The Burma Conf erence and After
VITE Prime Minister's speech on Tuesday, to which reference is made in our leading paragraphs, brought the Burma Round-table Conference to an end. Much useful work has been accomplished during the dis- Cussions, and each of the twenty-four delegates must be returning home with a better appreciation of the difficul- ties to be.faced. The Spectator has followed the proceed- ings with peculiar interest, for it was in our columns that the idea of holding a Round-table Conference for Burma was first suggested.
Especial importance attaches to the Burmese delibera- tions because much more than the fate of Burma is being decided. The matter at issue is whether the British Commonwealth is great enough and elastic enough to take into partnership peoples differing in racial origin from the mother-country. Is Great Britain willing to grant equality of status to Brown Dominions—to use Colonel Lawrence's phrase ? If the delegates, representing the great majority of the Burmese people, are returning home dissatisfied it is because they think that Great Britain still continues to look upon Burma as subordinate in Status US herself.
A turning-point has been reached in the relations of Great Britain and Burma. We have an opportunity to-day of making a lasting settlement and one which will establish the Burmans as willing partners within the British Com- monwealth. There is comparatively little anti-British feeling in the country. The majority of Burman have no desire to '` cut the painter." But if an emasculated constitution is granted to Burma we fear that the influence of the extremists will be strengthened and to-morrow Burma will not be prepared to accept what she considers satisfactory to-day. In the relations of nations there comes a psychological moment which does not return. We recall the fact that in 1919 a representative Egyptian delegation .came to this country prepared to negotiate a settlement on the basis that Egypt should have Dominion status and remain within the Commonwealth. The delegates were not received by the. Government of the day, and from that Moment Egypt's minimum demand became independence. We are not necessarily asserting that the Egyptian and Burmese , problems arc analogous, but to send back the representatives of the Burmese majority disappointed would be a blunder of the first order.
At times it has been difficult to form a correct estimate .of the relative strength of the various sections of Burmese opinion. at .St. James's Palace, because approximately 40,000;000 Burmans have been represented by twelve delegates, while the 2,500,000 of the minorities—exclusive of the Shan States—have been represented by ten dele- gates. The 'representatives of the Majority are returning disappointed, and it is worth while to understand their Views, though not of necessity to endorse all of them, They readily admit the need for safeguards in the case of the reserved subjects of Defence, External Affairs and Finance, during the transitional period, but they think that the new. Constitution should be such that automati-
Bally and by stages it would enable them to assume They had hoped that a final settlement would be made, and they see no necessity for the setting up of further commit- tees in Burma. While they recognize the need for leaving the reserved subjects under• the control of the Governor, to prevent a breakdown in the constitution, they think that immediate steps should be taken to create the nucleus of a Burmese army, and that the proposed Financial adviser to the Governor-General should keep in the closest touch with the elected representatives of the people.
If a satisfactory settlement is not effected in the near future, the returning delegates fear that Burma's needs will be forgotten in Great Britain owing to the many pressing economic problems demanding attention here. They think that the wishes of a largely homogeneous people with a population equal to that of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, who arc ready to conclude a partnership which shall be mutually satisfactory, should be met, even in British interests. They are anxious that. British public opinion should keep in touch with their country and for that reason they advocate the despatch to Burma of a Parliamentary Committee to enquire into the causes of the recent rebellion.
Great importance must be attached to the selec•t.ion of the right man as the first Governor-General under the new Constitution, and we hope that the precedents of the Domin- ions will be followed. The new Viceroy should not be an official but a British parliamentarian versed in Constitu- tional practice. If the new Constitution is to function smoothly it is essential that Government House shookl be n real centre of Burmese national life. It is no reflection on the present Governor or his predecessors in office to admit. that Government House has in the past been too ex- clusively the social centre of the European community, just as formerly the Vice-Regal Lodge in Ireland, before the Anglo-Irish settlement, was frequently out of touch with national Irish feeling.
Movements, having as their aim the cultural advance of the Burmans, should still receive their inspiration from Government House. Too much emphasis has been laid on the purely political advance of the Burmese people. We hope that Burma's constitutional advance will be accompanied by a fresh enthusiasm for all that is best in her national life, for her arts, literature, folklore, wood-carving and handicrafts. If the representative of the Crown could identify himself with these aspects of national life he would he forging unbreakable links between Burma and the British Commonwealth. As we wrote when we first advocated the granting of respons- ible government to Burma, by making the Burmans responsible partners in the British Commonwealth and removing any traces of an inferior status, we shall have performed a piece of constructive constitution building which will have repercussions far outside Asia. We shall show that the _British Commonwealth is great enough to admit in partnership, when they arc ready for it, peoples of...every racial origin, creed or colour.
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