Item 2 - Copy of a telegram from Lord Reading to Edwin Montagu

(Official.) At a meeting at Bardoli on 11-12 February the Congress Working Committee resolved that, since imminent civil disobedience has always resulted in violent outbreaks of disorder, mass civil disobedience should be suspended till the atmosphere improves. They advised that activities designed to court arrest, the picketing of liquor shops, and volunteer processions and unlawful meetings should all cease. Congress organisations were warned to revise lists of volunteer corps. These resolutions await the approval of the All-India Congress Com-mittee. Meanwhile the Working Committee advises the enlistment of a crore of members of Congress to whom the creed is to be explained. Efforts are to be directed towards promoting the use of khaddar spinning-wheels, organising national schools, improving the conditions of depressed classes, and organising a temperance campaign, while Panchayats’ Social Service Department is to be emphasized, and collections towards the Tilak Swaraj Fund are to be encouraged. A special committee is to be appointed to find employment for those giving up Government service.

(Mechanical copy of a typed original.)