The Annual Session of the Congress in karachi -1913
The
Twenty eighth National Congress met in Karachi, Sindh, on the 26th, 27th and 28th
December, 1913. The Pavilion was dignified and
well decorated, and each of the sixteen gates was
ornamented with a motto descriptive of the objects
of the Congress an original idea. The delegates were
550 in number, distributed as follows :
Bombav and
Sindh ……………….. 264
U.P
………………………………….. 13
Pan jab………………………………
10
Bohar
…………………………… 4
Madras ... ...
33
Bengal
22
Canada
…………………… 3
Sindh
(Reception Committee)
...
201
550
Some
notable figures were absent from the Congress. The
heart affection which killed him in 1915 kept Mr. Gokhale away, and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Mr.
Surendranath Bannerji and Pandit Madan Mohan
Malaviya were all absent'.
The
Hon. Mr. Harchandrai Vishindas, the Chairman of
the reception Committee, welcomed, the
President-elect and the
delegates, and gave a short sketch of Sindh and its
special difficulties, such as its decennial revision
Settlements and its irrigation problem. He then
turned to the various questions which lay before the
Congress for discussion, and finally called on the
delegates formally to elect the Hon. Nawab Syed
Muhammad Bahadur as President. The proposal was
moved by Rao Bahadur R. N. Mudholkar, seconded by
Rai Baikunthanath Sen, supported by Mr. Gopaldas
Jhamatmal aud Pandit Rambhuj Dutt Choudhuri, and
carried with acclamation.
After
speaking of the necessity of the continued work of
the Congress, he alluded to the King Emperor's
message on leaving India, and urged that the unity
hoped for by His Majesty should be sought, and that Muhammadans, Christians, Parsis and Hindus, should
advance together, rather than in
separate
group. He noted the rapprochement Hindus and
Musalmans, as shown by the hope expressed by the
All-India Muslim League that the leaders on both
sides should meet periodically "to find a modus
operandi for joint and concerted action in
questions of public good". He next spoke of the
troubles of the Indians in South Africa, then
reaching their climax, and he advised retaliatory
measures against South African whites, such as
shutting out Natal coal, and closing the door of the
Civil Service against them. He then turned to the
India Council and the need for its radical reform;
it must be only an advisory, not an administrative body. He repeated the condemnation of the
Regulations which had spoiled the reforms, showed
how dilatory was the action of Government with
regard to Local Self-Government, emphasized the
enormous importance of Primary and Technical
Education, and the need of Permanent Settlement to
relieve the grave economic situation. The President
alluded also to the Public Service Commission then
in India, and urged the granting to Indians of
Commissions in the Army, quoting some recent remarks
on the subject by Lord Minto in London, the previous
year, relating his efforts to bring it about. He
then said a few words, fraught with deep emotion, on
"the subversion of the Ottoman power in Europe and
the strangling of Persia," and expressed the grief
with which all the Muslims had felt the blow to
their Turkish brethren. He concluded with an earnest
plea that Hindus and Musalmans should clasp
hands, and work for the
Motherland. "The Tide of National Unity..... by God's grace, will surely sweep away in
its majestic onward course the unnatural and
artificial barriers of race, colour and religion."
The
President resumed his seat amid loud applause.
The
second day's work began with the moving from the
Chair of Resolution I, regretting the deaths of Mr.
J. Ghosal and Mr. Justice P. R. Sundara Aiyar. It
was passed standing.
Resolution II, dealing with the Indians in South
Africa, was moved by Dewan Bahadur L. A.
Govinda-raghava Aiyar, and seconded by Lala Lajpat
Rai in Hindustani. It was supported by six more
speakers who
urged the arguments so familiar to us all,
and was carried.
The
second day began with the moving of Resolution III,
the Separation of Judicial and Executive Functions,
by Mr. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, who quoted Sir Harvey
Adamson's condemnation of a judge having the police
organization at his back ; Mr. R. C. Dutt and Sir
Pherozeshah Mehta had showed that the reform would
not entail extra expenditure. A re-distribution of
functions among munsiffs, magistrates and judges
could be made without greater cost. Mr. K. C.
