The peril was pressing; the menace unmistakable. The Reconstruction of
the Empire was on the anvil; what was to be India's place therein? The
Dominions were proclaimed as partners; was India to remain a Dependency?
Mr. Bonar Law bade the Dominions strike while the iron was hot; was
India to wait till it was cold? India saw her soldiers fighting for
freedom in Flanders, in France, in Gallipoli, in Asia Minor, in China,
in Africa; was she to have no share of the freedom for which she fought?
At last she sprang to her feet and cried, in the words of one of her
noblest sons: "Freedom is my birthright; and I want it." The words "Home
Rule" became her Mantram. She claimed her place in the Empire.
Thus, while she continued to support, and even to increase, her army
abroad, fighting for the Empire, and poured out her treasures as water
for Hospital Ships, War Funds, Red Cross organisations, and the gigantic
War Loan, a dawning fear oppressed her, lest, if she did not take order
with her own household, success in the War for the Empire might mean
decreased liberty for herself.
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