Reform Or Revolution

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Reform or Revolution

08MANIA UNIVERSltv
COLLEGE

BY

BERNARD HOUGHTON, I.C.S., (Retired)

(Late of the 'Burma Commission)

S. GANESAN.

PUBLISHER, TRIPLICANE, MADRAS, S.E.

1921

IHK HUXLEY PRHSS, MADRAS

REFORM OR REVOLUTION

WHAT IS A REVOLUTION ?

An Englishman is apt to shy at the word
revolution. It cmlte up in his mind visions of
the guillotine, of barricades, of burnings, and
of sudden death. Even now England suffers
from shell-shock due to that vast explosion in
France 130 years ago. As a matter of fact, a
revolution may be entirely peaceful ; it need
not entail the shedding of a single drop of
blood. Though the English revolution of 1649,
when a republic of Puritans replaced a feudal
monarchy, came at the end of a long civil war,
the counter revolution of 1660 masked in
histories as the " Restoration " was, save for
some few executed in revenge, quite free from
bloodshed. Passing over the so-called revol-
ution of 1688, which was merely a change of
kings, that of the Reform Act, 1832, when

REFORM OR REVOLUTION

government by wealth supplanted government
by feudal lords, if carried through by fear, was
also unattended by violence. Nor did the
horrors of the French Revolution begin until
the crowned heads of Prussia, Austria and
Piedmont had declared war on France in order
to restore the Monarchy, and Louis and the
nobles had openly sided with these foreigners.
A great deal has been made of the crimes of
the Bolsheviks. But now that we can see
through the barrage of lies maintained round
Russia by our capitalist Press, it is clear that
much the same happened there as in France.
After the Soviets gained control in October
1917, they executed none save murderers and
brigands until May 1918, when French
and British diplomatic agents were actively
fomenting a counter revolution.

What in reality is a revolution ? The word
has many meanings. Thus people speak of
revolutions in thought, in society, in education
and so forth, but here we are concerned only
with those in the sphere of Government. A
political revolution may be defined as a change
in Government involving a radical change in

WHAT IS A REVOLUTION ?

social ideals. If, for instance, a people govern-
ed by organised wealth were to dethrone a king
and set up a republic, the real power remain-
ing the same, that would be a revolution only
in name. England to-day is a limited mon-
archy and France and the United States
republics, but all alike are governed by " Big
Business." On the other hand, self-govern-
ment in place of rule by foreigners would
emphatically be a revolution, because the ideals
of the people under the first policy are quite
different from those under the second. The
object of foreigners is to retain the mastery ;
therefore, they teach the people to be docile
and obedient. Self-government or Democracy,
on the contrary, makes for self-respect and
independence in thought and action. It
involves a complete change in outlook.

Again the word would not apply to a labour
government in England, with Messrs. Thomas,
Bevin and Clynes at the head, for it would
mean a continuance of the present capitalist
system, shorn only of its worst features. But
if a Labour government, pledged to the guild
system, came into power, that would be a

REFORM OR REVOLUTION

revolution, because with industries based on
guilds, social ideals would entirely alter. So
in India, if a bureaucracy of Indians replaced
the English bureaucracy, it would modify but
little the face of Indian society. It would still
suffer from the incurable vices of that system,
whether in India or elsewhere, its aloofness
from and distrust of the people, its love of rule
and precedent, its lack of vision and its
rigidity. In what essentials does government
by Lord Sinha or Dr. Sapru differ from
government by Sir Harcourt Butler or Mr.
Vincent ?

Revolution in the proper sense, does not con-
note violence. You may have violent changes
of Government like a South American pro-
nuuciainento- -without the slightest change in
society. The essential point is the change in
social ideals, and the change of government
which brings this about, may or may not be
caused by violence. That in the past it has
often been so caused is due to the fact that the
governing classes have usually taken up the
sword in order to resist the people's will, and
in particular, that they have called in foreign

WHAT IS A REVOLUTION ?

aid. It has never occurred to them, that when
the majority of the people intend a radical
change, they should quietly yield up their
power.

Of all revolutions, the conquest of a civilised
people by foreigners is perhaps the worst.
For, from its nature, it debases, and always
must debase their character. Gone is their
pride of country and with it their self-respect.
They must learn to bow the head to their
masters, to imitate their culture and follow
their ideas. If I am ever in the will of others,
is it likety that I can keep the virtues of a free-
man ? Is it not more probable that I shall
learn to be humble and submissive ? If in
such a system, the more energetic tend to
decline on riches, or to become upper servants
to ;heir masters, how should they be blamed ?
All the noblest paths of human thought are
under a bar. We have all heard of the
results of environment in nature, how it des-
troys one form of life and multiplies another.
In a conquered country the environment tend*
to eliminate the lion and to breed the sheep.
In the truest sense, foreign rule is immoral.