Ganguli seconded, complaining that the Congress had
passed an annual resolution since 1886, but
the bureaucracy opposed it. Messrs: Lalchand
Navalrai and Abdul Rahman supported, and the
Resolution was carried.
Resolution IV welcomed the adoption by
the Muslim League of the ideal of self government
for India, and the declaration of the necessity of harmonious
co-operation, to be found by the leaders deciding on
joint concerted action. It was proposed by Mr.
Bhupendranath Basu, saying that Hindus and
Muhammadans must concentrate their attention on the
one united ideal, for the India of to-day was not
the India of the Hindu or the Muslim, nor of the
Anglo-Indian, much less of the European, but the
India in which all had a share. "If there have been
misunderstandings in the past, let us forget them".
If they were united, "the India of the future will
be a stronger, nobler, greater, higher, aye, and a
brighter India than was realized by Ashoka in the
plenitude of his power, a better India
than was revealed to Akbar in the wildest of his
visions".
Rao
Bahadur R. N. Mudholkar seconded, and said that the
Congress and the League now stood on a common
platform, and could work together. Mr. Jehangir B.
Petit said that many had thought that Hindus and
Muslims would never unite, but that if they did they
would be a powerful instrument for good and a force
to be reckoned with. Mr. D. A. Khare said that
Self-Government would be won by the brotherhood of
Hindu and Muslim. Mr. Mathradas Ramchand further
supported, and Mr. C. Gopala Menon welcomed the
pronouncement of the Muslim League as marking an
important epoch in the history of the Congress. Mr.
D. E. Wacha said that the Congress had
entered on a new Nativity and with the new Star they
would achieve new success. The Resolution was
carried with great applause.
Resolution "V was on the Reform of the India
Council. It was moved by Mr. M. A. Jinnah, who
pointed out that the Council was composed of old
officials who had served in India, and non-official
India had no voice. The Secretary of State was
responsible to nobody, and was a greater Mughal than
any Mughal who had ever ruled in India. Mr. N. M.
Samarth seconded, and said that the -Secretary of
State for India should be accountable to Parliament
as was the Secretary for the Colonies, and one-third
of the Council should be elected by Indians. The
Hon. Mr. Krishna Rao supported, and gave a short
review of the changes that had taken place
in the constitution of the Council. The Resolution was
further supported by Messrs. Gopaidas Jhainatmal and
Surendranath Mallik; and carried.
The
Congress then adjourned.
On
meeting for the third session, the Congress; took up
a new question, the "continuous journey
clause" of the Canadian Privy Council Order, No.
920. The ingenuity of this clause was that it
forbade Indians to enter Canada unless they had made
a continuous journey from India, and they could not
make a continuous journey because there was no
direct boat-service and the Steamship Companies
refused through booking. Hence it forbade the entry
of any Indian into Canada, and prevented any Indian
already there from bringing over his wife and
family. [It was this Order which caused the
chartering of the Kumagatu and the subsequent
troubles.] The Resolution (VI) was moved by Sardar
Nand Singh Sikra, who, himself a Sikh, spoke
for his brethren in Canada, but pointed out that all
India suffered in the suffering of Sikhs in Canada
and Indians in South Africa, and " we join hands as
one United. Nation, and with one heart and one voice
we condemn the Colonial atrocities". The Chief
Justice of British Columbia had condemned as illegal
the Federal Orders in Council, but that did not seem
to help them much. General Swayne had explained the
real reason of the exclusion. He said :
One of
those things that make the presence of East Indians
here, or in any other white Colony, politically
inexpedient, is the familiarity they acquire with the
whites, the instance of which is given by the
speedy elimination of caste in this Province, as
shown by the way all castes help each other. These
men go back to India, and preach ideas of
emancipation, which, if brought about, would upset
the machinery of law and order. While this
emancipation may be a good thing at some future
date, the present time is premature for the
emancipation of caste.
