GHANDI FOR ROUND TABLE IN LONDON .sx NEW MEETING OF CONFERENCE IN THE AUTUMN .sx Mr. Baldwin Supports Irwin And Defies Churchill .sx HISTORIC DEBATE .sx THE final decisive meetings of the India Round-Table Conference will be held in London in the early autumn .sx This announcement was made by Mr. Wedgwood Benn , the Secretary for India , during the course of an historic debate in the House of Commons .sx In closing the debate , the Prime Minister stated that Mr. Gandhi and other Congress leaders will almost certainly come to this country for the resumed Round-Table Conference .sx The debate was made tense by a fierce duel between Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Winston Churchill which threatens to split the Tory Party in twain .sx Mr. Baldwin made a passionate speech defending Party co-operation to secure an India settlement and challenging the diehards in his own Party .sx " If they are in a majority , " he said , " in God's name let them choose a man to lead them .sx " The Churchill faction must now destroy Mr. Baldwin's position , or risk expulsion from the Tory fold .sx From Our Parliamentary Correspondent .sx HOUSE OF COMMONS , Thursday .sx AGAINST the mighty background of imperial India the figures of Baldwin and Churchill may have looked small to-night as they moved hither and thither on the Westminster stage .sx But the shadows they cast were both huge and mysterious , and their precise interpretation was still difficult when the curtain fell for the night .sx It was a drama of internal party politics , of clashing duties and ambitions , closely interlocked with the fate of an empire .sx The side galleries were packed as though for a spectacle .sx Many coloured turbans were there , and the faces of many famous pro-consuls and leaders in the life of the nation .sx FIGHT FOR LEADERSHIP .sx And what had they come to see ?sx First and foremost was the spectacle of a quiet , rather melancholy man fighting for his leadership of the historic Conservative Party , a man of no presence , but who has the gift of simple and brave speech Stanley Baldwin , ex-Premier .sx He made a speech that was immediately hailed as historic by those on the other side of the House .sx It was a speech challenging his own people to turn him out into the wilderness if they were against him .sx He had repeated and emphasised his determination that , so long as he leads , there shall be Conservative co-operation with the other parties in carrying to a successful issue the developments of Indian government , agreed to in outline at the Round Table Conference .sx The words that mattered when he went on were these :sx " I shall carry out that policy .sx I shall carry it out in no niggardly spirit .sx I shall carry it out with every desire to overcome the stupendous difficulties that face us .sx " But if there are those in my party who approach the subject in a niggling , grudging spirit , who would have reluctant concessions forced from them one after another if , I say , they be in a majority , then in God's name let them choose .sx a man to lead " .sx He swung round with rising voice and rising colour to face the grumblers behind .sx He looked them straight in the eye , with a challenge .sx CHURCHILL'S CROUCH .sx On his left , only a few feet away , Mr. Churchill crouched and glanced , almost as though about to spring , and then thinking better of it .sx Mr. Baldwin went on .sx " If , " said he , turning slowly back to face the Speaker , " they are in a minority then let them at least refrain from throwing difficulties in the way of those who have undertaken the almost superhuman task upon the success or failure of which may well depend the whole future , the prosperity , even the very duration , of the British Empire .sx " A roar of cheers broke from the crowded Ministerial benches , and was swelled by volleys from the Liberals .sx A dozen or so Tories politely said " Hear , Hear .sx " The rest kept gloomy , or tactful , silence .sx " Cheer your leader's historic speech !sx " a Labour man shouted .sx Still silence , with some cynical smiles .sx The earlier passages had been on the text that " The Empire of to-day is not the Empire of the First Jubilee of Queen Victoria .sx " The East cannot stand still while the West rushes forward .sx That fact must be faced by the Conservative Party as well as other people , and in view of the nerves and hysteria displayed in certain quarters it was necessary , said Mr. Baldwin , to emphasise it .sx But , he went on , the Government must take the responsibility for what has to be done .sx It must itself see that details of necessary changes are filled in .sx That was why , weeks ago , he had decided that , while the Party was at all times ready for consultation , it could not agree to send representatives to India at the present juncture .sx Why , then , had he allowed the announcement of the decision to be published last Monday ?sx " A VICTORY FOR COMMONSENSE " .sx KEEPING INDIA OUT OF PARTY POLITICS .sx Simply because he preferred that it should be sent out under his authorisation rather than be communicated by the India Committee to those who had declared their intention of smashing the Conservative Party .sx He had been particularly afraid of the reactions in India if that had occurred .sx This was the least effective part of the speech , for it left members still wondering if a man so lacking in " publicity sense " ought to be left at the mercy of cleverer people .sx Then Mr. Baldwin passed on to ex-amine the Irwin-Gandhi agreement , and to praise Lord Irwin in the highest possible terms .sx " Surrender " and " victory" !sx he denied that the terms had the least relevance , any more than they had in the case of his own relations with Mr. Churchill .sx " There has been no surrender .sx There has been no victory .sx " But there has been what I regard as of primary importance a victory for common sense , a victory rare enough in India and rare enough at home .sx " Cheering on the Labour benches began in ripples , tossed from this bench to that , then rose steadily to a great roar , breaking on the frigid shore