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\author{Mohandas K. Gandhi}
\title{Satyagraha in South-Africa}

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Satyagraha\\
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in\\
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South-Africa\\

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Mohandas K. Gandhi
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\newpage
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\begin{center}
\large{To Maganlal K. Gandhi}

\vspace{3ex}
\large{Original editor \& publisher (1928):\\
Navajivan Publishing House\\
Ahmedabad 380014\\
India}

\vspace{3ex}
\large{Translated from the Gujarati\\
by Valji Govindji Desai}

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\par \large{Published by Yann FORGET\\[2ex]
on \today, with \LaTeXe{}.}
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\chapter{Foreword}

\par Shri Valji Desai's translation has been revised by me, and I
can assure the reader that the spirit of the original in Gujarati has been very
faithfully kept by the translator. The original chapters were all written by me
from memory. They were written partly in the Yeravda jail and partly outside
after my premature release. As the translator knew of this fact, he made a
diligent study of the file of Indian Opinion and whenever he discovered slips
of memory, he has not hesitated to make the necessary corrections. The reader
will share my pleasure that in no relevant or material particular has there
been any slip. I need hardly mention that those who are following the weekly
chapters of My Experiments with Truth cannot afford to miss these chapters on
Satyagraha, if they would follow in all its detail the working out of the
search after Truth.

\begin{flushright}
M. K. Gandhi\\
Sabarmati, 26th April, 1928
\end{flushright}

\section{Translator's note}

\begin{center}
(Second edition)
\end{center}

\par This is a reprint of the first edition except for some verbal alterations
suggested by my friend Shri Verrier Elwin who was good enough to go through the
translation at my request.

\begin{center}
(Third impression)
\end{center}

\par I take this opportunity to place on record my indebtedness to Shri C. F.
Andrews, Shri Dattatraya Balkrishna Kalelkar and Shri Abhechand Govindji Desai
who made helpful suggestions when I was doing the first few chapters.

\begin{flushright}
V. G. D.
\end{flushright}

\chapter{Preface}

\par The Satyagraha struggle of the Indians in South Africa lasted
eight years. The term Satyagraha was invented and employed in connection
therewith. I had long entertained a desire to write a history of that struggle
myself. Some things only I could write. Only the general who conducts a
campaign can know the objective of each particular move. And as this was the
first attempt to apply the principle of Satyagraha to politics on a large
scale, it is necessary any day that the public should have an idea of its
development.

\par But today Satyagraha has had ample scope in India. Here there has been an
inevitable series of struggles beginning with the rather local question of the
Viramgam customs.

\par It was through the instrumentality of Bhai Motilal, the
public-spirited good tailor of Vadhvan, that I became interested in the
Viramgam question. I had just arrived from England and was proceeding to
Saurashtra in the year 1915. I was travelling third class. At Vadhvan station
Motilal came up to me with a small party. He gave me some account of the
hardships inflicted on the people at Viramgam, and said:

\par ``Please do something to end this trouble. It will be doing an
immense service to Saurashtra, the land of your birth.''

\par There was an expression of both compassion and firmness in his eyes.

\par ``Are you ready to go to jail?'' I asked.

\par ``We are ready to march to the gallows,'' was the quick reply.

\par ``Jail will do for me,'' I said. ``But see that you do no leave me
in the lurch.''

\par ``That only time can show,'' said Motilal

\par I reached Rajkot, obtained detailed information and commenced
correspondence with Government. In speeches at Bagasra and elsewhere, I dropped
a hint that the people should be ready to offer Satyagraha at Viramgam if
necessary. The loyal C. I. D. brought these speeches to the notice of
Government. In this they served Government and unintentionally, served the
people also. Finally, I had a talk with Lord Chelmsford on the matter. He
promised abolition of the customs line and was as good as his word. I know
others also tried for this. But I am strongly of opinion that the imminent
possibility of Satyagraha was the chief factor in obtaining the desired
redress.

\par Then came the Indian Emigration Act. Great efforts were put
forth to get indenture repealed. There was a considerable public agitation. The
Bombay meeting fixed May 31, 1917 as the date from which onwards indentured
labour should be stopped. This is not the place for narrating how that
particular date came to be selected. A deputation of ladies first waited upon
the Viceroy in connection with this. I cannot help mentioning here the name of
the high-souled sister, Mrs Jaiji Petit. It was she who may be said to have
organised this deputation. Here, too, success came merely through preparedness
for Satyagraha. But it is important to remember the distinction that in this
case public agitation was also necessary. The stopping of indentured labour
was very much more important than the abolition of the Viramgam customs. Lord
Chelmsford committed a series of blunders beginning with the passing of the
Rowlatt Act. Still, I think, he was a wise ruler. But what Viceroy can escape
for long the influence of the permanent officials of the Civil Service ?

\par The third in order came the Champaran struggle, of which
Rajendra Babu has written a detailed history. Here Satyagraha had actually to
be offered. Mere preparedness for it did not suffice, as powerful vested
interests were arrayed in opposition. The peace maintained by the people of
Champaran deserves to be placed on record. I can bear witness to the perfect
non-violence of the leaders in thought, word and deed. Hence it was chat this
age-long abuse came to an end in six months.

\par The fourth struggle was that of the mill-hands of Ahmedabad.
Gujarat is perfectly familiar with its history. How peaceful the labourers
were! As for the leaders, there can hardly be anything for me to say. Still I
hold the victory in this case was not quite pure, as the fast I had to observe
in order to sustain the labourers in their determination exercised indirect
pressure upon the mill. owners. The fast was bound to influence them, as I
enjoyed friendly relations with them. Still the moral of the fight is clear. If
the labourers carry on their struggle peacefully, they must succeed and also
win the hearts of their masters. They have not won their masters' hearts, as
they were not innocent in thought, word and deed. They were non-violent in
deed, which is certainly to their credit.