Is
then the whole Empire in a conspiracy against Indian
freedom, and is caste to be a weapon in the hands of
the bureaucracy to prevent her emancipation ?
The
Sardar Sahab was one of the three delegates elected
by the Canadian Sikhs on February 22nd, 1913, to go
to the Congress and represent their grievances.
Mr.
Krishna Kumar Mitra seconded, remarking that it
would be better for Canadians to say openly
that they would not admit indians rather than
pass so
cowardly a law. Mr. Ayuo Khan and Pandit Rambhuj
Dutt Choudhuri supported, and the Resolution was
carried.
Resolution VII was on the Public Service
Commission, and was very full, laying down the
grievances under which Indians suffered and
suggesting changes. It was moved by Rai
Baikunthanath Sen Bahadur, who remarked on the
charges leveled by witnesses before the Royal
Commission against Indians; it was said they had
defects in moral character, and were lacking in
physical endurance, administrative efficiency and
power of initiative. He brought in
rebuttal the districts in East Bengal where there
were anarchical
disturbances, and while those managed by British
Civilians were much disturbed, those in charge of
Bengali Civilians were kept quiet. He asked for the
cases where Indians had failed. Witnesses from
English commercial houses naturally preferred their
own kith and kin and depreciated Indians.
The
Hon. Dr. Nilratan Sarkar seconded, and took the
sound ground that Indians had a birthright to serve
their own country, and that non-Indians should be
admitted only when necessary and for a short time.
But in the Public Services, "the upper branch is
synonymous with European, and the lower with Indian.
This is as indefensible in principle as it is
mischievous in practice." "We are to remain content,
as a Nation of assistants." He illustrated Indian
efficiency with various examples, and remarked
that Dr. Pal Roy had no equal in
India but he is to remain all his life in the
provincial
inferior Service". Messrs. V. V. Jogiah Pantulu and
Mathradas Ramchand supported the Resolution and it
was carried.
Mr.
Bhupendranath Basu moved Resolution VIII, asking for
the repeal of the Press Act. He pointed out that in
1837, Sir Charles Metcalfe had liberated the Indian
Press; Lord Lytton replaced fetters in 1878, with
his Vernacular Press Act, but Mr. Gladstone
repealed it. When Sir Herbert Risley spoke in 1910
in favour of introducing the present Press Act; he
had destroyed several papers, such as the
Gugantar, and had, said that in the 47 cases instituted by Government under the old law of
sedition, a conviction had been secured in every
one. What more did they want? The Law Member, who
certainly believed what he said, had laid stress on
the right of appeal to the High Court but in a late
case the High Court had said that a forfeiture was
invalid and illegal, but the High Court had no power
to interfere. So there was "a special law of a very
drastic nature without any safeguards," and it was
"a wet cloth on all expressions of public opinion".
"Situated as the Government of India is, foreign in
its composition and aloof in its character, that law
is a source of great peril." Mr. Dalvi, seconding,
quoted Sir L. Jenkins, the Chief Justice, in the
Comrade case, who said that it is difficult to
see to "what lengths the operation of these
sections. may not be plausibly extended by an
ingenious mind.
Mr.
J. Choudhuri, supporting, gave his own case as
editor of a legal journal, the Calcutta
Weekly Nutess His printer and publisher died and he
had to find a new
one, and was running backwards and forwards between
his office and the Presidency Magistrate's Court
before his declaration was accepted. The C.I.D.
could find nothing against the printer, except that
his knowledge of English was not as perfect as it
might be! Sir Herbert Risley had said that the Press
Act would not affect existing papers, and that the
administration of the law would not be in the hands
of the Police. Both assurances were false. When a
declaration is made the magistrate hands over the
papers to the C.I.D., and the Habul Matin, an
existing paper, was called on to furnish security.
Mr.
Kishindas Jhamrai supported the Resolution, and it
was carried.
Resolution IX, on Permanent Settlement, was moved by
the Hon. Mr. A. S. Krishna Rao, seconded by Rao
Bahadur Hiranand Khemsing, supported by Mr.
