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Show INDIA STIRRED TO ACTIVITY New Aspirations for Development Develop-ment Politically and Economically Economi-cally Aroused by War Conditions. (Copyright 1916, by the Associated Press). Simla, India, Oct. 13. (From a Staff Correspondent of the Associated Press). India's new viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, today told a correspondent correspond-ent of the Associated Press during a I formal interview that the war, by giv- ing this country an opportunity to i ' IH I show its practical importance to the , empire, had stirred Indian aspirations for development, politically and eco-nomically, eco-nomically, and declared that it would be his endeavor to secure a practical IH response to this new desire for prog-ress. prog-ress. His excellency spoke most warmly of the loyalty of India, of the alacrity and fine spirit with which princes and people had identified ' themselves with the cause of the em- J pire, and of his own great interest in India's problems. j The viceroy spoke of the surprise with which he had read various arti-cles arti-cles in American papers, purporting , to depict conditions in India today , and representing the country as labor-Ing labor-Ing under an oppressive rules, and shaken by revolutionary and seditious activities. "The British government, 'contln-ued 'contln-ued Lord Chelmsford, "has not ! deigned formally to repudiate calum-nies calum-nies perhaps this has been a mistake , but for my part the reply which I i give you is this simple one: ! "Go wherever you please through- ! out the length and breadth of India. Study our work and study our dlffi- . culties. No sentry will bar the way ' and no secret agents will shadow you. Talk to whom you please; see what U IH you please; do what you please, and f then write what you please. In India k i we have nothing to conceal. Will you i ! tell your countrymen that?" The correspondent called attention to the changing political conditions in India and to the fact that certain ' jH Indian politicians were advocating ' that still more of the affairs of gov- I ernment be turned over to them. r "No doubt at the present moment j; political problems arc attracting the t greatest attention both in and out of M India," replied the viceroy, "hut none the less it is a mistake to suppose that these are new problems which havo recently come up, or oven dif- ferent problems from those on which we havo worked in the past. The po-litical po-litical development of India has al-ways al-ways commanded our anxious atten-tion atten-tion and has always been progressive. "British statesmen have always con-ceived con-ceived in a generous spirit their re-sponsibilities re-sponsibilities to India and the Indians. Perhaps the rate of defnite political JH progress has been slow, but constitu- I tional development can hardly be other than slow. "The war, affording India an oppor-tunity oppor-tunity of displaying its practical im- y portance to the empire has stirred In- ' vM dia aspirations, and the new partner-ship partner-ship on tho battle field has quick- L ened the sympathy of the whole em- t pire with those aspirations." |