\par The fifth was the Kheda struggle. I cannot say that in this case
all the local leaders of Satyagraha parties adhered to the pure truth. Peace
was certainly maintained. The non-violence of the peasantry, however, was only
superficial, like that of the mill-hands. So we came out of the struggle with
bare honour. However there was a great awakening among the people. But Kheda
had not fully grasped the lesson of non-violence; the mill-hands had not
understood the true meaning of peace. The people had therefore to suffer. At
the time of the Rowlatt Act Satyagraha, I had to confess my Himalayan blunder,
to fast myself and invite others to do so.

\par The sixth was in connection with the Rowlatt Act. Therein our
inherent shortcomings came to the surface. But the original foundation was well
and truly laid. We admitted all our shortcomings and did penance for them. The
Rowlatt Act was a dead letter even when it was promulgated, and that black act
was finally even repealed. This struggle taught us a great lesson.

\par The seventh was the struggle to right the Khilafat and the
Punjab wrongs and to win Swaraj. It is still going on. And my confidence is
unshaken, that if a single Satyagrahi holds out to the end, victory is
absolutely certain.

\par But the present fight is epic in character. I have already
described our course of unconscious preparation for it. When I took up the
Viramgam question, little did I know that other fights were in store. And even
about Viramgam I knew nothing when I was in South Africa. That is the beauty of
Satyagraha, It comes up to oneself; one has not to go out in search for it.
This is a virtue inherent in the principle itself. A dharma-yuddha, in which
there are no secrets to be guarded, no scope for cunning and no place for
untruth, comes unsought; and a man of religion is ever ready for it. A struggle
which has to be previously planned is not a righteous struggle. In a righteous
struggle God Himself plans campaigns and conducts battles. A dharma-yuddha can
be waged only in the name of God, and it is only when the Satyagrahi feels
quite helpless, is apparently on his last legs and finds utter darkness all
around him, that God comes to the rescue. God helps when one feels oneself
humbler than the very dust under one's feet. Only to the weak and helpless is
divine succour vouchsafed.

\par We are yet to realize this truth, and so I think the history of
Satyagraha in South Africa will be helpful to us.

\par The reader will note South African parallels for all our experiences in the
present struggle to date. He will also see from this history that there is so
far no ground whatever for despair in the fight that is going on. The only
condition of victory is a tenacious adherence to our programme.

\par I am writing this preface at Juhu. I wrote the first thirty
chapters of the history in Yeravda jail. Shri Indulal Yajnik was good enough to
write to my dictation. The subsequent chapters I hope to write hereafter. I had
no books of reference in jail. Nor do I propose to get them here. I have
neither the time nor the inclination to write a regular detailed history. My
only object in writing this book is that it may be helpful in our present
struggle, and serve as a guide to any regular historian who may arise in the
future. Although I am writing without books of reference at hand, I must ask
the reader not to imagine that any single item in this volume is inaccurate or
that there is the least exaggeration at any point.

\begin{flushright}
M . K. Gandhi\\
Juhu, Bombay\\
2nd April, 1924\\
\end{flushright}

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\chapter{Geography}

\par Africa is one of the biggest continents in the world. India is
said to be not a country but a continent, but considering area alone, four or
five Indias could be carved out of Africa. Africa is a peninsula like India;
South Africa is thus mainly surrounded by the sea. There is a general
impression that Africa is the hottest part of the earth, and in a sense this is
true. The equator passes through the middle of Africa, and people in India
cannot have any idea of the heat in countries situated along this line. The
heat which we feel in the extreme south of India gives us some notion of it.
But in South Africa there is nothing of that kind, as it is far away from the
equator. The climate of many parts is so healthy and temperate that Europeans
can settle there in comfort, while it is nearly impossible for them to settle
in India. Moreover, there are lands of great elevation in South Africa like
Tibet or Kashmir, but these do not attain a height of ten to fourteen thousand
feet as in Tibet. Consequently, the climate is dry and cold enough to be
endured, and some places in South Africa are highly recommended as sanatoria
for consumptives. One of these is Johannesburg, the golden city of South
Africa. Only fifty years ago, the site on which it now stands was desolate and
covered with dry grass. But when gold mines were discovered, houses began to be
built one after another, as if by magic, and today there are many handsome and
substantial buildings. The wealthy people of the place have got trees from the
more fertile tracts of South Africa and from Europe, paying as much as a guinea
for a tree, and have planted them there. A traveller ignorant of this previous
history would imagine that these trees had been there for all time.

\par I do not propose to describe all the parts of South Africa, but
will confine myself only to those which are connected with our subject-matter.
Africa is under the Portuguese, and the rest under the British The territory
under the Portuguese is called Delagoa Bay, and this is the first South African
port for steamers from India. As we proceed further south, we come to Natal,
the first British Colony. Its chief sea-port is called Port Natal, but we know
it as Durban, under which name, it is generally known all over South Africa.
Durban is the largest city in Natal. The capital is Pietermaritzburg, situated
inland at a distance of about sixty miles from Durban and at a height of about
two thousand feet above sea-level. The climate of Durban is somewhat like that
of Bombay, although rather colder. If we proceed further inland beyond Natal we
reach the Transvaal, whose mines supply the world with the largest amount of
gold. Some years ago diamond mines were also discovered in one of which was the
world's largest diamond. The Cullinan, so called after the name of the
proprietor of the mine weighed over 3,000 carats, or over 11/3, lb.
avoirdupois, while the Kohinoor now weighs about 100 carats and the Orloff, one
of the Russian crown jewels, about 200 carats.