II

THE WAY OF REFORM

The aim of reform is to advance without
disturbance of law and order, and to build on
existing foundations. Its ideal is a gradual
increase of wealth, of happiness,

* Of freedom slowly broadening down
from precedent to precedent/

That is the theory. How does it work
in practice ? Take English history from the
year 1800 to date. The chief landmarks of
reform in this century and a quarter are
the Repeal of the Test and Corporation
Acts in 1827, Catholic Emancipation in 1829,
the Reform Act of 1832, the Factory Act
of 1833, the Repeal of the Corn Lavs in
1846, the Reform Act of 1867, the? Dis-
establishment of the Irish Church in' 1869,
the Education Act in 1870, the Local govern-

THE WAY OF REFORM

mcnt Act in 1888, and the Reform Act of
1918.

If freedom has broadened, it has broadened
at the speed of a snail. The Corn Laws of
1819 were a price of class legislation which
starved the poor for the benefit of the land-
lord and the parson. Yet it took a quarter of a
century and a bitter and long agitation to win
such a small measure of justice as their repeal.
It was only after another quarter of a
century that education became free and com-
pulsory. And so with other reforms. See
also the House of Lords. That such a
grotesque survival from the Middle Ages
should still linger on, in spite of a history
which is one long chronicle of class selfish-
ness and open or veiled war against all
reform, shows how little is achieved by piece-
meal legislation. Englishmen are notoriously
intolerant of ideas, and in the House of Lords
they have their reward.

During all this period of progress on consti-
tutional lines, generations of poor have been
born, have toiled long hours for a pittance and
have sunk to the tomb with hope dead and

10 REFORM OR REVOLUTION

grievances unredressed. Always some bogey
such as " Socialism," " Anarchy " or " Bol-
shevism " has been flourished to daunt the
eager and frighten the timid. Always under
some pretext or symbol, such as " national
welfare," or " national interests," the possessing
classes have clung to power. In place of
" national " read " class," and you have the
reality behind these masks.

To those willing to accept England's rate of
progress, we put this question : " What about
the children ? Are you willing that the
children should grow up in the same or nearly
the same world as that which so outrages your
liner feelings ? " People talk of sacrificing,
themselves, for their children. Is it not the
highest, the best sacrifice to exert oneself to
secure for them a world with nobler hopes and
wider opportunities then, for instance, the
England of a Lloyd George and the India of a
Chelmsford ? In the broad view, to heap up
riches so that one's children may be function-
less parasites on Society is to do both them
and the State a disservice. We ought rather
to bend our energies to securing for all honest

THE WAY OF REFORM II

workers a fuller life than our own. How is it
that in England democracy has made such
little headway against privilege and wealth ?
The answer seems to lie in the essential conser-
vatism of man. Give him food and housing
and clothes such as were his father's wont, and
he is hard to move. To rouse him, you must
kindle his emotions. You must hold up before
his eyes some goal, to win which no sacrifice
seems too great, no pain but trivial, which
thrills his soul with the magic of a great ideal.
Then only will he show the stuff within him,
and reveal the vast abilities hidden in even the
humblest citizen. "The war has proved for
ever/' remarked the "Times," " That idealism
in action is the master force in modern
politics."

Now, reforms do not do this. They fail to
bring into play any great motive force. They
cannot stir the average man out of the rut of
convention and custom, because they do not
make him feel it worth while. They do not
quicken ; they do not inspire. Hence the long
-drawn agitations needed to wipe out some
gross abuse, or to win a tiny instalment of

12 REFORM OR REVOLUTION

liberty. The mass of the people remain inert
and so the momentum behind the reformers is
small. A spear-head alone is not enough ; to
strike home you must also have a haft.

Taking it at face value, diarchy has this
same weakness. Diarchy is merely bureaucracy
painted white. But, even were it otherwise,
who would dare or suffer for reforms through
Diarchy ? Be it never so seductively painted,
it can never touch the hearts of the people.
They see too well that the essence of freedom
is power and that power still rests in the hands
of the officials.

After all, what is the system to which the
reformists pin their faith ? A scheme whereby
the bureaucracy, which retains control, is to
" train " Indians for self-government, by means
of coalition, cabinets composed partly of
officials and partly of Indian Ministers. Will
the officials train for self-government ? Will
men whose whole training has been autocratic,
whose class and race interests are bound up
with ascendency, whose traditions are all of
despotic rule, will such as these cast aside
everything, training, interests, and traditions,

THE WAY OF REFORM 13

and become apostles of liberty ? As well
expeet Lord Curzon to preach Socialism or
Sir G. Younger to co-operate with Pussyfoot
Johnson ! " I believe because it is impossible/'
cried once a devout Christian. That is the
only way in which one can have faith in
Diarchy as a School for Freedom.

