. To Calcutta they gave a " Master-Servant/'
in the shape of an appointed Chairman who
controlled everything, and to Bombay a " Ser-
vant-Master," a Municipal Commissioner who acted
as a paid Secretary but did not take his orders from
his employers ; thus, he declined on one occasion
to produce the records of tlie Municipality for the
inspection of the Municipality ! Mr. Khaparde made
a thorough and witty exposure of the devices of the
officials to make Self-Government a sham. Mr. J.
Choudliuri seconded, remarking that the fault of the
Calcutta Corpot-ation was that they did too much and
wore out their official chairman. The Lieutenant-Gover-
nor complained " that they were over-zealous, they did
their duties with a great amount of self-sacrifice and
zeal, and that the Commissioner could not keep pace
with them ". Mr. B. S, Sahasrabuddhe supported,
and noted that in Poona the number of nominated
members had been increased, and the candidates
rejected l)y the people had been nominated by the
G()\cniiiiciir. The Kc^solution was carried.
Resolution IX, in favour of the separation of Exe-
cutive and Judicial functions, was put from the Chair
and carried.
Resolutioji \, for tlie reorganisation of the Civil
and ^lilitary Medical Service, so closely associated
THE FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 279
with the name of Dr. Bahadur ji, was moved by
Dr. Nih-atan Sirkar, seconded by Dr. T. M. Nair, and
carried, with a rider expressing grief at the loss
sustained by the Congress and the country in the
untimely death of Dr. K. N. Bahadurji.
Mr. Gr. Parameshvaram Pillai moved Resolution
XII, protesting against the disabilities inflicted on
Indians in South Africa, showing how they were
becoming greater as time went on. In 1894, they
were deprived of the franchise in Natal, the disabili-
ties of Indians in their own country being carried
over to Natal. In 1897, the law compelled them
" to choose between perpetual bondage and an odious
poll-tax ". Mr. (iandhi had begun his agitation
— none knew then how far it would go — and three
additional disabling Acts had been passed, in which
Indians were not named, the Colonists being ashamed
openly to take so unfair a course, but the Prime
Minister of Natal, Mr. Harry Escombe, was not
ashamed to say that " no Government dreamt of
applying the law to Europeans. . . . The object,
however, was to deal with Asiatics. Some people
said they liked an honest straightforward course.
When a ship was heading against a wind she
had to tack, and by-and-bye she reached her
goal. When a man met difficulties he fought against
them, and, if he could not knock them over, he went
round them, instead of breaking his head against a
brick wall." The Transvaal Republic was restricting
them to " locations," and these were assigned to
them outside the towns, where refuse was shot, and
280 HOW INDIA WKOUGHT FOR FREEDOM
they had "to reside in these places amongst
dung-heaps ". In some Colonies they might not
Avalk on footpaths, nor travel in 1st or 2nd class
raihvay carriages, nor possess native gold, nor
be out after 9 p. in., nor travel without passes. The
Viceroy, Lord Elgin, consented to the cruel Natal
law, which 11 years before, had been declared
to be " a grievous wrong," to which the Govern-
ment of India Avould never consent. The
Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Joseph
Chamberlain, had pi'omised help, but had never given
it. The Secretary of State for India, Lord George
Hamilton had " characterised us as a nation of
savages," so no help could be looked for from him.
I think it is a standino' disg-race .... a shame and a
scandal that we, Her Majesty's beloved subjects, who are
competent enough to compete with her English subjects
in Great Britain and enter the House of Commons, should
be treated as an inferior order of beings, fit only to be
hewers of wood and drawers of water to the domineering
white population in the Colonies.
The Resolution was seconded by Mr. R. D.
Nagarhar, supported by Mr. Ramesan and carried.
The Congress then adjourned.
The third day, December 31st, began with the
reading of a telegram of thanks from Lord Curzon to
the Congress "for their cordial message of welcome ".
It is pathetic to read of Lord Curzon expressing the
hope that, when he left India, some one present at his
arrival miglit ]>e able "to testify that during my
time I have done something, if it even be but little,
for tliis land which, next to my own country, is
THE FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 281
nearest to ray heart". Who then imagined that in
1905, Mr. Gokhale, as President of the Congress,
would declare that Lord Curzon's rule had been
the worst India had suffered under since that of
Aurungzeb ?
After the reading of other telegi-ams, Resolution X
was moved by Mr. D. E. Wacha, on what may be called
his own subject, the Indian Currency question. He
said that few realised how much each person was
affected by alterations in the currency, for the
subject was highly technical and difficult of apprehen-
sion. The Amended Coinage Act of 1893, closing
the mints to the free coinage of silver, passed in half
an hour ])y the Simla Legislature, without any re-
presentative of India being summoned, was the
starting point of a wrong course. It was the Home
(Foreign) Charges that were the disease, not the
currency. Then came attempts to fix exchange value
and to prop it up by the Grold Bill. Frontier policy,
famine and plague exhausted the cash balances.
Mr. Wacha analysed the financial conditions, and
showed that unwise polic}^, not currency, was the root
of Indian distress. Mr. G. Subramania Iyer seconded,
pointing out that Government looked only to ex-
change, Anglo-Indian merchants only to trade ; none
considered the people. Taxes were levied in silver, and
the ryot would have to sell 60 per cent more of his
produce to gain the inflated value of the rupee. He
did not regard the great flow of English capital into
the country as an advantage, for it increased the
" drain " ; Indian capital should be invested here,
282 HOW INDIA WROUGHT FOR FREEDOM
and then the gain would be real. The Resolution
was carried.
