The Administration of Bengal Under the Earl of Ronaldshay G.C.L.E 1917-22

Abstract

Arrival Of Lord Ronaldshay— His Excellency the Right Hon’ble Lawrence John Lumley Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay, g.c.i .e., took his seat / as Governor of Bengal and President in Council on the 26th March 1917 and vacated it on the 23rd March 1922. His Excellency was President of the Executive Council and, nntil the inauguration of the new Legislative Council under, the reforms scheme in 1921, was aiso President of the Legislative Council. On the Executive Council there were originally three members, two of whom belonged to the Indian Civil Service.1 At the time \vhen Lcr'd Ronaldshay assumed charge the Hon’ble Mr. P. C. Lyon, the Hon’ble Sir (then Mr.) Nicholas Beatson-Bell and the Hon’ble Nawab Sir Syed Shams-ul-Huda were on the Council, but, during the greater part, of the period before the introduction of the reforms, the Hon’ble Sir Henry Wheeler, the Hon’ble Sir (then Mr.) John Cumming and the Hon’ble the •Maharajadhiraja Bahadur of Burdwan were the members. The Right Hon’ble Lord (then Sir Satyendra Prasanna) Sinha and the Hon’ble Sir Charles Stevenson-Moore were also members for part of that period. When Lord Ronaldshay arrived the war had had a definite effect in various directions. On the one hand it had seriously handicapped the work of Government by making financial economy an imperative necessity; on th^ other hand it had stimulated the industrial activities of the provinc^o provide articles which could not be obtained overseas, a stimulus which ultimately led to a remarkable industrial awakening. It had led educated «Indians to hope that an advance would be made in self-government, an aspiration which was recognised as * legitimate by the subsequent materialization of the reforms schema. of Government. It had impelled the anarchical party to greater activity and to commit more murders and dacoities which Government were in the act of checking by means of the Defence of India Act. It had made Muhammadans anxious regarding the fate of Turkey, an anxiety which eventually found expression in the Khilafat agitation and its sequel, the non-co-operation movement which was so potent for violence, misery and the growth of a dangerous spirit of lawlessness. It had increased the cost of living, owing to the increased price of imported articles, which was later to develop into a general depreciation of the value of money, misunderstood by the people and vaguely ascribed by them to Government action or inaction. At the same time the province was ready for improvement in respect of such matters' as local self-government, sanitation, public health, education and agriculture to which Lord Ronaldshay addressed himself in a serious endeavour to promote the welfare of the people despite the political preoccupations of the period.