Mathradas Ramchand, and carried.
Then
followed a series of Resolutions, put from the
Chair : X, Army Commission ; XI, Education
(including
a protest against the veto by the Government of
India of three lecturers, Messrs. Rasul, S
libravardi
and Jayaswal, on the ground of their connection with
politics); XII, High Courts; XIII, Swadeshi; XIV,
Indentured Labour; XV, Local Self-Government;
XVI, Council Regulation; XVII, Executive Councils
for U. P. and Panjab; XVIII, authorising the All-India Congress Committee to arrange a deputation
to England, to represent Indian views on: (1) ,
Indians in S. Africa and the Colonies; (2) Press
AcT; (3)
Return of India Council; (4) Separation of Judicial and Executive Functions; (5)
Important Questions on which Congress has expressed
opinion; XIX, Thanks to Sir William Wedderburn and members of the British Committee. These
Resolutions, put seriatim,, were really our
old friend
the
Omnibus.
' ;
Resolution XX, was an expression of deep regret at
the retirement of Messrs. Wacha and Khare, from
the office of Secretaries, and thanks for their
work.
Rai Baikunthanath Sen Bahadur voiced the gratitude
of the Congress to the eminent veteran, who had
acted for 18 years, with great self-denial and
ability. Mr.
Khare had worked well for 6 years. Mr. C, P.
Rama swami Aiyar seconded, saying that the greatness
of the Congress was largely due to its Secretaries.
The Resolution was carried with cheers, and then the
Hon. Mr. Harchandrai Vishindas proposed and Mr. D.
G. Dalvi seconded the election of the Hon. Nawab
Syed Muhammad Bahadur and Mr. N. Subba Rao Pantulu
as General Secretaries for the ensuing year Carried.
Mr. N.
Subba Rao invited the Congress to Madras, and
Resolution XXII decided the acceptance.
The
vote of thanks to the Chair was moved by Mr.
Ghulam ali G. Chayla, seconded by Mr. Bhupendranath
Basu, supported by Mr. Lakamal Chellaram and Mir Ayab Khan, and carried by acclamation. The
President's brief reply closed the proceedings, and
the Twenty eighth National Congress dissolved.
RESOLUTIONS
Brief of Congress
I. Besolved—That this
Congress desires to place on record
its sense of the great loss sustained by the
country by the death
of Mr. J. Ghosal, who was a staunch worker in the
Congress cause,
and Mr. Justice P. R. Sundara Aiyer.
Indians in South Africa and Canada
South
Africa
II. Resolved—(a). That this Congress enters its emphatic
protest against the provisions of the Immigration
Act in that they
violate the promises made by the Ministers of the
South African
Union, and respectfully urges the
Crown to veto the Act and
requests the Imperial and Indian
Governments to adopt such
measures as would ensure to the Indians in South
Africa just and
honourable treatment.
(b)
That this Congress expresses its abhorrence of the
cruel treatment to which Indians were subjected in
Natal in the recent
strikes, and entirely disapproves of the personnel
of the Committee appointed by the South African
Union to enquire into the matter, as two of its
members are already known to be biased against
Indians and as it does not include persons who
command the confidence of Indians in South Africa
and here.
(c)
That this Congress tenders its most
respectful thanks to
His Excellency the Viceroy for his statesmanlike
pronouncement of
the policy of the Government of India on the South African
question.
(d)
That
this Congress requests the Imperial and
Indian
Governments to take the steps needed, to redress
the grievances
relating to the questions of the
₤3 tax,
indentured labour, domicile,
the Educational test, validity of Indian
Marriages and other questions
bearing on the status of Indians in South Africa.
(e) That this Congress
expresses its warm and
grateful appreciation of the heroic struggle carried on
by Mr. Gandhi and
his co-workers, and calls upon the people
of this country of all
classes and creeds to continue to supply them with
funds.
Canada
VI.