Resolution XIV, on the composition of the Executive
Councils of Bombay and Madras, was again brought
up ; Mr. V. Krishnaswami Iyer proposed, Professor
Paranjpe seconded it, and it was carried.
In Resolution XV the demand for the repeal of the
three objectionable Regulations of 1818, '19 and '21
was once more urged — they still flourish ! — this time
by Mr. P. R. Sundara Iyer. There was nothing new
to be said about it by him, or by Mr. John Adam
the seconder, or by Rai Nalinaksha Basu Bahadur, the
supporter, and it was once more passed. Then the
President put Resolutions XVI and XVII, on Simulta-
neous Examinations and the Press (ragging Act
respectively, and they were carried. Mr. R. N.
Mudholkar proposed Resolution XA^IIl, in favour of
Technical Education ; it was seconded by Mr. M.
Baikunthanath Sen, supported by four other speakers
and carried.
The Hon. Mr. Batnasabhapati Pillai moved
Resolution XIX, on the Constitution and working of
the Congress, asking the Standing Committee to form
Provincial Committees, and appointing a Committee
to consider the draft Constitution circulated by
the Reception Committee of Madras, and submit a
definite scheme to the next Congress, to be the first
subject of discussion. 'I'lie Hon. ^Mr. Surendranath
Banner ji seconded, Mr. Ashvini Kumara Dutt and
Mr. M. V. Joshi supported, and the Resolution was
cari'ied.
ft
THE FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 283
Resolution XX, the Omnibus, had passengers (a) to
(g) despite those put from the Chair ; it was moved by
Mr. Grubb, seconded by Mr. John Adam, supported by
Messrs. Habibulla Sahab, and A. C. Parthasaradhi
Naidu, and carried. Resolution XXI, thanking the
Government for granting a Legislative Council for the
Panjab and regretting that its powers were smaller
than those of other Provinces, and Resolution XXII,
on Legislation for Berar, were put from the Chair.
Then Mr. A^. C. Desikachariar moved Resolution
XXIII, asking that plague expenditure should come
out of Government and not out of local funds ; it was
seconded by Mr. G. B. Phansalkar, and carried.
Resolution XXIV, renewing the expression of con-
fidence in Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, Avas moved, seconded
and carried. The President put from the Chair
Resolution XXV, the annual vote of thanks to Sir
William AVedderburn and the British Committee, and
the funds for the latter, and also Resolution XXVI,
reappointing Messrs. A. 0. Hume and D. E. Wacha
as General and -Joint General Secretaries. Resolution
XXVII accepted the invitation of Lucknow for the
next Session of the Congress, and Resolution XXVIII
moved by Mr. Bhupendranath Basu, thanked the
Reception Committee and the A^olunteers.
The last Resolution, No. XXIX, conveying a vote
of thanks to the President, was moved by Mr. G.
Subramania Iyer and unanimously passed. The
President acknowledged it, in an eloquent and
touching speech, and the Fourteenth National
Congi'ess was dissolved.
284 now IXDIA WKOUGHT FOR FREEDOM
RESOLUTIONS
The Grief of Congress
WiHiain Eivart Gladstone
\. Resolvod — That this Cong-ress records its profound rpijret
at the irreparable loss that the British Empire and the civilised
â– world at larjre have sustained l)y the death of Mr. W. E. Gladstone,
the ufreatest statesman of modern times, and a warm and genuine
friend of humanity, and desires to express its sense of gratitude for
the sympathy which he unil'ormh' evinced towards the efforts of the
Indian people in securing a more liberal and progressive Govern-
ment in India; and that a copy of the foregoing resolution be for-
warded to his son, Mr. Herbert Gladstone.
Maharaja of Darbhaiiya
II. Resolved — That this Congress deeply mourns the great
loss the country has suffered by the sad and untimely death of the
late Maharaja of Darbhanga, Sir Lakshmessur Singh Bahadur,
G.C.I.E. The Congress places on record its high appreciation of
his ready and enlightened public spirit and his liberal and catholic
benefactions, and desires to give expression to its feeling of grati-
tude for the generous and unfailing support which the Congress
movement received at his hands ; and that a copy of tlie foregoing
resolution be forwai-ded to Maharaja Ranieshwar Singh, the
brother of the deceased Maharaja.
Daijal Singli
III. Resolved —That this Congress expresses its profound grief
for the great loss which the people of the country in general and
those of the I'anjab in particular have sustained by the death of the
late Sardar Dayal Singii oi Lahore, and places on record its high
api)reciation of the public spirit and tiie liberal suppt>rt he gave in
furtiierance of the progressive movements whii'li tended to ame-
liorate the condition of the Natives of India.
[See also (o) of Res. XI.]
Coercion
Criminal P roved n re
IV. Resolved— That this Congress regrets, that, in despite of its
jirotest at its last sitting and the protest of many public bodies and
eminent men, English and Indian, the amendments proposed in the
Indian Penal Ctxle, and the Criminal Procedure Code, which are
calculated to unduly enlarge the powers of the Police and of the
.Magisti-aey, to fetter the freedom of the Press and to restrict liberty
THE rOURTEENTH CONGRESS 285
of speech, have been carried tlirouijli tlie Tiiiperial Legislative
Council, and urges their repeal.
Press
VIII. Resolved — That this Congress is strongly of opinion that
the establishment of Secret Press Committees in certain parts of
India is highly objectionable and inconsistent with the spirit of
British administration.
XVII. Resolved — That the Government of India Xotification
of 25th June, 1891, in the Foi-eign Department, gagging the Press