\par But though Johannesburg is the centre of the gold mining
industry and has diamond mines in the neighbourhood, it is not the official
capital of the Transvaal The capital is Pretoria, at a distance of about
thirty-six miles from Johannesburg. In Pretoria one chiefly finds officials and
politicians and the population drawn by them. It is therefore a comparatively
quiet place, while Johannesburg is full of bustle. As a visitor from a quiet
village, or for the matter of that a small town in India, to Bombay, would be
confounded with the din and roar of the city even so would a visitor from
Pretoria be affected with Johannesburg. It would be no exaggeration to say that
the citizens of Johannesburg do not walk but seem as if they ran. No one has
the leisure to look at any one else, and every one is apparently engrossed in
thinking how to amass the maximum wealth in the minimum of time ! If leaving
the Transvaal we travel further inland toward the West, we come to Orange Free
State or Orangia. Its capital is Bolemfontein, a very quiet and small town.

There are no mines in Orangia like those in the Transvaal, A few hours' railway
journey from here takes us to the boundary of the Cape Colony, the biggest of
all the South African colonies. Its capital, which is also its largest
sea-port, is known as Cape Town and is situated on the Cape of Good Hope, so
called by King John of Portugal as after its discovery he hoped his people
would be able to find a new and easier way of reaching India, the supreme
object of the maritime expeditions of that age.

\par Over and above these four principal British colonies there are
several territories under British ``protection,'' inhabited by races which had
migrated there before the appearance of Europeans on the scene.

\par The chief industry of South Africa is agriculture and for this it is
pre-eminently fitted. Some parts of it are delightful and fertile. The
principal grain is maize, which is grown, without much labour and forms the
staple food of the Negro inhabitants of South Africa. Wheat also is grown in
some parts. South Africa is famous for its fruits. Natal cultivates many
varieties of excellent bananas, pawpaws and pineapples, and that too in such
abundance that they are available to the poorest of the poor. In Natal as well
as other colonies, oranges, peaches and apricots grow in such plenty that
thousands get them in the country for the labour of gathering them. The Cape
Colony is the land of grapes and plums. Hardly any other place grows suck fine
grapes, and during the season they can be had so cheap that even a poor man can
have his fill. It is impossible that there should be no mangoes in places
inhabited by Indians. Indians planted mango trees in South Africa and
consequently mangoes also are available in considerable quantities. Some
varieties of these can certainly compete with the best mangoes of Bombay.
Vegetables also are extensively grown in that fertile country, and it may be
said that almost all the vegetables of India are grown there by Indians with a
palate for home delicacies.

\par Cattle also are bred in considerable numbers. Cow and oxen are better built
and stronger than in India. I have been ashamed, and my heart has often bled,
to find cows and oxen in India, which claims to protect the cow, as emaciated
as the people themselves. Although I have moved about over all parts of South
Africa with open eyes, I do not remember to have seen a single emaciated cow or
bull.

\par Not only has Nature showered her other gifts upon this country,
but she has not been stingy in beautifying it with a fine landscape.

\par The scenery of Durban is considered very beautiful, but that of Cape Town
surpasses it. Cape Town is situated at the foot of the Table Mountain which is
neither too high nor too low. A gifted lady who dotes on South Africa says in
her poem about this mountain that no other gave her such a sense of the unique.
There may be exaggeration in this. I think there is. But one of her points
struck me as true. She says the Table Mountain stands in the position of a
friend to the citizens of Cape Town. Not being too high, it does not inspire
awe. People are not compelled to worship it from afar, but build their houses
upon it and live there. And as it is just on the seashore, the sea always
washes its foot with its clear waters. Young and old, men and women,
fearlessly move about the whole mountain, which resounds every day with the
voices of thousands. Its tall trees and flowers of fine fragrance and
variegated hues impart such a charm to the mountain that one can never see too
much of it, or move too much about it.

\par South Africa cannot boast of such mighty rivers as the Ganges or
the Indus. The few that are there are comparatively small. The water of rivers
cannot reach many places. No canals can be taken to the highlands. And how can
there be canals in the absence of large rivers? Wherever there is a deficiency
of surface water in South Africa, artesian wells are sunk, and, water needed
for irrigating fields is pumped up by windmills and steam-engines. Agriculture
receives much encouragement from Government. Government sends out agricultural
experts to advise the cultivators, maintains model farms where experiments are
carried on for their benefit, provides them with good cattle and seed, bores
artesian wells for them at very little cost and permits them to repay this
amount by installments. Similarly Government erects barbed wire fences to
protect their fields.

\par As South Africa is to the south, and India to the north, of the equator,
climatic conditions there are just the reverse of what they are here. The
seasons occur in reverse order. For example, while we have summer her, South
Africa is passing through winter. Rainfall is uncertain and capricious. It may
occur any time. The average annual rainfall rarely exceeds twenty inches.

\chapter{History}

\par The geographical divisions briefly noticed in the first chapter
are not at all ancient. It has not been possibly definitely to ascertain who
were the inhabitants of Sown Africa in remote times. When the Europeans
settled in South Africa, they found the Negroes there. These Negroes are
supposed to have been the descendants of some of the slaves in America who
managed to escape from their cruel bondage and migrated to Africa. They are
divided into various tribes such as the Zulus, the Swazis, the Basutos, the
Bechuanas, etc. They have a number of different languages. These Negroes must
be regarded as the original inhabitants of South Africa. But South Africa is
such a vast country that it can easily support twenty or thirty times its
present population of Negroes. The distance between Cape Town and Durban is
about eighteen hundred miles by rail; the distance by sea also is not less than
one thousand miles. The combined area of these four colonies is 473,000 square
miles. In 1914 the Negro population in this vast region was about five
millions, while the Europeans numbered about a million and a quarter.