Resolved—That this Congress strongly protests
against prohibition of immigration, resulting from
the operation of the Canadian Privy Council Order
No. 920, generally known as the "Continuous Journey
Clause," as the order in question has practically
the effect of preventing any Indian, not already
settled there, from going to Canada, in as much as
there is no direct steamship service between the two Countries, and the Steamship Companies refuse through
booking and further subjects the present Indian
Settlers in Canada to great hardship by precluding
them from bringing over their wives and children.
This Congress, therefore, urges upon the Imperial
Government the necessity of securing the repeal of
the said Continuous Journey Regulation.
Legal
Separation of Judicial and Executive Functions
III.
Resolved.—That this Congress, concurring with
previous
Congresses, urges the early Separation of Judicial
from Executive
Functions in the best interests of the Empire and
prays that any
scheme of Separation that may be undertaken to be
really effective
must place all judiciary solely under the control of
the highest
Court in every Province. .
High Courts
XII. Resolved—That this Congress is strongly of
opinion that all the High Courts of India, inclusive of non-chartered High
Courts, should have the same direct relation with
the Government of
India alone, as the High Court of Fort William in
Bengal has at the
present time. The Congress is, further, of opinion
that the Chief Judge of unchartered High Courts
should be appointed from the members of the bar.
Union for Self-Government of Congress and Muslim League
IV. Eeaolved—That this Congress places on
record its warm
appreciation of the adoption by the All-India Muslim
League of the
ideal of Self-Government for India within the
British Empire, and
expresses its complete accord with the belief that
the League has
so emphatically declared at its last sessions that
the political future
of the country depends on the harmonious working
and co-operation
of the various Communities in the country which has been the
cherished ideal of the Congress. This Congress most heartily
welcomes the hope expressed by the League that the
leaders of the
different communities will make every
endeavor to find a modus
operandi for joint and concerted action on all
questions of national
good and earnestly appeals to all the sections of
the people to help
the object We all have at
heart.
India Council Reform
V. Resolved—That this Congress is of opinion
that tie Council
of the Secretary of State for India, as at present
constituted, should
be abolished, and makes the following suggestions
for its reconstruction:
(a) That the salary of the Secretary of State for
India
should be placed on the English Estimates.
(b) That, with a view to the efficiency and
independence of
the Council, it is expedient that it should be
partly nominated and
partly elected.
(c)
That the total number of members of the
Council should
not be less than nine.
(d)
That the elected portion of the Council should
consist of not less than one-third of the total
number of members, who should be non-official
Indians chosen by a constituency consisting of the
elected members of the Imperial and Provincial
Legislative Councils.
(e)
That not less than one-half of the nominated portion
of the Council should consist of public men of merit
and ability unconnected with the Indian
administration.
(f)
That the remaining portion of the nominated Council
should consist of officials who have served in India
for not less than 10
years and have not been away from India for
more than two years.
(g)
That the character of the Council should be
advisory and not administrative.
(h)
That the term of office of each member should be five years
Public
Service
VII.
Resolved—(d) That this Congress places on record its
indignant protest against, and emphatically
repudiates, as utterly unfounded, the charges of
general incompetence, lack of initiative, lack of
character, etc., which some of the witnesses, among
whom this Congress notices with regret some of the
highest administrative officers, have freely leveled at Indians as a people.
(b)
That
this Congress begs to express its earnest hope that
the Royal Commissioners will, alike on grounds of
justice, national
progress , economy, efficiency and even
expediency, see fit to make
recommendations which will have the certain effect of largely
increasing the present very inadequate proportion of
Indians in the
high appointments in the Public Services of
their own country;
thus redeeming the solemn pledge contained in the
Charter Act of
1833 and the Royal Proclamation of 1858.
