Item 1 - Printed copy of a telegram from Edwin Montagu to Lord Chelmsford

Accepts his assurance that the Government of India has not attempted to conceal facts, but in the light of Dyer’s evidence it is difficult to convince the public of this. The real difficulty lies in the fact that Chelmsford’s April telegrams, which suggested that the force used was not excessive, were not followed by further information qualifying that impression. Even the district report of 13 September failed to suggest that Dyer gave the crowd no warning; that it might have dispersed without firing; that he fired on it for general moral effect; that it was unarmed, unresisting, and caught in a trap; that he continued firing after the crowd had been broken up; and that he paid no attention to the many wounded. Montagu will try to urge that judgement should not be passed before the Hunter Committee reports, but Chelmsford has put him in a difficult position by not keeping him fully informed. ‘I sometimes think that you refrain from sending me information in your extreme and admirable desire to protect any officer in India from criticism.’ Points out that Chelmsford can ask him not to publish what he does not wish published.