| OCR Text |
Show SAYS 1IH LOYAL to era crown Maharajah of Gwalior Expresses Ex-presses Conviction of Ultimate Victory. HAS AIDED ENTENTE Potentate Generous in Gifts of Money to Cause of Empire. GWALIOR, India, March 24 The Maharajah Sindhia of Gwalior, one of the wealthiest and most powerful of the Indian princes, today told a correspondent correspon-dent of the Associated Press that he and the other rulers of India were prepared to pour all their resources into the common com-mon war coffer until German was crushed. The maharajah said that the world conflagration, by furnishing a common platform upon which all India could work, had done much to encourage co-operation among the Indian states and also to emphasize the essential unity of aims between them and the government govern-ment of India. Gwalior, whose people he rules, under the British government, is one of the central states of India, with a population popula-tion of between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000. The maharajah is a major general in the British army and gave his personal services with the British expeditionary force to China in 1901. During the present war affairs of state have precluded pre-cluded his leaving Gwalior, but from the beginning he has been making great contributions to the British armv. His troops have been in France, are fighting in East Africa and Egypt and are helping help-ing guard the Indian frontier from Quetta and Bannu. How much he has donated he will not know until the war is over and the final accounts are in, but he has thus far expended ex-pended somewhere in the neighborhood of 300,000 ($1,500,000) outside the upkeep up-keep of the hospital ship Loyalty. To this great contribution he modestly calls himself only a subscriber, but, as a matter mat-ter of fact, during the two years and more the ship has- been in commission he has financed it himself and spent on it nearlv 300,000. He also is expending ex-pending 1000 a month for the upkeep of a convalescent home for officers and soldiers which he established at Nairobi, Africa, at the beginning of the war. The maharajah gives where be thinks the need is most pressing, depending on the daily papers and on his agents in London Lon-don for information. Thus if he learns that war material of any sort is wanted badly he immediately cables his donation dona-tion to supply or help to supply the deficiency. de-ficiency. Would Crush Germany. The interview took place in the palace, pal-ace, and during the conversation his highness talked freely on mauv subjects. sub-jects. Regarding Germany he wai most uncompromising. "I believe that the war will continue con-tinue for eighteen months longer," he said, "and I hope, for my part, that it will go on until Germany has been crushed. I am sure that all India feels as I do about this matter; quite the reverse of the attitude Germany expected ex-pected from us at the outbreak of hostilities. hos-tilities. " Germanv firmly believed that India would join the central allies. What led the Teutons into this error I cannot say, but they certainly misjudged the situation situa-tion here badly. There never was a chance that India would turn against Great Britain. "I don't mean to say that there is no sedition in India. There is, just as there is sedition to some degree in America or in any other country, but those who are plotting against the government gov-ernment are negligible in number and they are no more representative of India In-dia as a whole than were the New York bomb throwers three or four years ago representative of the American public. 'But Germany thought, for some reason rea-son or other, tnat we were ready to sever relations with Great Britain and banked on our support in the struggle. Long before the war began Germany was busv trying to stir up sedition in Tndia. 1 cannot prove this statement to you at this time, but I know it to be true. "The attempts failed, and today Hindustan Hin-dustan is standing loyally with the rest of the British empire, and will continue so to stand until the last gun is fired. "In ordinary times we princes grouse and grumble among ourselves a good deal and sometimes, I think, we have had reason for it but when the big crisis came it found us all rushing to tender our support to the king-emperor. That is only natural. Says India Aided. "This war has done India a great deal of good. By furnishing a common platform for us to work upon, it has drawn the princes closer together and, I hope, the government of India to them. Mind you, there never was any question of disloyalty among the princes, but they had not been given a chance like this before to show their devotion to the king. "We worked along our, own individual individ-ual lines mostly. But the great common cause has changed all this, and, I hope, for good. The recent conference of princes in Delhi, when forty of us met to discuss matters pertaining to the welfare wel-fare of our states, was an evidence of this change. "The past months of war have done more to strengthen the feeling of sympathy sym-pathy between the states and tho government gov-ernment of India than anything else could have done." The correspondent referred to the fact that at the time of the recent conference confer-ence of princes in Delhi there was some talk that the conference might ultimate-lv ultimate-lv develop into a council of princes, who should have a direct voice in matters of irnperial moment. "es, there was some expression of ideas along that line," said his highness. high-ness. "We hope that a council of princes or a house of lords of some sort may be the outcome of these conferences.- I think that in a few years it should be possible to constitute an assembly as-sembly of princes, who may have a hand in the adjustment of relations all round. And we princes also look forward to the time when British India also shall have a similar assembly, under proper safeguards. safe-guards. "What would happen in India, your highness, if the British govornmont suddenly sud-denly should decide to grant absolute self-rule to British India, should constitute consti-tute the princes absolute sovereigns and should withdraw entirely from the country?" coun-try?" tho correspondent asked. Says Chaos Would Follow. "Who would be kingf " countered the maharajah quizzically. "By that your highness moans that there "must be a supremo head?" "Exactly. If you should take away our British sovereign someone else would have to rule. Who would it be? That is hard to say, but it would be a case of the survival "of the fittest. If the British Brit-ish were to withdraw from India altogether alto-gether the country would be plunged into chaos. "But, of course, the British government govern-ment will not withdraw, and no one, excepting ex-cepting pcrhnps a handful of hair-brained hair-brained agitators, wish it to withdraw. Wo want the British government to stay, for it is tho greatest and best fovernment in the world. We have a rue devotion for our kiug-emperor and for his government, and all wo ssk is that we may be allowed to romain a part of the empire and do our share." Tho querv was raised as to what the effect would be on India if the entente allies brought the war to a successful conclusion and Constantinople was allotted allot-ted to Kussia, as has been suggested. "Your queslion involves the matter of religious sentiment?" asked his highness. high-ness. The correspondent replied in the affirmative. af-firmative. "8uch a settlement would have no effect on India," said the maharajah. "I myself am not a Mohammedan, but I think I know the feeling of the country. coun-try. Many people in India aro extremely extreme-ly sorry that Turkey has placed herself in her present position, but no one is likely to exhibit active sympathy for her, "as she is ranged against the British J fovernment and its allies.'' I |
