The Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms, signed by tbrd Chelmsford,
the Viceroy, and Mr. Montagu, the Secretary for India, was published last Saturday. It opens with a reference to Mr1 Montagu's statement of August 20th, 1917, as " the most momentous utterance ever thade in India's chequered history," though every Anglo-Indian statesman for many years past has regarded "the progressive realization of responsible government in India " as the ultimate purpose of our rule. The war, we are told, has given an impetus to " the demand for self-government which was making itself more widely heard among the progressive section of the people." Parliament, having failed to review the Indian administration at regular intervals, is blamed " for our failure to think out and to work out a policy of continuous advance." It is admitted that "the great mass of India's people are illiterate peasants living in mud-built villages," and that less than two millions out of the two hundred and forty-four millions in British India can speak English. It is admitted also that " the politically minded classes stand somewhat apart from and in advance of the ordinary life of the country."
