Are the Agitators to Blame?

WHEN this happens it is the fashion with officials to hold the agitators to blame, just as Pitt and Barke were in their day blamed for inciting rebellion in America. That is what Sir William Vincent does, and this is his second mistake. In reality the agitators are just as little to blame as the member himself. They do their duty in protesting against actions which they regard as wrong and prejudicial to the interests of the country, and so long as they confine themselves to legitimate and constitutional methods, it is absurd to hold them accountable for the manner in which their protest may be utilised by other people. If it be said, as the Hon’ble member did say that “it is the political agitators who arouse visions in the minds of non-politically-minded persons,” the reply is that the member should go to the root of the thing and suppress English education, the study of England’s glorious literature and history in our schools and colleges.