6io INDIA 



medan barrister from Patna, It is perhaps worthy of note that both of these have sent 

 their sons to be educated at public schools in England. 



The enlarged legislative councils came into being in January 1910, and as the period 

 of membership was for three years, fresh elections and fresh appointments were due at 

 the end of 1912. Debates on bills and discussions on the budget have always been 

 conducted without friction; resolutions proposed by Indian members have afforded use- 

 ful opportunities for the pronouncement of official explanations; and the privilege of 

 asking questions has been abundantly availed of. It is significant that almost the first 

 Act passed by the legislative council of the Viceroy (in July 1910) was one empowering 

 the Government to prohibit indentured emigration to any country whenever it considers 

 that sufficient reason exists. Such emigration has accordingly been prohibited to 

 Natal. Nothing excites so much feeling among all sections of Indians as the disabili- 

 ties to which they are subjected in some of the self-governing British colonies. 



During 1911 three important Acts were passed: a Factories Act, which had been 

 long under consideration and of which the chief provisions are specified above; a Patents 

 and Designs Act, on the lines of the English measure; and a Prevention of Seditious 

 Meetings Act, renewing an expiring Act of 1907, with certain amendments, the most 

 noteworthy of which permits the holding of meetings for the discussion of political 

 subjects generally. A stringent Act for the regulation of the press, passed early in 1910, 

 still remains in force, its chief provision being the requirement of security, which may 

 be forfeited and the press confiscated on the publication of seditious matter. 



In 1912 swelling revenues resulted in a large surplus, part of which was devoted to 

 the pressing needs of improved sanitation. The monsoon was, on the whole, very 

 favourable, and trade was unusually brisk. In the Viceroy's legislative council the most 

 important event of the year was the rejection, as premature, of the Hon. G. K. Gokhale's 

 bill for a considered scheme of free and compulsory education. An Act passed Parlia- 

 ment for carrying into effect the new constitution of Bengal and also the formation of 

 legislative councils in Provinces under a chief commissioner; A Royal Commission was 

 appointed, with Lord Islington as chairman, and including the English labour leader, 

 Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, to examine and report on all matters connected with the 

 various branches of the civil service, with special reference to the further employment 

 of Indians and the present division of the services into Imperial and Provincial. 



Echoes of the recent troubles were aroused during the year by two legal judgments, 

 given on appeal after prolonged litigation by the Privy Council and the Calcutta High 

 Court, both of which justified executive action taken by magistrates at a time of crisis. 

 In the Mymensingh case, which dates back to 1907, the district magistrate had personal- 

 ly conducted a search for arms in a house near which an outrage had been committed 

 the day before. No arms were found. The occupier of the house brought an action for 

 trespass against the magistrate and obtained a judgment for 33 as damages, which 

 judgment was confirmed by the High Court at Calcutta. Ultimately, after long delay, 

 this judgment was reversed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in July 

 1912, on the ground that the magistrate was acting within his powers as a criminal 

 court of first instance. The circumstances of the Midnapur case are more complicated. 

 Here there is little doubt that a seditious conspiracy existed in 1908, when several 

 suspected persons were arrested. One of these, who had been soon discharged, brought 

 an action against the magistrate and two Indian police officers for illegal arrest. After 

 a trial before a judge of the Calcutta High Court, which lasted for nearly 200 days, he 

 was awarded 66 as damages. Here it may be remarked that in India all civil actions 

 are tried without a jury. On appeal to three judges of the High Court, one of whom was 

 an Indian, this judgment was unanimously reversed in August 1912, and the plaintiff 

 was condemned to pay the costs, estimated at 20,000. 



Foreign Affairs. Foreign affairs, which for India are almost equivalent to frontier 

 affairs, may be briefly treated. Anarchy in Southern Persia has required the despatch 

 of a native cavalry regiment to open the roads and protect trade. In the Persian Gulf 

 the traffic in rifles and ammunition has been suppressed by combined naval and military 



