Item 1 - Memorandum by Sir William Duke

India Office.—In view of Gandhi’s decision to call off civil disobedience, he is not surprised that the Government of India has decided to postpone his arrest, but the result will probably increase the Secretary of State [Montagu]’s difficulties with the House of Commons. It can be argued that the respite will allow the non-co-operators to become better organised; but on the other hand many in India believe that the movement has only been sustained by the opportunity given to them by the Prince of Wales’s visit to organise hartals and provoke a reaction from Government, and that the discredit which has now accrued to them and the dissipation of their funds may cause them to lose ground. In either case, he does not think this a good moment to undertake what may be a serious struggle, if it can be postponed. ‘The Empire has too many unsolved difficulties which cumulatively may be too much for its strength. All its other principal difficulties aggravate and complicate the Indian one, and they ought to be got rid of in the proper order. … To my mind that order should be, Ireland, Egypt or Turkey, India.’