The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 98
98 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN at that time was Colonel Oliver Stanley, son of the Earl of Derby, and I would consult my panel, and report to Government. We made good progress in that way. Our main anxiety was not preferences on articles like spices and the like, it was to get a commitment from the United Kingdom to take much larger quantities of Indian cotton than they were taking at that time. They, on their side, were anxious to obtain more favourable preferences for Lancashire cotton textile goods, because Lancashire was beginning to feel the competition from Japan and India itself. That, ultimately became the crux of the matter. Once Brown and I had agreed on the intake of Indian cotton by Lancashire and my panel and Government had approved of the arrangement, I thought we had fixed up that part of the business satisfactorily. But a difficulty arose in that Col. Oliver Stanley refused to sponsor the arrangement before the Cabinet. I remember I had to go to Lord Derby, whom I had known fairly well during the Roundtable Conferences. During the early part of the First World War, Lord Derby had been Secretary of State for War, nad had started a vigorous campaign for recruiting. I noticed that in the room in which I was waiting there was a cartoon on the mantelpiece, in which an old cockney woman was trying to put the fear of God into her child and was saying, "I will put Derby onto ye, if you don't behave!" Lord Derby came in and after greeting me asked, "Zafrulla, what can I do for you?" and I replied, "Sir, I have come to put Derby onto Oliver. " He laughed, and said, "Poor Oliver, what has he done? He is very ill just now, not at all well. " I said, "It is not what he has done. It is what he refuses to do!" So I told him what the difficulty was, and he promised to speak to his son and do what he could to help. Ultimately it was the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, who really helped. I got to know what happened in the Cabinet. Stanley would not sponsor the proposals, but they were put up to the Cabinet with the help of Wilson, who was the personal adviser of Neville Chamberlain, and had his office in 10 Downing Street, Sir Findlater Stewart, who was Permanent Undersecretary of State for India and was extremely helpful, had suggested I should see Wilson and had arranged a meeting. After the Cabinet meeting I was told what had transpired. After Stanley had put forward his objections, the Prime Minister had intervened and said, "I know Zafrulla, and if he says that this is the