A Leader in the ‘Morning Post’ [of London] dealing with Lord Curzon’s objections to Mr. Montagu’s being held responsible in the office for the speech he made prior to his appointment hopes that Mr. Montagu will be grateful for this tribute to his insincerity and adds that if Mr. Montagu did not know when he spoke that he was to be made Secretary of State, the Government knew when they appointed him that he had made the speech. Mr. Montagu makes an incendiary speech abusing the Government of India root and branch and he is immediately made the Secretary of State. What are the people in India to make of it. The writer continues to hold Mr. Montagu really responsible for the release of Mrs. Besant, but Lord Chelmsford is a Saheb and accepts the responsibility. Dealing with the emphasis the speakers on the House of Lords placed upon Mr. Montagu being accompanied by others and the assurance that he will not speak, the ‘Morning Post’ remarks that there are to be half a dozen strong men always [managing] the rope which holds this rearing curvetting reformer in his progress through India and asks why if these precautions are necessary, Mr. Montagu should be sent to India at all.
