A Great Public Servant
Lord Willingdon was one of the greatest public servants of his generation. From 1913, when he became Governor of Bombay, to the day of his death this week, he had been serving the Commonwealth with conscientious zeal, an ability which his unaffected simplicity could not conceal, and uniform and con- spicuous success. His term as Viceroy of India, from 1931 to 1936 (following immediately on his four years' Governor- Generalship of Canada) was notable for a combination of firm- ness and liberalism which gave India the type of direction and leadership which the situation at that time most called for. But in some ways his Governorship of Madras, from 1919 to 1924, was even more valuable, for with thirteen years' experience of the House of Commons behind him he was able to give the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms the most successful start they achieved in any province. An adequate biography of Lord Willingdon would be an invaluable contribution to Imperial history. Lady Willingdon, and probably she alone, could write it. The hope that she may will be universal.
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