nglish! Could degradation sink any lower?

THE CONGRESS CONSTITUTION

The belated report of the Congress Constitution Committee has now been
published for general information and opinion has been invited from all
public bodies in order to assist the deliberations of the All India
Congress Committee. It is a pity that, small though the Constitution
Committee was, all the members never met at any one time in spite of
efforts, to have a meeting of them all. It is perhaps no body's fault
that all the members could not meet. At the same time the draft report
has passed through the searching examination of all but one member and
the report represents the mature deliberations of four out of the five
members. It must be stated at the same time that it does not pretend to
be the unanimous opinion of the members. Rather than present a
dissenting minute, a workable scheme has been brought out leaving each
member free to press his own views on the several matters in which they
are not quite unanimous. The most important part of the constitution,
however, is the alteration of the creed. So far as I am aware there is
no fundamental difference of opinion between the members. In my opinion
the altered creed represents the exact feeling of the country at the
present moment.

I know that the proposed alteration has been subjected to hostile
criticism in several newspapers of note. But the extraordinary situation
that faces the country is that popular opinion is far in advance of
several newspapers which have hitherto commanded influence and have
undoubtedly moulded public opinion. The fact is that the formation of
opinion to-day is by no means confined to the educated classes, but the
masses have taken it upon themselves not only to formulate opinion but
to enforce it. It would be a mistake to belittle or ignore this opinion,
or to ascribe it to a temporary upheaval. It would be equally a mistake
to suppose that this awakening amongst the masses is due either to the
activity of the Ali Brothers or myself. For the time being we have the
ear of the masses because we voice their sentiments. The masses are by
no means so foolish or unintelligent as we sometimes imagine. They often
perceive things with their intuition, which we ourselves fail to see
with our intellect. But whilst the masses know what they want, they
often do not know how to express their wants and, less often, how to get
what they want. Herein comes the use of leadership,