(From an Editorial)
Party politics are quite new in this country and it is not surprising that many of our countrymen who are unused to some phases of it, are shocked at the way in which speakers express themselves as regards those with whose opinions they disagree. We published yesterday a letter on the question of social amenities to the extended to all the delegates who have returned from England. Other letters are published to-day more or less relating to the same subject. The communication from a ‘Friend’ deserves notice because, though it is unsigned, its anonymity is due to the writer holding a high official position. We fear he has taken an exaggerated estimate of the situation. The Madras Mail says: “There is a surfeit of Lime House in Indian Party speeches, and unfortunately there is in India, a seriousness behind it which is not to be found in the tub thumping to party rivals in England. Mr. Lloyd George’s famous philippic against the peers were largely disconnected by the general understanding that he had no personal animosity against the persons he so rigorously attacked. Can the same be said of the Indian partisans?’’ We ask, why not? There is no more reason to attribute personal animosity to Indian politicians when attacking their opponents than among Englishmen.
