4 .sx Finally , it was our view that the Governor-General must be granted the necessary powers to enable him to fulfil his responsibility for securing the observance of the constitutional rights of Minorities , and for ultimately maintaining the tranquillity of the State .sx 5 .sx These were , in broad outline , the features of the new constitution for India as contemplated by His Majesty's Government at the end of the last Conference .sx 6 .sx As I say , my colleagues in His Majesty's present Government fully accept that statement of January last as representing their own policy .sx In particular , they desire to reaffirm their belief in an all-India Federation as offering the only hopeful solution of India's constitutional problem .sx They intend to pursue this plan unswervingly and to do their utmost to surmount the difficulties which now stand in the way of its realisation .sx In order to give this declaration the fullest authority , the statement which I am now making to you will be circulated to-day as a White Paper to both Houses of Parliament , and the Government will ask Parliament to approve it this week .sx 7 .sx The discussions which have been proceeding during the past two months have been of value in showing us more precisely the problems we have to solve , and have advanced us towards the solution of some of them .sx But they have also made it plain that others still require further examination and co-operative consideration .sx There is still difference of opinion , for instance , as to the composition and powers of the Federal Legislature , and I regret that owing to the absence of a settlement of the key question of how to safeguard the Minorities under a responsible Central Government , the Conference has been unable to discuss effectively the nature of the Federal Executive and its relationship with the Legislature .sx Again , it has not yet been possible for the States to settle amongst themselves their place in the Federation and their mutual relationships within it .sx Our common purpose will not be advanced by ignoring these facts , not by assuming that the difficulties they present will somehow solve themselves .sx Further thought , discussion and reconciliation of different interests and .sx points of view are still required before we can translate broad general aims into the detailed machinery of a workable constitution .sx I am not saying this to indicate impossibility , nor to foreshadow any pause in our work .sx I only wish to remind you that we have put our hands to a task which demands alike from His Majesty's Government and from the leaders of Indian opinion care , courage and time , lest when the work is done it may bring confusion and disappointment , and instead of opening the way to political progress may effectively bar it .sx We must build like good craftsmen , well and truly ; our duty to India demands that from all of us .sx 8 .sx What then is the general position in which we find ourselves as regards a practical programme for the advancement of our common aims ?sx I want no more general declarations which carry us no further in our work .sx The declarations already made and repeated to-day are enough to give confidence in the purpose of the Government and to provide work for the Committees to which I shall refer .sx I want to keep to business .sx The great idea of All-India Federation still holds the field .sx The principle of a responsible Federal Government , subject to certain reservations and safeguards through a transition period , remains unchanged .sx And we are all agreed that the Governors' Provinces of the future are to be responsibly governed units , enjoying the greatest possible measure of freedom from outside interference and dictation in carrying out their own policies in their own sphere .sx I should explain at once in connection with that last point that we contemplate as one feature of the new order that the North-West Frontier Province should be constituted a Governor's Province , of the same status as other Governors' Provinces , but with due regard to the necessary requirements of the Frontier , and that , as in all other Governors' Provinces , the powers entrusted to the Governor to safeguard the safety and tranquillity of the Province shall be real and effective .sx His Majesty's Government also accept in principle the proposition which was endorsed at the last Conference that Sind should be constituted a separate Province , if satisfactory means of financing it can be found .sx We therefore intend to ask the Government of India to arrange for a Conference with representatives of Sind for the purpose of trying to overcome the difficulties disclosed by the report of the expert financial investigation which has just been completed .sx But I have digressed from the question of a programme in the light of the accepted factors Federation as the aim and self-governing Provinces and the Indian States as its basis .sx As I have said , our discussions have made it clear to all of us that .sx Federation cannot be achieved in a month or two .sx There is a mass of difficult constructive work still to be done , and there are important agreements to be sought by which the structure must be shaped and cemented .sx It is equally plain that the framing of a scheme of responsible government for the Provinces would be a simpler task which could be more speedily accomplished .sx The adjustments and modifications of the powers now exercised by the Central Government which would obviously have to be made in order to give real self-government to the Provinces should raise no insuperable difficulties .sx It has , therefore , been pressed upon the Government that the surest and speediest route to Federation would be to get these measures in train forthwith , and not to delay the assumption of full responsibility by the Provinces a day longer than is necessary .sx But it is clear that a partial advance does not commend itself to you .sx You have indicated your desire that no change should be made in the Constitution which is not effected by one all-embracing Statute covering the whole field , and His Majesty's Government have no intention of urging a responsibility which , for