'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎65v] (130/248)

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Major-General Maurice, being asked : “ Have you heard suggestions that General
Sykes is being starved as regards officers and equipment ? ” replied : “ Yes ; I hope
things are satisfactory now, but there is no question he was starved, and it came to
our notice and we pressed the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. very strongly.”
Even the Vincent-Bingley Commission (composed as to two out of three of its
members of ^nglo-Indian officials) found itself compelled to put the blame on the
Indian Government. In Sir Beauchamp Duff’s words : “ The Commission have not
followed the headings of the terms of reference in their report. . . The Commission
have departed from their terms of reference and embarked upon criticism of the
preparations for the campaign. . . The Commission have ended by reporting on
the past and present action of the Government of India instead of carrying out their
instructions.”
The views of the civilians in India are even more frankly stated, and to clear them of
responsibility the following examination of Mr. E. Carter, of Messrs. Turner, Morrison &
Co., Ltd., is given :—
I gather from your evidence that there is a sort of feeling in India among the
civilians that India is not pulling its full weight during the war—that the Indian
Government is not doing all that it might do during the war ?—Yes.
Can you say whether that feeling is general among the civilians in Calcutta ?—Yes.
Did it never occur to the civilian population in Calcutta that more might have
been done in making ammunition at the same time that the Ministry of Munitions was
started over here ?—Yes.
You never heard that the difficulty was that they could not get machinery ?•—No.
Is there any basis for that suggestion, considering that there were the American and
Japanese markets available ?—No.
You could have got lathes from both those countries ?—Yes. How did we start
making munitions at all ?
The other reason given for not making munitions in India on a considerable scale is
that the Indian native is extremely difficult to teach to work in the workshops. Is that
so ?—No.
Would you consider an Indian native quite as easy to teach the use of the
ordinary lathe as a woman in England ?—Far better.
It has been stated by the Commander-in-Chief that India is a poor and back
ward country and that therefore it cannot be expected to help more than it has done.
Is that your impression of India ?■—No, it is not.
Is it your impression that it is a very poor country at the present time ?—No.
You have been in India for some years. Have you ever known India more
prosperous than at the present time ?—No, never.
Do you regard — I will call it the non possumus attitude of the Government
of India, as due to the Commander-in-Chief and the Viceroy, or is it due to the whole
of the bureaucracy in India ?—I should think that it is the whole oh the bureaucracy in
India. I am speaking of the Imperial Government and not about Bengal or Bombay.
The whole of the Simla Government ?—Yes, the Simla Government.
D. EVIDENCE AS TO THE ATTITUDE OF THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT AS
SHOWN BY MEASURES ADOPTED SINCE THE CHANGE IN THE
PERSONNEL OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
27 . These are the measures which were not taken by Lord Hardinge, but which,
I believe, have subsequently been adopted :—
A War Loan.
28 . We had evidence put before us as to the poverty of India. This was denied by all
the witnesses who were questioned on the subject, and I cannot but think that the state- ^
ment was made to excuse the inaction in this matter of the Indian Government. A loan
is now being raised, for the first time.