- Important leaders of this phase were W.C. Banerjee, Rash Bihari Ghosh, Surendra Nath Banerjee, R.C. Dutt, Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozshah Mehta.
- Subsequently, Justice Ranade P. R. Naidu, S. Subramanian Ayer, Ananda Charlu, and Madan Mohan Malaviya also came to be known as important leaders among moderates.
- Moderates believed in liberalism and moderate politics. They aimed at constitutional agitation and orderly political progress and had a narrow social base.
- Early nationalists led by Naoroji, R C Dutt, Dinshaw Wacha and others put forward Drain of Wealth theory and were able to create an all-India opinion that British rule in India was the major cause of poverty.
- Moderates campaigned for Indianisation of government services on the economic grounds that British servants expected very high salaries which were remitted back to England, while inclusion of Indians will be more economical.
- A British committee of INC was established in London in 1899 which had India as its organ.
- Lord Dufferin called Congress ‘a factory of sedition’.
- The government later used a carrot-and-stick policy to pit moderates against extremists.
Constitutional Demands of the Moderates
- Expansion of the legislative council and Legislative Assemblies, both Central and Provincial, and increased representation of Indians in the Legislature
- Increase the membership of Indians by including some members elected by local bodies like chambers of commerce, universities, etc. in these councils and by giving greater powers to them.
- They demanded Indian control over the public purse and raised the slogan “No taxation without representation”.
- Adequate representation of Indians in the executive council of the Viceroy and those of the governors.
Administrative Demands of Moderates
- Demand for simultaneous Indian Civil Service examinations in England and India.
- Complete separation of the executive and the judiciary.
- Increase in the powers of the municipal bodies and reduction of official control over them.
- Repeal of the Arms Act and License Act.
- Wider employment of Indians in the higher grades of administrative services.
- Spread of primary education among the masses.
Economic Demands of Moderates
- Reduction in land revenue and protection of peasants against unjust demands of the Zamindars.
- Reduction in expenditure on the army, and the money thus saved to be spent on welfare activities such as health and education.
- Availability of cheap credit to peasants through agricultural banks.
- Development of banking, irrigation, medical and health facilities for the people.
- Industrial growth through trade protection.
- Encouragement of cottage industries and handicrafts
- Total abolition of the salt tax and the duty on sugar.