whatever reasons , is considered at the moment premature or ill-advised .sx It may be that opinion and circumstances will change , and it is not necessary here and now to take an irrevocable decision .sx We intend , and have always intended , to press on with all possible despatch with the federal plan .sx It would clearly be indefensible , however , to allow the present decision to stand in the way of the earliest possible constitutional advance in the North-West Frontier Province .sx We intend , therefore , to take the necessary steps as soon as may be to apply to the North-West Frontier Province , until the new constitutions are established , the provisions of the present Act relating to Governors' Provinces .sx 12 .sx We must all , however , realise that there stands in the way of progress , whether for the Provinces or the Centre , that formidable obstacle , the communal deadlock .sx I have never concealed from you my conviction that this is above all others a problem for you to settle by agreement amongst yourselves .sx The first of the privileges and the burdens of a self-governing people is to agree how the democratic principle of representation is to be applied or , in other words , who are to be represented and how it is to be done .sx This Conference has twice essayed this task :sx twice it has failed .sx I cannot believe that you will demand that we shall accept these failures as final and conclusive .sx 13 .sx But time presses .sx We shall soon find that our endeavours to proceed with our plans are held up ( indeed they have been held up already ) if you cannot present us with a settlement acceptable to all parties as the foundations upon which to build .sx In that event His Majesty's Government would be .sx compelled to apply a provisional scheme , for they are determined that even this disability shall not be permitted to be a bar to progress .sx This would mean that His Majesty's Government would have to settle for you , not only your problems of representation , but also to decide as wisely and justly as possible what checks and balances the Constitution is to contain to protect minorities from an unrestricted and tyrannical use of the democratic principle expressing itself solely through majority power .sx I desire to warn you that if the Government have to supply even temporarily this part of your Constitution which you are unable to supply for yourselves , and though it will be our care to provide the most ample safeguards for minorities so that none of them need feel that they have been neglected , it will not be a satisfactory way of dealing with this problem .sx Let me also warn you that if you cannot come to an agreement on this amongst yourselves , it will add considerably to the difficulties of any Government here which shares our views of an Indian Constitution , and it will detract from the place which that Constitution will occupy amongst those of other nations .sx I therefore beg of you once more to take further opportunities to meet together and present us with an agreement .sx We intend to go ahead .sx We have now brought our business down to specific problems which require close and intimate consideration , first of all by bodies which are really committees and not unwieldy conferences , and we must now set up machinery to do this kind of work .sx As that is being done and conclusions presented , we must be able to continue consultations with you .sx I propose , therefore , with your consent , to nominate in due course a small representative Committee a working Committee of this Conference which will remain in being in India , with which , through the Viceroy , we can keep in effective touch .sx I cannot here and now specify precisely how this Committee can best be employed .sx This is a matter which must be worked out and must to some extent depend on the reports of the Committees we propose to set up .sx But in the end , we shall have to meet again for a final review of the whole scheme .sx lt is our intention to set up at once the Committees whose appointment the Conference has recommended :sx ( a ) to investigate and advise on the revision of the Franchise and constituencies ; ( b ) to put to the test of detailed budgetary facts and figures the recommendations of the Federal Finance Sub-Committee ; and ( e ) to explore more fully the specific financial problems arising in connection with certain individuals .sx We intend that these Committees shall be at work in India under the chairmanship of distinguished public men from this country as .sx early in the New Year as possible .sx The views expressed by you here on the other outstanding Federal problems will be taken into consideration at once , and the necessary steps taken to get better understanding and agreement upon them .sx His Majesty's Government have also taken note of the suggestion made in para .sx 26 of the Federal Structure Committee's Third Report , with the object of facilitating an early decision on the distribution among the States of whatever quota may be agreed upon for their representation in the Legislature .sx It follows from what I have already said that they share the general desire for an early agreement on this question among the States , and His Majesty's Government intend to afford the Princes all possible assistance by way of advice in this matter .sx If it appears to the Government that there is likely to be undue delay in their reaching agreement amongst themselves , the Government will take such steps as seem helpful to obtain a working settlement .sx I have already alluded to another matter to which you have given ample evidence that you attach great importance , and to which you wilI expect me to refer .sx A decision of the communal problem which provides only for representation of the communities in the Legislatures is not enough to secure what I may call " natural rights .sx " When such provisions have been made , minorities will still remain minorities , and the Constitution must therefore contain provisions which will give all creeds and classes a due sense of security that the principle of majority government is not to be employed to their moral or material disadvantage in the body politic .sx