(c)
In particular, this Congress places on record its deep
conviction :
(1) that justice can never be done
to the claim of the people of this country
unless the examination for the recruitment
of the superior offices of the various Services
be held in India as well as in England;
(2) That the age limit in the case of
candidates for the
Indian Civil Service should not be lowered, as such a step will
operate to the disadvantage of Indian candidates
as well as prove
detrimental to efficiency;
(3)
that the Judicial and Executive Services and
Functions
should be completely separated and the Judicial
Service recruited
from the legal profession and placed in
subordination to the High
Court instead of to the Executive Government;
(4) that such restrictions as exist
at present against the
appointment of persons other than members of
the Indian Civil
Service to certain high offices be removed;
(5) that any rule or order which, in terms or in effect,
operates as a bar against the appointment of an Indian as such to
any office under the Crown for which he may
otherwise be eligible,
should be rescinded as opposed to the Act and
the Proclamation
hereinbefore mentioned;
(6) that the division of Services into Imperial and
Provincial be abolished and the conditions of
Services be equalized
as between Indians and Europeans, and that
in case the division
be maintained, the recruitment of the Executive branch of the
Provincial Civil Service be made by means of an
open competitive
examination instead of by nomination ;
(7) that in case the said
division be maintained, the
Indian Educational and other Services be recruited
in India as well
as England, and Indians of the requisite
attainments be appointed
thereto both directly and by promotion from the respective
Provincial Services;
(8)
that civil medical posts should not
be filled by the
appointment of members of the Military I. M. S. or
I. S. M. D., and a
distinct and separate Indian Civil
Medical Service should be constituted
therefore and recruited by means of a competitive
examination held in India as well as England; educational and
scientific appointments, however, being filled
by advertisement in
India and abroad;
(9)
that the present scale of salaried is
sufficiently high
and should not be raised, and further, that
exchange compensation
allowance should be abolished, as it has
been a costly anomaly
since exchange was fixed by statute ; and
(10)
that the people of those dominions of the Crown,
where they are not accorded the rights of British
citizens, should be declared ineligible for
appointments in India.
Coercion
Press
VIII. Resolved—That this Congress reiterates its protest
against the continuation of the Indian Press Act on the Statute
Book, and urges that the same be repealed,
specially, in view of
the recent decision of the High Court of
Calcutta, which declares
that the safeguards provided by the Act are
illusory and incapable
of being enforced.
Permanent Settlement
IX. Resolved—That this Congress is strongly
of opinion that
a reasonable and definite limitation to the
demand of the State on
land and the introduction of a Permanent
Settlement directly between Government and land-holders in ryotwari-areas,
or a settlement
for a period of not less than 60 years in those
Provinces where
shorter periodical settlements on revision prevail
will substantially
help in ameliorating the present
unsatisfactory condition of the
Agricultural population.
Military
X. Resolved That this Congress again respectfully
points out to the Government of India the injustice
of keeping the higherranks in the Army closed
against the people of this country, and urges that
the same should remain no longer unredressed.
Education
XT. Resolved (a) That this Congress, while thanking
the Government of India for its donation of larger
grants towards the extension of Primary Education in
India, is strongly of opinion that a beginning
should now be made for introducing Free and
Compulsory Education in some selected areas.
(b) That the Congress, while approving of the
proposals by Government for introducing teaching and
residential Universities, is strongly of opinion
that that system should supplement, and not replace,
the existing system of University Education, as
otherwise the progress of Higher Education among the
poorer classes will be seriously retarded.
(c) That this Congress reiterates its prayer to
Government to make adequate provision for imparting
Industrial and Technical Education in the different
Provinces, having regard to local requirements.
(d) That this Congress records its strong protest
against the action of the Government of India
vetoing the selection by the Calcutta University of
Messrs. Basul, Suhravardi and Jayaswal, as
lecturers, on the ground of their connection with
politics; as the bar of politics is so general as to
lend itself to arbitrary exclusion of the best
scholarship from the lecturer's chair, so
detrimental to the interests of Education in the
country.
Swadeshi
XIII. Resolved That this Congress accords its most
cordial support -to the Swadeshi Movement, and calls
upon the people of India to labour for its success,
by making earnest and sustained efforts to promote
the growth of indigenous industries, by giving
preference wherever practicable, to Indian products
over imported commodities, even at a sacrifice.