But even were the officials willing, how can
they teach democratic government ? Such a
government trusts in the people, speaks for
them, feels with them, hopes with them. It is,
in short, the executive organ of the people. It
rests not on official rule or musty precedent ;
rather it seeks inspiration from men such as a
Pym or a Cobden, a Washington or a Mazzini.
In thought and aims, it differs from bureauc-
racy as a free eagle from a barn-door fowl.
What folly to imagine that officials, men of
rule and precedent, can be right teachers for
democracy !

But, it may be urged, they come from a
democratic country. That is not quite correct.
In reality, England is not a democracy ; it is a
country governed by organised wealth. And
the class from which the officials are drawn

14 REFORM OR REVOLUTION

is notoriously in favour of upholding this
plutocracy. The root of popular government
is not in it. So far then as they are constrained
to part with power, they will naturally seek to
give it to the wealthiest classes. That, indeed,
is the inner meaning of the franchise rules.

Consider, also, the record of Diarchy up-to-
date. Mark the political persecutions; the
open support of the liquor trade, the treatment
of the Assam labourers, the Dharwar shootings,
and the long list of measures vetoed. Where
is the promised new era ? Where the begin-
ning of popular rule ? If this be the path to
freedom, it leads through a strange country.

If reformers imagine themselves as taking
one trench after another, until finally they
plant the flag of freedom in the citadel, they
make a sad mistake. They err, because they
suppose that the enemy will remain on the
defensive whilst they advance. But so far
from serving inactive, he conducts a defence
quite as vigorous and well-planned as the
attack. In the first place, he plays for time.
When indignation waxes fierce owing to some
outrage like Amritsar, or to the persistent

THE WAY OF REFORM 15

denial of self-government, he delays inquiry or
he may give a small concession such as
Diarchy. He makes vague promises certain
to be ignored whilst at the same time he
attacks the leaders of the people. By this
means he strives to quench their spirit and to
weaken their patriotism. He hopes, in short,
that with time they may become disheartened.

In the second place, after some outwork has
been won, he takes care to throw up another
fortification and generally to strengthen his
position. Thus in England, Labour, routed in
direct action, looks to the polls for redress.
What is the reply of Capital ? It proposes to
" reform " the House of Lords, that is, streng-
then it and to make it a sure defence against a
possible Labour majority in the House of
Commons. If it succeeds, it will have foiled
Labour on both counts.

After her loyalty in the War, the Rowlatt
Act came to India as a sudden slap in the face.
Its meaning is not, however, difficult to under-
stand. The perils of the war had extorted
from the bureaucracy the very guarded
declaration of August 1917. They were forced

16 REFORM OR REVOLUTION

to yield this outwork to their opponents. But
with the return of peace, when their alarm had
subsided, they hastened to set up new bulwarks
against democracy. The Rowlalt Act is one
such bulwark ; the rules under the Reform Act
are another.

In short, the strategy of reformers is bad. It
does not kindle the emotions of the people and
so brings into action a bare tithe of the total
forces available. In addition, it gives the enemy
time to dissipate such enthusiasm as there is,
to strengthen his defences, and sometimes even
to regain lost ground.

Ill

THE WAY OF REVOLUTION

Revolution, in the sense defined, offers a
bolder strategy. It strikes, not at some out-
work, but straight at the citadel of the enemy.
On its flag is blazoned a great ideal, something
for which men will meet suffering with a smile,
and look undaunted in the eyes of death. It
sounds a trumpet which rouses the toiler from
his toil, thrills his heart and illumines all his
mind with the glory of a new-born land. All
that is mean and selfish is burnt up in the fire
of patriotism.

Examine any of the revolutions in history,
and you will find that men who would in the
ordinary way have lead quite humdrum lives,
such as selling goods, or farming, suddenly do
terrific deeds, and tread as giants the stage of
history. Cromwell was a farmer, Washington

18 REFORM OR REVOLUTION

a planter, Janlon an Advocate, Garibaldi,
(when not fighting,) a small farmer. And not
the leaders only. The whole people are exalted
and moved to high emprise. Thus American
farmers and tradesman successfully withstood
the disciplined English regiments. The French
utterly routed the forces which the crowned
heads of Europe hurled against them, and
quite recently the Russians have repelled
the well-armed attacks made on them by
the capitalist governments of France and
England.

The spirit of man, once he ix roused, can
mock the might of kings and overcome the
wildest odds. The difficulty is to rouse him.
Surely in each man dwells a God. Custom, fear,
and ignorance may, and often do, smoothen all
that in him is divine. But when some great
emotion comes to tear away the winding sheet
from off the soul, then, \ at last, we behold all
that man can dare, all that he can do.