\par Among the Negroes, the tallest and the most handsome are the
Zulus. I have deliberately used the epithet ``handsome'' in connection with
Negroes. A fair complexion, and a pointed nose represent our ideal of beauty.
If we discard this superstition for a moment, we feel that the Creator did not
spare Himself in fashioning the Zulu to perfection. Men and women are both tall
and broad-chested in proportion to their height. Their muscles are strong and
well set. The calves of the legs and the arms are muscular and always well
rounded. You will rarely find a man or woman walking with a stoop or with a
hump back. The lips are certainly large and thick, but as they are in perfect
symmetry with the entire physique, I for one would not say that they are
unshapely. The eyes are round and bright. The nose is flat and large, such as
becomes a large face, and the curled hair on the head sets off to advantage the
Zulu's skin which is black and shining like ebony If we ask a Zulu to which of
the various races inhabiting South Africa he will award the palm for beauty, he
will unhesitatingly decide in favour of his own people, and :n this I would not
see any want of judgement on his part. The physique of the Zulu is powerfully
built and finely shaped by nature without any such effort as is made he Sandow
and others in Europe in order to develop the muscles. It is a law of nature
that the skin of races living near the equator should be black. And if we
believe that there must be beauty. in everything fashioned by nature, we would
not only steer clear of all narrow and one-sided conceptions of beauty, but we
in India would be free from the improper sense of shame and dislike which we
feel for our own complexion if it is anything but fair.

\par The Negroes live in round huts built of wattle and daub. The huts have a
single round wall and are thatched with hay. A pillar inside supports the roof.
A low entrance through which one can pass only by bending oneself is the only
aperture for the passage of air. The entrance is rarely provided with a door.
Like ourselves, the Negroes plaster the walls and the floor with earth and
animal dung. It is said the Negroes cannot make anything square in shape. They
have trained their eyes to see and make only round things. We never find nature
drawing straight lines or rectilinear figures, and these innocent children of
nature derive all their knowledge from their experience of her.

\par The furniture in the but is in keeping with the simplicity of
the place. There would be no room for tables, chairs, boxes and such other
things, and even now these things are rarely seen in a hut.

\par Before the advent of European civilisation, the Negroes used to
wear animal skins, which also served them as carpets, bed sheets and quilts.
Now-a-days they use blankets. Before British rule men as well as women moved
about almost in a state of nudity. Even now many do the same in the country.
They cover the private parts with a piece of skin. Some dispense even with
this. But let not anyone infer from this that these people cannot control their
senses. Where a large society follows a particular custom, it is quite possible
that the custom is harmless even if it seems highly improper to the members of
another society. These Negroes have no time to be staring at one another. When
Shukadeva passed by the side of women bathing in a state of nudity, so the
author of the Bhagavata tells us, his own mind was quite unruffled; nor were
the women at all agitated or affected by a sense of shame. I do not think there
is anything supernatural in this account. If in India today, there should be
none who would be equally pure on a similar occasion, that does not set a limit
to our striving after purity, but only argues our own degradation. It is only
vanity which makes us look upon the Negroes as savages. They are not the
barbarians we imagine them to be.

\par The law requires Negro women to cover themselves from the chest
to the knees when they go to a town. They are thus obliged to wrap a piece of
cloth round their body. Consequently pieces of that size command a large sale
in South Africa, and thousands of such blankets or sheets are imported from
Europe every year. The men are similarly required to cover themselves from the
waist to the knees. Many, therefore, have taken to the practice of wearing
second-hand clothing from Europe. Others wear a sort of knickers with a
fastening tape. All these clothes are imported from Europe.

\par The staple food of the Negroes is maize, and meat when available.
Fortunately, they know nothing about spices or condiments. If they find spices
in their food or even if it is coloured by turmeric, they turn up their noses
at it, and those among them who are looked upon as quite uncivilised will not
so much as touch it. It is no uncommon thing for a Zulu to take at a time one
pound of boiled maize with a little salt. He is quite content to live upon
porridge made from crushed mealies boiled in water. Whenever he can get meat,
he eats it, raw or cooked, boiled or roasted, with only salt. He does not mind
taking the flesh of any animal.

\par The Negro languages are named after the various tribes. The art of writing
was recently introduced by Europeans. There is nothing like a Negro alphabet.
The Bible and other books have now been printed in the Negro languages in Roman
character. The Zulu language is very sweet. Most words end with the sound of
broad ``a''; so the language sounds soft and pleasing to the ear. I have heard
and read that there is both meaning and poetry in the words. Judging from the
few words which I happened to pick up, I think this statement is just. There
are for most of the places sweet and poetical Negro names whose European
equivalents I have mentioned. I am sorry I do not remember them and so cannot
present them here to the reader.

\par According to the Christian missionaries, the Negroes previously
had not, and have not now, any religion at all. But taking the word religion in
a wide sense, we can say that the Negroes do believe in and worship a supreme
Being beyond human comprehension. They fear this power too. They are dimly
conscious of the fact that the dissolution of the body does not mean the utter
annihilation of a person. If we acknowledge morality as the basis of religion,
the Negroes being moral may be held even to be religious. They have a perfect
grasp of the distinction between truth and falsehood. It is doubtful whether
Europeans or ourselves practise truthfulness to the same extent as the Negroes
in their primitive state do. They have no temples or anything else of that
kind. There are many superstitions among them as among other races.

