welfare and happiness depend on the continuance of British rule.

The Moslem community may co-operate with the Hindus. on a vast number of public questions, but they have their own special needs and outlook, not confined to the international issues to which I have referred. Both the educational and political condition of the Hindus is far in advance in time, and also in relative extent, of that of the Mahommedans ; and it is not to be forgotten that the difference of religion between them goes to the roots of their social polity.

It has been the work of the All-India Moslem League to give the Mussulmans a political platform and to prevent their disappearance as a national entity on account of the indifference to political issues which formerly characterised them. The League came into existence only some seven or eight years ago, and so far from its work being done, it has reached a stage of evolution in which, if wise counsels prevail, it can do greater service than in the past. The crisis in the affairs of the London League, brought to a head by Mr. Ameer Ali's resignation,* confirms my conviction that the time has fully come for the Indian Mussulmans to realise that the future of the community depends not upon this or that particular leader but upon the people themselves. If there is any danger that excitable younger men may lead the League to an attitude of suspicious impatience, it is for the calmer and more reasonable section to bestir itself and to keep the organisation in its own hands, and meet the opposite party, not with abuse but with argument. The situation is one in which talents hitherto undiscovered may be drawn out for the good of the community in the country as a whole. I am confident that the great mass of educated Moslem opinion is sound and sober, and I believe that in India open discussion on the platform of the League, freed from the restraint of a permanent presidentship, will be the best means of bringing the weight of this opinion to bear on the questions of the day. But the situation of the London League is different, for there

*Since the above article was written, the moderate section of the All-India Moslem League has asserted itself, and in response to telegrams from important centres of the League in India Mr. Ameer Ali has consented to resume his presidency of the London League, and H.H. the Aga Khan has consented to become norary president of that League.-EDITOR.

the community consists exclusively of two classes-elderly men of weight and standing on the one side, and inexperienced students on the other. It is obviously impossible for the latter to instruct and influence English opinion on Moslem affairs without guidance from the former. Hence, while I am most anxious to see a reconstruction of the London League I feel it is essential that this should be based upon co-operation with the residents, and I, for one, could never join or support an institution run by students only.

To the work of rallying the Moderates of Indian political life, whether Hindu or Mussulman, the British Government can materially contribute by the maintenance of the sympathetic and progressive policy pursued by Lord Hardinge. Statesmanship should aim at alleviating legitimate discontent, duly recognising the intense national sentiment and pride of educated India, and encouraging it to follow right channels. Articulate Indian opinion has to be allied more and more closely with British rule in a spirit of mutual respect and co-operation. One of the most potent forces in this direction is that of promoting the economic development of the country. We have the lamentable admission that considerable numbers of educated youths in Bengal terrorise remote villages by forming bands of dacoits for purposes of plunder, because they have no other means of livelihood. How this situation. arises is shown in a suggestive statement in the decennial 'Moral and Material Progress and Condition' Report presented to Parliament a few months ago. The chapter on the condition of the people states (page 377) that in the Bengals :

'The economic development of the country has not kept pace with the educational progress of the people. An ever-growing number of youths are leaving the schools and the University, but fresh avenues of employment are few. Altogether 580,000 persons have a knowledge of English in the two provinces of Bengal and Behar and Orissa, the number having increased by over 200,000 since 1901; but a special census of industrial concerns employing twenty persons or more shows that the total number of Indians engaged in direction, supervision, and clerical work is only 20,000.'

Another requirement is to remove the unfortunate impression that Indian students are discouraged from coming to England, and that the facilities formerly open to them at Oxford and Cambridge are restricted for that purpose. Young

Indians do not make sufficient allowance for the practical difficulties which arise from the great increase in their numbers since the distant days when an Indian student was given special attention as an interesting novelty in the life of the University. No doubt the system of exotic preparation for professional or official life has grave drawbacks, but until India is much better equipped educationally than at present, ambitious youths will inevitably go abroad in increasing numbers to fit themselves for future success. This being so, nothing can be more foolish than to lead them to direct their gaze to Japan, to the United States, or to Germany, under the apprehension that they may be cold-shouldered in England. Any well-behaved Indian youth coming here should feel and know that he is welcome. Every encouragement should be given to him to mix freely with British contemporaries in study, and to see English life at its best. After all, the great work of the British people in India has been that of broadening and expanding Indian ideals, and it is clearly advantageous that Indians studying outside their own country should come here to absorb English ideas at first hand, rather than spend their most impressionable years elsewhere.