Psychology, which has pried so deeply into
the human mind, explains how this comes
about. The emotions live in the conscious
part of our mind. Civilisation, that is, the

THE WAY OF REVOLUTION 19

stunted civilisation which is all that man has
yet reached, represses these emotions and
censors severely their working. In fact, the
conscious, or reasoning part of our mind, and
the unconscious are seldom at one. Hence
mental conflicts, half-hearted efforts and finally
lethargy. But when it happens that the two
parts work in harmony, then are great things
done. That is the secret of genius, and that is
why in great popular movements, such a^
revolutions, the common man performs
miracles. He does his possible, and his possi-
ble is very high indeed.

In war it is sound strategy always to strike
at the heart of your enemy. To fritter away
ones strength on the capture of minor towns,
or the seizure of distant territory, may very
often spell defeat. All plans should have for
object the enemy's capital and nothing else.
In the war between Japan and China, the
Japanese having command of the sea, might
have had their will of the whole rich sea-board
of China. Yet they refused this tempting bait,
because it would ^ not have brought the end of
the war any nearer. They concentrated on

20 REFORM OR REVOLUTION

Pekin, and quickly had all China at their feet.
Contrary wise, the despatch at a critical
moment of a portion of the German army in
France to expel the Russians from East Prussia
lost perhaps the best chance the Germans had
of victory.

So also in the bloodless war for liberty, it is
vital to concentrate our efforts on the enemy's
citadel, in other words to wrest political power
from his hands. Once bereft of that power,
officials will take their proper place and become
useful members of the future Commonwealth
of India. Now, a peaceful revolution does aim
at a complete transfer of power. It intends,
not a sham like diarchy, but a vital change of
government. It stakes everything upon this,
and will not be put off by promises or small
concessions. If the bureaucracy sets up a
barrier on the road to freedom, it does not chip
off a few splinters here and there, leaving its
strength much as before. Boldly it smites to
earth the whole obstruction and marches
through, free and unafraid.

Moreover, the great wave of feeling begotten
by a revolution is not limited merely to the

THE WAY OF REVOLUTION 21

field of government. Through all the regions
of human thought art, science, industry, edu-
cation, morals it bursts, vivifying, inspiring,
animating. We can see this already in the
Nationalist movement against drink and pros-
titution. Revolution tears the souls of many
from their old moorings, and sets them voy-
aging, each a new Columbus, in search of new
worlds. The real cause, both of Greek thought
and of the Italian Renaissance, was that in
those lands, for a limited time, men dared to
see and think and reason for themselves. India
is capable of just such a Renaissance, just such
a rebirth, and when victory has crowned with
her laurels the heroes of to-day, and the smoke
and turmoil of the strife are past, such a rebirth
she will surely see. This is the crown and
glory of the great peaceful revolution to which
Mahatma Gandhi now leads the people of India.
This it is what will be the guerdon for all toil
the exceeding great reward for every sacrifice,
the salve of pains and sorrows. Then shall it
be said that,

' Millions whose lives in ice lay fast,
Have thoughts and smiles and tears/

22 REFORM OR REVOLUTION

Aye, and minds to reason also. India once
free may electrify the world and sway the
civilisation of mankind. Three hundred mil-
lion human beings, hitherto bound, repressed,
down-trodden, will then swing bravely into the
van of advancing humanity. Is not that worth
while ? Is not that worth a hundred fold all
the suffering and the strife ? In truth we labour
at a world event and we shape a Titan's form.
Officials and Moderates may prate of training
and co-operation. We answer with a world
unchained.

OF INTEREST TO YOU

TO THE STUDENTS

BY C. F. ANDREWS

In this book Mr. C. F. Andrews makes an inspiring
appeal to the younger generation to do their duties
by the motherland showing why and how they
should discharge them in this critical period of
her struggle.

CONTENTS : r. Shantiniketan, 2. Duty to Mother-
land, 3. National Education, 4. Independence, 5.
The Seriousness of the New Movement, 6. The
Meaning of Non-violence, 7. The Progress of the
New Movement, 8. The Practical Work Done.

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BY MAHATMA GANDHI

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fervour and intense idealism. The book is more
than a mere treatise on health, and presents some
of the highest home truths in the most impressive
manner pointing to us the path to an ideal of life
which our ancient rishis and fore-fathers enjoyed,
with a sound body enshrining a sound mind. The
"Hindu". Rs. 1-8

ETHICAL RELIGION

A HANDBOOK OF MORALS

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GREATER INDIA

BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE Rs. 2-8

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