\par The reader will be surprised to learn, that this race, which is
second to none in the world in point of physical strength, is so timid that a
Negro is afraid at the sight even of a European child. If some one aims a
revolver at him, he will either flee or will be too stupefied to have the power
even to move. There is certainly reason for this. The notion is firmly
impressed on the Negro mind, that it is only by some magic that a handful of
Europeans have been able to subdue such a numerous and savage race as
themselves. The Negro was well acquainted with the use of the spear, and the
bow and arrows. Of these he has been deprived. He had never seen, never fired,
a gun. No match is needed, nothing more has to be done beyond moving a finger
and yet a small tube all at once emits a sound, a flash is seen, and a bullet
wounds and causes the death of a person in an instant. This is something the
Negro cannot understand. So he stands in mortal terror of those who wield such
a weapon. He and his forefathers before him have seen that such bullets have
taken the lives of many helpless and innocent Negroes. Many do not know even
now how this happens.

\par ``Civilisation'' is gradually making headway among the Negroes. Pious
missionaries deliver to them the message of Christ as they have understood it,
open schools for them, and teach them how to read and write. But many who,
being illiterate and therefore strangers to civilisation, were so far free from
many vices, have now become corrupt. Hardly any Negro who has come in contact
with civilisation has escaped the evil of drink. And when his powerful physique
is under the influence of liquor, he becomes perfectly insane and commits all
manner of crimes. That civilisation must lead to the multiplication of wants is
as certain as that two and two make four. In order to increase the Negro's
wants or to teach him the value of labour, a poll-tax and a hut tax have been
imposed upon him. If these imposts were not levied, this race of agriculturists
living on their farms would not enter mines hundreds of feet deep in order to
extract gold or diamonds, and if their labour were not available for the mines,
gold as well as diamonds would remain in the bowels of the earth. Likewise, the
Europeans would find it difficult to get any servants, if no such tax was
imposed. The result has been that thousands of Negro miners suffer, along with
other diseases, from a kind of phthisis called ``miners' phthisis.'' This is a
fatal disease. Hardly any of those who fall in its clutches recover. The reader
can easily imagine what self-restraint thousands of men living in mines away
from their families can possibly exercise. They consequently fall easy victims
to venereal disease. Not that thoughtful Europeans of South Africa are not
alive to this serious question. Some of them definitely hold it can hardly be
claimed that civilisation has, all things considered, exercised a wholesome
influence on this race. As for the evil effects, he who runs may read them.

\par About four hundred years ago the Dutch founded a settlement in this great
country, then inhabited by such a simple and unsophisticated race. They kept
slaves. Some Dutchmen from Java with their Malay slaves entered the country
which we now know as Cape Colony. These Malays are Musulmans. They have Dutch
blood in their veins and inherit some of the qualities of the Dutch. They are
found scattered throughout South Africa, but Cape Town is their stronghold.
Some of them today are in the service of Europeans, while others follow
independent avocations. Malay women are very industrious and intelligent. They
are generally cleanly in their ways of living. They are experts in laundry work
and sewing. The men carry on some petty trade. Many drive hackney carriages.
Some have received higher English education. One of them is the well known
Doctor Abdul Rahman of Cape Town. He was a member of the old Colonial
legislature at Cape Town. Under the new constitution this right of entering the
Parliament has been taken away.

\par While giving a description of the Dutch, I incidentally said
something about the Malays. But let us now see how the Dutch progressed. The
Dutch have been as skillful cultivators as they have been brave soldiers. They
saw that the country around them was highly suited for agriculture. They also
saw that the ``natives'' easily maintained themselves by working for only a short
time during the year. Why should they not force these people to labour for
them? The Dutch had guns. They were clever strategists. They knew how to tame
human beings like other animals and they believed that their religion did not
object to their doing so. In this way they commenced agriculture with the
labour of the South African ``natives'' with not a single doubt as to the
morality of their action.

\par As the Dutch were in search of good lands for their own
expansion, so were the English who also gradually arrived on the scene. The
English and the Dutch were of course cousins. Their characters and ambitions
were similar. Pots from the same pottery are often likely to clash against each
other. So these two nations, while gradually advancing their respective
interests and subduing the Negroes, came into collision. There were disputes
and then battles between them. The English suffered a defeat at Majuba Hill.
Majuba left a soreness which assumed a serious form and came to a head in the
Boer War which lasted from 1899 to 1902. And when General Cronje surrendered,
Lord Roberts was able to cable to Queen Victoria that Majuba had been avenged.
But when this first collision occurred between the two nations previous to the
Boer War, many of the Dutch were unwilling to remain under even the nominal
authority of the British and ``trekked'' into the unknown interior of South
Africa. This was the genesis of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.

\par These Dutch came to be known in South Africa as Boers. They have
preserved their language by clinging to it as a child clings to its mother.
They have an intense realization of the close relation between their language
and their liberty. In spite of many attacks, they have preserved their mother
tongue intact. The language assumed a new form suited to their genius. As they
could not maintain very close relations with Holland, they began to speak a
patois derived from the Dutch as the Prakrits are derived from Sanskrit. And
not wishing to impose an unnecessary burden upon their children, they have
given a permanent shape to this patois. It is called Taal. Their books are
written in Taal, their children are educated through it, and Boer members of
the Union Parliament make it a point to deliver their speeches in it. Since the
formation of the Union, Taal or Dutch and English have been officially treated
on a footing of equality through-out South Africa, so much so that the
Government Gazette and records of Parliament must be in both languages.

\par The Boers are simple, frank and religious. They settle in the
midst of extensive farms. We can have no idea of the extent of these farms. A
farm with us means generally an acre or two, and sometimes even less. In South
Africa a single farmer has hundreds or thousands of acres of Iand in his
possession. He is not anxious to put all this under cultivation at once, and if
any one argues with him, he will say, ``Let it lie fallow. Lands which now lie
fallow will be cultivated by our children.''

