Reginald Burke a very capable man of business,
known and liked by an immense constituency North and South of
this."
"Do you think he is right about the Government's want of
enterpnse?"
"I should hesitate to say. Better consult the merchants and
chambers of commerce in Cawnpore, Madras, Bombay, and
Calcutta. But though these bodies would like, as Reggie puts it, to
make Government sit up, it is an elementary consideration in
governing a country like India, which must be administered for the
benefit of the people at large, that the counsels of those who resort
to it for the sake of making money should be judiciously weighed
and not allowed to overpower the rest. They are welcome guests
here, as a matter of course, but it has been found best to restrain
their influence. Thus the rights of plantation laborers, factory
operatives, and the like, have been protected, and the capitalist,
eager to get on, has not always regarded Government action with
favor. It is quite conceivable that under an elective system the
commercial communities of the great towns might find means to
secure majorities on labor questions and on financial matters."
"They would act at least with intelligence and consideration."
"Intelligence, yes; but as to consideration, who at the present
moment most bitterly resents the tender solicitude of Lancashire
for the welfare and protection of the Indian factory operative?
English and native capitalists running cotton mills and factories.
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