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better nor worse than the class to which they belonged. They were in this case the victims of a discarded and obsolete system that reminded one of the days of the Star Chamber, and made secrecy the pivot of the whole machinery. Bengal was seething with excite- ment. That respectable women should have been insulted and humiliated, treated as malefactors, and that their status and posi- tion should have afforded them no protection, and all under the cover of a law that shut out the light of publicity, threw Bengal into a paroxysm of rage and indignation. I felt that here was an occasion when from my place in the Council I should voice the public sentiment of my province. I moved for the appointment of an Advisory Committee to deal with all cases of internment and deportation under Regulation III of 1818 and cognate laws. The terms of the Resolution were as follows:

'This Council recommends to the Governor-General in Council that a Committee with an adequate Indian element thereon be appointed in each province to enquire into and report upon—

(1) all cases of internment under the Defence of India Act;

(2) all cases of detentions under Bengal Regulation III of 1818 and cognate Regulations in Madras and Bombay; and

(3) all cases of persons who may hereafter be dealt with under the aforesaid Act and Regulations; the Committee being empowered to make recommendations with regard to the health, allowance, place of detention and other matters relating to the prisoners referred to above.'

Before the motion came on for debate, I had the opportunity of discussing it with the Home Member, Sir William Vincent. This was helpful to me, and I think it was useful to the Government. We could ascertain the points of agreement and the points of difference; and then, if necessary, fly at each other's throats. The reply of the Home Member was, of course, a defence of the Government, but it was also conceived in a vein of sympathy. In substance he accep- ted my Resolution and agreed to the appointment of an Advisory Committee. The concession was welcomed by the Indian Press, which was steadily developing Extremist leanings. Mr. Justice Beachcroft and the late Sir Narayan Chandravarkar were appointed members of the Committee; and in Bengal, I understood, six out of one hundred détenus were recommended for release by the Com- mittee. The appointment of the Committee and its labours had a mollifying effect on public opinion. It did not indeed reconcile public