Step by Step Ideal.

AT the Playgoers' Club, Lord Islington, the Under Secretary of State for India, emphasised the fact that the British Empire is fighting for freedom and self-government in the present war. These were the principles, he said, which they intended to extend and advance to those countries within the Empire which were in process of constitutional development. The Under Secretary went on expressly to say that he had India particularly in his mind in this connection. The final object to be attained in India, he observed, was similar to that which had been achieved in the Dominions, and it might be anticipated that in the Government of Indian in the direction of constitutional reform which would, with consistence, lay firm the foundations of a system that in due course of time would reach self-government.