\par Every Boer is a good fighter. However much the Boers may quarrel
among themselves, their liberty is so dear to them that when it is in danger,
all get ready and fight as one man. They do not need elaborate drilling, for
fighting is a characteristic of the whole nation. General Smuts, General De
Wet, and General Hertzog are all of them great lawyers, great farmers and
equally great soldiers. General Botha had one farm of nine thousand acres. He
was familiar with all the intricacies of agri culture. When he went to Europe
in connection with negotiations for peace, it was said of him that there was
hardly any one in Europe who was as good a judge of sheep as he was. General
Botha had succeeded the late President Kruger. His knowledge of English was
excellent; yet when he met the King and ministers in England he always
preferred to talk in his own mother tongue. Who can say that this was not the
proper thing to do? Why should he run the risk of committing a mistake it order
to display his knowledge of English? Why should he allow his train of thought
to be disturbed in the search for the right word? The British ministers might
quite unintentionally employ some unfamiliar English idiom, he might not
understand what they meant, be led into giving the wrong reply and get
confused; and thus his cause would suffer. Why should he commit such a serious
blunder?

\par Boer women are as brave and simple as the men. If the Boers shed their
blood in the Boer war, they were able to offer this sacrifice owing to the
courage of their women folk and the inspiration they received from them. The
women were not afraid of widowhood and refused to waste a thought upon the
future.

\par I have stated above that the Boers are religiously minded
Christians. But it cannot be said that they believe in the New Testament. As a
matter of fact Europe does not believe in it; in Europe, however, they do claim
to respect it, although only a few know and observe Christ's religion of peace.
But as to the Boers it may be said that they know the New Testament only by
name. They read the Old Testament with devotion and know by heart the
descriptions of battles it contains. They fully accept Moses' doctrine of ``an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'' And they act accordingly.

\par Boer women understood that their religion required them to
suffer in order to preserve their independence, and therefore patiently and
cheerfully endured all hardships. Lord Kitchener left no stone unturned in
order to break their spirit. He confined them in separate concentration camps,
where they underwent indescribable sufferings. They starved, they suffered
biting cold and scorching heat. Sometimes a soldier intoxicated with liquor or
maddened by passion might even assault these unprotected women. Still the brave
Boer women did not flinch. And at last King Edward wrote to Lord Kitchener,
saying that he could not tolerate it, and that if it was the only means of
reducing the Boers to submission, he would prefer any sort of peace to
continuing the war in that fashion, and asking the General to bring the war to
a speedy end.

\par When this cry of anguish reached England, the English people
were deeply pained. They were full of admiration for the bravery of the Boers.
The fact that such a small nationality should sustain a conflict with their
worldwide empire was rankling in their minds. But when the cry of agony raised
by the women in the concentration camps reached England not through themselves,
not through their men, ?they were fighting valiantly on the battlefield, ?but
through a few high-souled Englishmen and women who were then in South Africa,
the English people began to relent. The late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman read
the mind of the English nation and raised his voice against the war. The late
Mr Stead publicly prayed and invited others to pray, that God might decree the
English a defeat in the war. This was a wonderful sight. Real suffering bravely
borne melts even a heart of stone. Such is the potency of suffering or tapas.
And there lies the key to Satyagraha.

\par The result was that the peace of Vereeniging was concluded, and
eventually all the four Colonies of South Africa were united under one
Government. Although every Indian who reads newspapers knows about this peace,
there are a few facts connected with it, which perhaps are not within the
knowledge of many. The Union did not immediately, follow the peace, but each
Colony had its own legislature. The ministry was not fully responsible to the
legislature. The Transvaal and the Free State were governed on Crown Colony
lines. Generals Botha and Smuts were not the men to he satisfied with such
restricted freedom. They kept aloof from the Legislative Council. They
non-cooperated. They flatly refused to have any thing to do with the
Government. Lord Milner made a pungent speech, in the course of which he said
that General Botha need not have attached so much importance to himself. The
country's Government could well be carried on without him. Lord Milner thus
decided to stage Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark.

\par I have written in unstinted praise of the bravery, the love of
liberty and the self-sacrifice of the Boers. But I did not intend to convey the
impression that there were no differences of opinion among them during their
days of trial, or that there were no weak-kneed persons among them. Lord Milner
succeeded in setting up a party among the Boers who were easy to satisfy, and
persuaded himself to believe that he could make a success of the legislature
with their assistance. Even a stage play cannot be managed without the hero :
and an administrator in this matter-of-fact world who ignores the central
figure in the situation he has to deal with and still expects to succeed can
only be described as insane. Such indeed was the case of Lord Milner. It was
said that though he indulged in bluff, he found it so difficult to govern the
Transvaal and the Free State without the assistance of General Botha, that he
was often seen in his garden in an anxious and excited state of mind. General
Botha distinctly stated that by the treaty of Vereeniging, as he understood it,
the Boers were immediately entitled to complete internal autonomy. He added
that, had that not been the case, he would never have signed the treaty. Lord
Kitchener declared in reply that he had given no such pledge to General Botha.
The Boers, he said, would be gradually granted full self-government as they
proved their loyalty! Now who was to judge between these two? How could one
expect General Botha to agree if arbitration was suggested? The decision
arrived at in the matter by the Imperial Government of the time was very
creditable to them. They conceded that the stronger party should accept the
interpretation of the agreement put upon it by the other and weaker party.
According to the principles of justice and truth, that is the correct canon of
interpretation. I may have meant to say anything, but I must concede that my
speech or writing was intended to convey the meaning ascribed to it by my
hearer or reader in so far as he is concerned. We often break this golden rule
in our lives. Hence arise many of our disputes and half-truth, which is worse
than untruth, is made do duty for truth.

