Jump to content

Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/112

From Wikisource
This page needs to be proofread.

any hope of success the grievances of India must be forced on the attention of the British pubHc, and this is the duty imposed on the British Committee. Under the circumstances no source of pohtical influence can with safety be neglected. And accordingly, from week to week, by a free distribution of the journal India to Members of Parliament, journalists, political associations, clubs, and reading-rooms, the Committee have placed before the British public the case of India, her needs and grievances. But for want of funds this work has been carried out with increasing difficulty. Rigid economy had to be exercised, preventing various desirable develop- ments, and with their scanty resources the Committee could not have obtained the services of editors possessing such exceptional qualifications as Mr. Gordon Hewart and Mr. H. E. A. Cotton, had not these gentlemen been influenced by their warm sympathy with the cause. The matter is of extreme importance, and it will be necessary to urge the Congress to make suitable and permanent provision for its propaganda work in England. This should be done by forming a permanent propaganda fund, and by securing in London the continued presence of responsible Indian exponents of Congress views.

Public Meetings, Addresses, and Interviews.

There remains to be considered what can be effected by public speech and personal persuasion. This work has been done in past years by public meetings and lectures, by addresses to associations and other select audiences, by social entertainments, and by interviews with Ministers, Members of Parliament, editors, and other public men. In this work the best results were obtained when accre- dited Congress leaders, Hke Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Mr. Surendranath Banerjea, Mr. Gokhale, and Mr. Bhupen-