THE DAILY PROVINCE OCTOBER 22, 1914 THE PROVINCE p.6 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1914. INSPECTOR HOPKINSON. -------------------------- The assassination of Inspector Hopkinson by a Hindu is unfortunately one of the prices a man has to pay sometimes for doing his duty. Inspector Hopkinson was known to a great many citizens and he was like by all. There were very few Hindus here whom he has not befriended in one form or another and his work at the immigration department was of immense value to the whole community. He was absolutely fearless and although he knew his life had been threatened again and again by some of the men who deemed him an enemy he went on doing his work without taking any special precautions. He knew the men he was dealing with and took his chances as so many of our police official shave to. He could not have done his work if he had been afraid of the men with whom he had to deal and had taken any special precautions against them. He had served the British Government in India as a member of the police department in Calcutta and his or here was much appreciated by the authorities. His loss will be keenly felt and it will be extremely difficult for the government to replace him. As The Province pointed out at the time of the shooting affray in the Hindu Temple the ordinary procedure of our courts is not understood or respected by the Hindus. They have no conception of the value of an oath as administered in our courts, but if sworn under their own sacred oaths might tell the truth. Mr. Hopkinson knew these men and know they were lying. He had a very shrewd perception of all the undercurrents governing their lives and he knew the men who were conspiring against the British Government in India. But to convict them of conspiracy was another matter altogether. Political conspiracy of such a kind is not only difficult to prove but extremely hard to eradicate. It was to this conspiracy that Inspector Hopkinson fell a victim. THE DAILY PROVINCE OCTOBER 22, 1914 p.6 But because he fell a victim to a conspiracy of which he was well aware, it is not good branding the whole of the Hindu community here as assassins. There is a small number of men on this coast carrying on a revolutionary political propaganda. Perhaps they are not known to the rest of the Hindu community and move backwards and forwards endeavoring to enlist recruits in their cause. There are others who are known to all their comrades as men who are discontented and willing to listen to these emissaries. Others, again, are absolutely loyal. The latter have naturally incurred the enmity of the disloyal. It is exactly the same in all communities. These Hindu agitators and political revolutionaries are dangerous only to the men who take an active part against them. They had marked down Inspector Hopkinson because he was loyal and did his duty. It is easy of course to jump to conclusions and feel strongly on this subject. The very fact that Inspector Hopkinson was such an excellent official and a good friend to so many of the Hindus rouses indignation to boiling point against his assassin. One man appears to have done the actual deed, but under the circumstances it looks distinctly as if more than one had plotted it. Let it be admitted that a dozen men are mixed up in the affair. Even so the whole community must not be condemned. In fact it is quite probable that even if we had not adequate machinery to deal with the conspirators the Hindus who were friends of Inspector Hopkinson would wipe out many more than those immediately connected with the murder. It must, however, be obvious to the least intelligent of the Hindu community that we will not allow these methods here, and that murder as part of a political propaganda will not help their cause in the very least. They can not(Sic) terrorize the authorities and it would be of considerable value to the cause some of their brethren so ardently espouse if they showed themselves capable of enforcing order among themselves. Murder, whether it is the murder of their own countrymen or the murder of our officials, will be met with condign punishment. If the Hindu community would take steps of its own accord to eliminate the danger that has sprung up amongst them it would go far to eliminate the prejudice against them among white communities. To THE DAILY PROVINCE OCTOBER 22, 1914 p.6 this extent the whole Hindu community is to blame. It will not apparently do anything towards getting rid of the poisonous fungi which has its root in India and which spreads its tentacles everywhere the Hindus go. The assassination of Inspector Hopkinson may be the work of only one or two men, but the ramifications of this underground conspiracy against the British Government in India is known to many. The Hindus themselves must take steps to eradicate this evil lest their whole community be branded with the blood which has already been spilt here since the Komagata Maru entered this port. No one desired to take drastic measures against a fine race of men who may be seeking their fortunes in a strange land. No one in this Empire of ours does not appreciate the intense loyalty and devotion to that Empire of the great majority of the Indian people which has been so signally demonstrated recently. But no one is going to allow a small minority of political conspirators to carry on their plots and assassinate those who stand in their way just because they take shelter behind the virtues of others. The Hindu community must understand that if they as a whole will not be responsible for their own agitators the end will be that they will all be condemned and punished.