\par Thus when truth in the present case General Botha fully triumphed, he set
to work. All the colonies were eventually united, and South Africa obtained
full self-government. Its flag is the Union Jack, it is shown in red on maps,
and yet it is no exaggeration to say that South Africa is completely
independent. The British Empire cannot receive a single farthing from South
Africa without the consent of its Government. Not only that, but Brit,
ministers have conceded that if South Africa wishes remove the Union Jack and
to be independent even name, there is nothing to prevent it from doing so. And
if the Boers have so far not Liken this step, there re are strong reasons for
it. For one thing, the Boer leaders are shrewd and sagacious men. They see
nothing improper in maintaining with the British Empire a partnership in which
they have nothing to lose. But there is another practical reason. In Natal the
English preponderate, in Cape Colony there is a large population of Englishmen
though they do not outnumber the Boers; in Johannesburg the English element is
predominant. This being the case, if the Boers seek to establish an independent
republic in South Africa, the result would be internecine strife and possibly a
civil war. South Africa, therefore, continues to rank as a dominion of the
British Empire.

\par The way in which the Constitution of the Union was framed is worthy of
note. A National Convention, composed of delegates representative of all
parties appointed by the Colonial legislatures, unanimously prepared a draft
Constitution and the British Parliament had to approve it in its entirety. A
member of the House of Commons drew the attention of the House to a grammatical
mistake and suggested that it should be rectified. The late Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman, while rejecting the suggestion, observed that faultless
grammar was not essential to carrying on a government, that the Constitution
was framed as a result of negotiations between the British Cabinet and the
ministers of South Africa and that they did not reserve even the right of
correcting a grammatical error to the British Parliament. Consequently, the
Constitution recast in the form of an Imperial bill passed through both Houses
of Parliament, just as it was, without the slightest alteration.

\par There is one more circumstance worthy of notice in this
connection. There are some provisions in the Act of Union which may appear
meaningless to the lay reader. They have led to a great increase in
expenditure. This had not escaped the notice of the framers of the
Constitution; but their object was not to attain perfection, but by compromise
to arrive at an understanding and to make the Constitution a success. That is
why the Union has four capitals, no colony being prepared to part with its own
capital. Similarly, although the old colonial legislatures were abolished,
provincial councils with subordinate and delegated functions were set up. And
though Governorships were abolished, officers corresponding to the rank of
Governor and styled Provincial Administrators were appointed. Every one knows
that four local legislatures, four capitals and four Governors are unnecessary
and serve for mere show. But the shrewd statesmen of South Africa did not
object. The arrangement is showy and entails additional expenditure, but union
was desirable and therefore the statesmen did what they thought fit, regardless
of outside criticism and got their policy approved by the British Parliament.

   I have endeavoured to sketch very briefly the history of South
Africa, as without it, it appeared to me difficult to explain the inner meaning
of the great Satyagraha struggle. It now remains to be seen how the Indians
came to this country and struggled against their adversities before the
inauguration of Satyagraha.

\chapter{Indians enter South-Africa}

\par We saw in the preceding chapter how the English arrived. They settled in
Natal, where they obtained some concessions from the Zulus. They observed that
excellent sugar cane, tea and coffee could be grown in Natal. Thousands of
labourers would be needed in order to grow such crops on a large scale, which
was clearly beyond the capacity of a handful of colonists. They offered
inducements and then threats to the Negroes in order to make them work but in
vain, as slavery had been then abolished. The Negro is not used to hard work.
He can easily maintain himself by working for six months in the year. Why then
should he bind himself to an employer for a long term? The English settlers
could make no progress at all with their plantations in the absence of a stable
labour force. They therefore opened negotiations with the Government of India
and requested their help for the supply of labour. That Government complied
with their request, and the first batch of indentured labourers from India
reached Natal on November 16, 1860, truly a fateful date for this history; had
it not been for this, there would have been no Indians and therefore no
Satyagraha in South Africa, and this book would have remained unwritten.

\par In my opinion, the Government of India were not well advised in taking the
action they did. The British officials in India consciously or unconsciously
were partial to their brethren in Natal. It is true that as many terms as
possible, purporting to safeguard the labourers' interests, were entered in the
indentures. Fairly good arrangements were made for their board. But adequate
consideration was not given to the question as to how these illiterate
labourers who had gone to a distant land were to seek redress if they had any
grievances. No thought was given to their religious needs or to the
preservation of their morality. The British officials in India did not consider
that although slavery had been abolished by law, employers could not be free
from a desire to make slaves of their employees. They did not realize, as they
ought to have realized, that the labourers who had gone to Natal would in fact
become temporary slaves. The late Sir W. W. Hunter, who had deeply studied
these labour conditions, used a remarkable phrase about them. Writing about the
Indian labourers in Natal, he said that theirs was a state of semi-slavery. On
another occasion, in the course of a letter, he described their condition as
bordering on slavery. And tendering evidence before a commission in Natal, the
most prominent European in that Colony, the late Mr. Harry Escombe, admitted as
much. Testimony to the same effect can be readily gathered from the statements
of leading Europeans in Natal. Most of these were incorporated in the memorials
on the subject submitted to the Government of India. But the fates would have
their course. And the steamer which carried those labourers to Natal carried
with them the seed of the great Satyagraha movement.

