Now, Sir, I could carry on these examples from the _mufassal_ to Chittagon, which has been in a state of disturbance and agitation since April last, and to Howrah where disturbances have been intermittent throughout the year, culminating in firing in the streets and in the death of a policeman. But the chronicle is too long, and I pass to Calcutta, where the remarks of His Excellency have fortunately shortened my task. We are all aware that the incessant stream of inflammatory oratory and agitation in Calcutta culminated on the 17th November in a paralysis of the life of the city and I was even surprised, when refreshing my memory as to those events, to see how openly what was done was gloried in by the leaders of the non-co-operation movement as having been done by their orders and direction. They were good enough to define in their instructions who might go about the streets and who might not, I have seen the statement that by the kindness of the Congress and the Khilafat committees certain shops would be allowed to open at 12 noon. There has never been any attempt to conceal the fact that the town was at that time, in the view of the non-co-operators, subject to their orders--subject by the processes of intimidation with which we are well acquainted. Now if that was the position--and I submit that this is a correct statement of the position--Government was obviously confronted with the question of what they were to do. Was this state of affairs to continue or was it to be checked? We were approached on all sides, in this Council and by such responsible bodies as the British Indian Association, to intervene and to restore some measure of law and order in a condition of things which was fast drifting to chaos. In these circumstances we took the measures of which the Council is well aware, namely, to declare certain associations to be illegal, to introduce the Seditious Meetings Act in one district and prohibit by order of the Commissioner of Police, meetings and processions in Calcutta. I put it to the Council that short of these measures it would not have been possible to comply with the urgent requests so reasonably made to us from so many quarters to intervene in the interests of decent administration. That is the issue which is before the Council. Is it or is it not a fact that on the 17th of last month the people of this city were disgusted with the state of affairs and the prevailing terrorism? Is it or is it not a fact that constant pressure was brought to bear on Government by all sections of the people to bring about a better state of affairs? Can it in truth be said that the action of Government in attempting to curtail the activities of the gentlemen to whom the excitement is due has gone beyond the necessity of the case? If so, what is the alternative which the Council would place before Government? Of that, however we have heard singularly little, except from Babu Surendra