An even more serious matter is the treatment of Indians in South Africa, Canada, and other parts of the King's dominions. This is a source of constant irritation, and is a most powerful weapon in the hands of anti-British extremists. The renewal of passive resistance in South Africa, and the wholesale arrests of Indians for the quiet assertion of rights, taken from them contrary to pledges given, have been most unfortunate from the standpoint of Indian good-will. It is amazing that Colonial statesmen should continue a situation. which is utterly inimical to the solidarity of the British Empire; and to the average Indian it is a matter of pained astonishment and doubt that his Majesty's Government-the powerful arbiter of Imperial issues-appeals in vain for justice to be done. And still worse is the grave danger that Zanzibar and Pemba may be handed over to Germany, and that in East Africa a handful of white settlers may repeat some of the injustices. that have already made of South Africa a running sore in the relations of England and India. The prosperity of Zanzibar has been made by its Indian merchants and traders, and we in India look upon the island as virtually though not geoically a part of India. Should this island be handed

over to Germany for some so-called advantage in the Persian Gulf, a region all Indians are most anxious to see remain in Turkish hands, the shock of this light-hearted way of dealing with an essentially Indian interest would be so great that I, for one, cannot foresee its consequences. Just as disastrous would be a repetition in East Africa generally of the conditions that now exist in South Africa. May the British people realise that the time has come for a decisive cry of 'Hands off!' from East Africa, to be addressed to the thoughtless people who wish to repeat the conditions of South Africa there!

Another matter upon which strong feeling prevails is that there should be fuller scope in local affairs for loyal but at the same time free criticism. The widening of the powers and functions of the Legislative Council has done much to give point and force to public sentiment on the larger issues, and this is necessarily reflected in the comments of a Press which, with all its great imperfections, is advancing in ability and is beginning to be really responsive to public needs. The days when not merely the considered will but even the capricious whim of the collector of a district was received without question and obeyed without hesitation have gone by, and in the sphere of every-day administration, no less than in the more conspicuous arena of the Legislatures, Supreme and Provincial, it is necessary for those in authority to give due weight to the general consensus of opinion. The district officer should at least know the direction in which public opinion tends, whether or not he can act upon it with due regard to the wider issues of which he has to take account. Through the varying stages of Indian evolution British rule has shown that power of adaptation which is essential to organic vigour. This has been strikingly exemplified in the marked success with which the Morley-Minto reforms have been woven into the administrative fabric. I look to the future with hope and confidence, because I am convinced that British statesmanship will continue to respond to the growth of national consciousness in India, and will thus bring an awakened people into still closer sympathy and co-operation with the aims and ideals of the enlightened rule that has revolutionised the conditions and the ideals of Indian life within living memory.

AGA KHAN.

THE SOLVENCY OF WOMAN

1. The Unexpurgated Case against Woman Suffrage. By Sir ALMROTH E. WRIGHT, M.D., F.R.S. Constable. 1913.

2. The Vocation of Woman. By Mrs. ARCHIBALD COLQUHOUN. Macmillan. 1913.

3. Sex and Character.

By OTTO WEININGER. Translated from

the sixth German edition. Heinemann. 1906.

4. Man and Woman. BY HAVELOCK ELLIS. Fourth Edition. Walter Scott Publishing Company. 1904.

5. Essay on Woman. By SCHOPENHAUER.

MA

AN has many reasons to be dissatisfied with his species; but if those reasons be be examined, they reduce themselves to one virtues are rare, and faults are common. If there were no virtues there would be no adverse standard to provoke dissatisfaction. The splendour of the rare examples throws the shortcomings of the multitude into relief. That this is so we may see if we consider the low value that accrues to virtues which are common-common honesty, common kindliness, common industry. The general presence of these does not exalt our valuation of the race; we leave them out of account in framing our estimate. So also with woman. She gets no credit for her humdrum qualities; she is lashed for the rarity of virtues proper to her sex, for the want of virtues peculiar to man; dissatisfied with himself, man recovers his own approbation at the expense of woman.

Misanthropes of genius have scourged both man and woman impartially, but their theme is not attractive or popular; humanity does not love to be vilified; and the author who traduces humanity must feel some part of the invective recoiling upon himself, for he also is human. But the man who finds fault with women has a ready audience of men whose womankind does not come up to their expectations. Such disappointments must be frequent. Nature has thought fit to deceive us for her own ends; all men who are men have been at some time or times under the pleasing illusions of love; whatever virtues they may have found in the object