(Draft Letter.)
"Mr. Bradlaugh, in acknowledging Lord Dufferin's 'private and confidential' letter of February 7th, desires to specially recognise the frank and more than kindly tone of that letter, and trusts that in the observations which Mr. Bradlaugh feels called upon to submit to Lord Dufferin's consideration, he may be pardoned if he ventures sometimes to wholly differ, even on statements of fact, from one so eminent, and one whose recent Vice-regal position entitles him to special respect and attention in matters concerning India. It is true that at the time of the Newcastle speech and until the receipt of the letter of February 7th, Mr. Bradlaugh had only seen the Calcutta speech as given in the Times, and he is exceedingly obliged to Lord Dufferin for the more accurate and complete report enclosed in his Lordship's letter. Perhaps Mr. Bradlaugh may be permitted to add that although the report of his own Newcastle speech as given in the Newcastle Daily Leader is very full and, on the whole, fairly accurate, it is necessarily not verbatim, and has appeared without any correction. The report in the Newcastle Daily Chronicle was less full, and though fair, has, in abbreviating, occasionally varied the meaning. This observation is only offered because of the importance the speech acquires by Lord Dufferin's notice of its purport. Mr. Bradlaugh, in charging Lord Dufferin with misrepresenting the avowed views of the Congress, was careful to express his opinion that Lord Dufferin had been misled by inaccurate information, and if now Mr. Bradlaugh had alone the Calcutta speech to guide him, he would still incline to that view; for the words on p. 9, line 26, 'the ideal authoritatively suggested, as I understand' seem to imply that Lord Dufferin spoke rather on information received than on his personal knowledge, but in view of Lord Dufferin's declaration that 'he took every precaution to verify his references, and that the proceedings of the Congress and of the Committees whose conclusions the Congress adopted were precisely what he described,' Mr. Bradlaugh trusts that he may be permitted to justify and maintain his criticism of Lord Dufferin's words as follows (Calcutta speech, p. 9, line 20, to p. 10, line 1):—
"'Some intelligent, loyal, patriotic, and well-meaning men are desirous of taking, I will not say a further step in advance, but a very big jump into the unknown—by the application to India of democratic methods of government and the adoption of a Parliamentary system, which England herself has only reached by slow degrees and through the discipline of many centuries of preparation. The ideal authoritatively suggested, as I understand, is the creation of a representative body or bodies in which the official element shall be in the minority who shall have the power of the purse, and who through this instrumentality shall be able to bring the British Executive into subjection to their will.'
"On this Mr. Bradlaugh ventures to refer Lord Dufferin to the only authoritative suggestion of which he is aware, i.e., the actual resolutions of the Congresses defining their 'tentative suggestions' of reform and which seem to him to so essentially contradict the understanding arrived at by Lord Dufferin that Mr. Bradlaugh requotes their tenor from Resolution 4, with its sub-sections, as printed in the report of the Calcutta Congress, which, he respectfully submits, completely justify his Newcastle speech; he believes that these resolutions were precisely re-affirmed at Madras and Allahabad:—
"'(1.)—The number of persons composing the Legislative Councils, both Provincial and of the Governor-General, to be materially increased. Not less than one-half the Members of such enlarged Councils to be elected. Not more than one-fourth to be officials, having seats ex-officio in such Councils, and not more than one-fourth to be Members, official or non-official, nominated by Government.
"'(2.) The right to elect members to the Provincial Councils to be conferred only on those classes and members of the community, primâ facie, capable of exercising it wisely and independently.'
And, after suggesting possible elective bodies, it concludes:—
"'But whatever system be adopted (and the details must be worked out separately for each province) care must be taken that all sections of the community and all great interests are adequately represented.'
In sub-section 6 providing that:—
"'All legislative measures and all financial questions, including all Budgets, whether these involve new or enhanced taxation or not, to be necessarily submitted to, and dealt with by, these Councils.'