Indentured Labour
XIV. Resolved--That owing to the scarcity of labour
in India, and the grave results from the system of
Indentured Labour, which reduces the labourers,
during the period of their indenture, practically
to the position of slaves, this Congress strongly
urges the total prohibition of recruitment of labour
under indenture, either for work in India or
elsewhere.
Representation
XV,Resolved--That this Congress expresses its regret
that the recommendations of the Decentralization
Commission, with regard to the further development
of Local Self -Government, have not yet been given
effect to, and urges that the Government of India
may be pleased to take steps, without delay, to
increase the
powers and resources of Local Bodies.
XVI. Resolved That this Congress records its sense
of keen disappointment that at the last revision of
the Legislative Council Regulations, the anomalies
and inequalities, rectification of which the four
previous Congresses strongly urged upon the
Government, were not removed. And in order to allay
the widespread dissatisfaction caused by the defects
complained of, and in view of the experience of the
last four years, this Congress earnestly prays that
(1 ) there should be a non-official majority in the
Imperial Legislative Council ; (2) there should be a
majority of elected members in all Provincial
Councils ; (3) the system of voting by delegates be
done away with, where it still exists ; (4) the
franchise be broadened by simplifying the
qualifications of electors, basing it on education,
property or income ; (5) the Government should riot
have the power arbitrarily to declare any person
ineligible for election on the ground of his
antecedents or reputation ; (6) no person
should be held ineligible for election on
the ground of dismissal from Government Service, or
of conviction in a criminal court, or from whom
security for keeping the peace has been taken,
unless his conduct has involved moral turpitude ,
(7) no property or residential qualification should
be required of a candidate, nor service as member of
a Local Body ; (8) a person ignorant of English
should be held ineligible for membership , (9)
it should be expressly laid down that officials
should not be allowed to influence elections in any
way; (10) Finance Committees of Provincial Councils
should be more closely associated with Government in
the preparation of the Annual Financial Statements ;
(11) there should be a Finance Committee of the
Imperial Legislative Council as in the case of
Provincial Legislative Councils ; (12) the
fight of putting supplementary questions should be
extended to all members and not be restricted to the
member putting the original question ; (13) the
strength of the Punjab Council be raised from 26 to
50, and more adequate representation be allowed to
the Punjab in the Imperial Council.
And further, this Congress, while recognizing the
necessity of providing for a fair and adequate
representation in the LegislativeCouncils for the
Muhammadans or the other communities where they are
in a minority, disapproves of the present
regulations to carry out this object by means of
separate electorates.
XVII. Resolved That the Congress again urges that an
Executive Council, with an Indian member, be
established in the United Provinces at an early
date, and is of opinion, that a similar Council
should be established in the Punjab too.
Deputation to Bngland
XVIII. Resolved That the All-India Congress
Committee be authorized to arrange for a Deputation
consisting, as far as possible, of representatives
from different Provinces, to England, to represent
Indian views on the following subjects :
(1) Indians in South Africa and other Colonies ;
(2) Press Act ;
(3) Reform of the India Council ,
(4) Separation of Judicial and Executive Functions ,
(5) And important questions on which Congress has
expressed opinion.
Thank of Congress
XIX. Resolved That this Congress records its sense
of high appreciation of the services of Sir William
Wedderburn and other members of the British
Committee, and resolves that the organization of the
British Committee and India should be
maintained.
Retirement of General Secretaries
XX. Resolved That this Congress expresses its sense
of deep regret at the retirement of Mr. D. E. Wachu
and Mr. D. A. Khare, from the office of its General
Secretaries, and bogs to place on record its sense
of warm appreciation of the very signal and
distinguished Services rendered by the former for 18
years, and the latter for 6 years, to tho cause of
thu Congress.
Formal
XXI. Resolved That the Hon. Navvab Syed Muhammad
Bahadur and Mr. N Subba Rao Pantulu be appointed
General Secretaries for the next year.
XXII. Resolved That the Congress of the year 1014 be
held in the Province of Madras,