of the Speaker's own Party opposite .sx The cheers came again when he spoke of the sheer necessity of keeping India out of Party politics this with tremendous emphasis and the impossibility of any one Party governing the Empire in days to come .sx Press Attacks .sx A few words about the extremists at home .sx There was the " Daily Mail .sx " " Such writings , " declared Mr. Baldwin , " as have been appearing in the 'Daily Mail' do more to lose India for the British Empire , do more to raise a revolutionary spirit , than anything else I know .sx " And then there were the people who wrote to him , " You and Lord Irwin are negrophiles .sx " A member of the United Empire Party forsooth !sx Was that the way to cement the Empire ?sx " Even , " he went on , " if the rank and file refuse to face the facts , the leader has got to look at them .sx It is the supreme duty of a political leader to tell the people the truth , because truth is greater than tactics .sx " The prime fact in the world to-day was that the unchanging East was changing .sx If only because of British honour there could be no attempt to reverse the engine .sx That was the truth he had to tell the people .sx The plain , businesslike statement of Government policy by the Secretary for India that followed immediately was a relief , for the atmosphere had become tense .sx It was preceded by Mr. Benn's recognition of the tremendous importance of the Tory leader's declaration and by an examination of the beneficent effects that have already been produced in India and throughout the world by the series of winning " battles for trust and co-operation " that have been fought during the past few months .sx Mr. Benn then announced that the Government has no longer any thought of sending a three-Party Parliamentary delegation to India to resume the Round-Table Conference there .sx Such a course was barred by the exigencies of the Parliamentary situation at home and also by the huge amount of preliminary work that had to be got through and was actually being pressed forward .sx As soon , however , as the Government was prepared to resume discussions the India representatives would be invited to return to London , and it was hoped that the final Conference would take place early next autumn , " If anything were needed , " were Mr. Benn's closing words , " to prove the necessity for direct contact it has been the misunderstanding of the last few days .sx " Two whispering galleries separated by an ocean !sx If we can come face to face with our Indian friends and discuss freely our doubts and difficulties , if mischief makers will be silent and men will cease to sow tares , there is real hope of peace and understanding .sx " Churchill Goes Out .sx Sensational things had been expected of Mr. Churchill after Mr. Baldwin's back-to-the-wall speech .sx " Winston " had gone out soon afterwards to think it over .sx But he came back with what sounded like a rather different speech from the one he had meant to deliver .sx It was clever rather than violent , and had the effect of suspending the crisis in mid-air .sx " My right hon .sx friend and myself are in entire agreement as to the practical steps to be taken , and I am a cordial supporter of the decision to which he has come " and so forth , while Ministerialists roared with laughter .sx There was a flood of sarcasm to start with about the character of the Irwin-Gandhi agreement , and about Mr. Baldwin's earlier speech on India , so " encouraging " to the natives .sx Of course , Lord Irwin had made the best bargain he could , but what had been the price ?sx The Congress Party had secured practically all it had demanded , and been refused , at an earlier stage .sx WINSTON CLAIMS SOME CREDIT .sx CONFERENCE THAT WILL BE HELD HERE .sx But one great victory had been won by the Conservative Party at home .sx It had forced the Government to drop the idea of a round-table conference in India .sx And by whom had the words " In India " been inserted into the critical resolution ?sx Mr. Churchill preened himself .sx They had been inserted by Mr. Churchill himself with his own hand , as the records would show .sx These were tremendously important words , for they meant that the Conservative Party regained its freedom , and with its freedom its influence .sx It would be free once more really to tell the people the truth , as Mr. Baldwin had wished , the truth that comes out a collision with hard realities .sx Mr. Gandhi's Visit .sx The Prime Minister announced in closing the debate that Mr. Gandhi and other Congress leaders will almost certainly come to this country in the autumn for the resumed Round-Table Conference .sx The hope , he said , that this will be so is " so strong as almost to go beyond the boundary of hope .sx " Mr. MacDonald also expressed his firm determination to do everything possible to continue full co-operation with the other Parties .sx Complete agreement with Mr. Baldwin was expressed by Lord Winterton in winding up the case for the official Opposition .sx THE DOG-FIGHT AT ST. GEORGE'S .sx Official Tory's " No Surrender " to Press Lords .sx SIR E. PETTER'S APOLOGY .sx Candidates :sx Alfred Duff Cooper D.S.O. ( C. ) Sir Ernest Petter ( Ind. C. ) .sx Polling , Thursday .sx The dog fight at St. George's was intensified yesterday .sx Mr. Duff Cooper , who has been styled the " political softy " by the Rothermere Press , has received a letter from Mr. Baldwin in which the Tory leader states :sx - .sx " The principle for which you are fighting is of vital importance to all parties in the country .sx " The issue at this election is not leadership of our Party .sx That must be settled by constitutional methods , and those who elected me know full well that I will not stand in their way if they desire a change .sx The issue is simply whether Press or Party is to rule .sx " No one in my position , acting as trustee for the interests of the Party , could surrender to a Press campaign , which in the unscrupulousness of its methods not only offends every British tradition of fair play and honesty , but is also without parallel in this or any other country .sx