\par I have not the space here in the present volume to narrate how
the labourers were deluded by Indian recruiting agents connected with Natal;
how under the influence of such delusion they left the mother country; how
their eyes were opened on reaching Natal; how still they continued to stay
there; how others followed them; how they broke through all the restraints
which religion or morality imposes, or to be more accurate, how these
restraints gave way, and how the very distinction between a married woman and a
concubine ceased to exist among these unfortunate people.

\par When the news that indentured labourers had gone to Natal
reached Mauritius, Indian traders having connection with such labourers were
induced to follow them there. Thousands of Indians, labourers as well as
traders, have settled in Mauritius which is on the way to Natal from India. An
Indian trader in Mauritius, the late Sheth Abubakar Amad, thought of opening a
shop in Natal. The English in Natal had then no idea of what Indian traders
were capable of, nor did they care. They had been able to raise very profitable
crops of sugar cane, tea and coffee, with the assistance of indentured labour.
They manufactured sugar, and in a surprisingly short time supplied South Africa
with a modest quantity of sugar, tea and coffee. They made so much money that
they built palatial mansions for themselves and turned a wilderness into a
veritable garden. In such circumstances they naturally did not mind an honest
and plucky trader like Abubakar Sheth settling in their midst. Add to this that
an Englishman actually joined him as partner. Abubakar Sheth carried on trade
and purchased land, and the story of his prosperity reached Porbandar, his
native place, and the country around. Other Memans consequently reached Natal.
Borahs from Surat followed them. These traders needed accountants, and Hindu
accountants from Gujarat and Saurashtra accompanied them.

\par Two classes of Indians thus settled in Natal, first free traders
and their free servants, and secondly indentured labourers. In course of time
the indentured labourers had children. Although not bound to labour, these
children were affected by several stringent provisions of the colonial law. How
can the children of slaves escape the brand of slavery? The labourers went to
Natal under indenture for a period of five years. They were under no obligation
to tabour after the expiry of that period, and were entitled to work as free
labourers or trade in Natal, and settle there if they wished. Some elected to
do so while others returned home. Those who remained in Natal came to be known
as ``Free Indians.'' It is necessary to understand the peculiar position of this
class. They were not admitted to all the rights enjoyed by the entirely free
Indian of whom I have first spoken. For instance, they were required to obtain
a pass if they wanted to go from one place to another, and if they married and
desired the marriage to be recognised as valid in law, they were required to
register it with an official known as Protector of Indian Immigrants. They were
also subject to other severe restrictions.

\par The Indian traders saw that they could trade not only with indentured
labourers and ``Free Indians,'' but with the Negroes as well. Indian merchants
were a source of great convenience to the Negroes, who very much feared the
European traders. The European trader wanted to trade with the Negro, but it
would be too much for Negro customers to expect courtesy at his hands. They
might think it a great good fortune if he gave them full consideration for their
money. Some of them had bitter experiences. A man might purchase an article
worth four shillings, place a sovereign on the counter, and receive four
shillings as balance instead of sixteen, and sometimes even nothing whatever.
If the poor Negro asked for the balance or showed how the amount paid him was
less than his due, the reply would be. gross abuse. He might thank his stars if
things stopped there; otherwise the abuse would be reinforced by a blow or a
kick. I do not mean to suggest that all English traders behaved like this. But
it can safely be asserted that the number of such cases was fairly large. On
the other hand, Indian trader had a good word for the Negroes and even joked
with them. The simple Negro would like to enter the shop and handle and examine
the goods he wanted to purchase. Indian traders permitted all this. It is true
that in this they were not actuated by altruistic motives, it may have had
something to do with their self-interest. The Indian might not miss the
opportunity, if it offered, of cheating his Negro customer, but his courtesy
made him popular with the Negroes. Moreover, the Negro never feared the Indian
traders. On the other hand, cases have occurred in which an Indian tried to
cheat Negroes, but on being , detected, was roughly handled by them. And more
often Negro customers have been heard to abuse Indian trader Thus, so far as
Indians and Negroes were concerned, it is the former who feared the latter. The
result was that trade with Negroes proved very profitable to Indian traders.
And the Negroes were to be found throughout South Africa.

\par There were Boer republics in the Transvaal and the Orange Free
State during the eighties of the last century. I need scarcely say that in
these republics the Negro had no power, it was all a white men's affair. Indian
traders had heard that they could also trade with the Boers, who, being simple,
frank and unassuming, would not think it below their dignity to deal with
Indian traders. Several Indian traders therefore proceeded to the Transvaal and
the Free State and opened shops there. As there were no railways there at the
time, they earned large profits. The expectations of the Indian traders were
fulfilled and they carried on considerable trade with the Boers and the Negroes
as customers. Similarly several Indian traders went to the Cape Colony and
began to earn fairly well. The Indians were thus distributed in small numbers
in all the four colonies.

\par Absolutely free Indians now number between forty to fifty thousands, while
the ``Free Indians'' so called, that is, the labourers who are freed from their
indentures and their descendants, number about a hundred thousand.

\chapter{A Review of the Grievances}

\begin{center}
\Huge{Natal}
\end{center}
\vspace{4ex}

\par The European planters of Natal wanted only salves. They could
not afford to have labourers who, after serving their term, would be free to
compete with them to however small an extent. No doubt the indentured labourers
had gone to Natal, as they had not been very successful in agriculture or other
pursuits in India. But it is not to be supposed that they had no knowledge of
agriculture or that they did not understand the value of land. They found that
if they grew only vegetables in Natal, they could earn good incomes, and that
their earnings would be still better if they owned a small piece of land. Many,
therefore, on the termination of their dentures, began to pursue some trade or
other on a small scale. This was, on the whole, advantageous to the settlers in
Natal. Various kinds of vegetables, which had not been grown before for want of
a competent class cultivators, now became available. Other kinds, which had
been grown in small quantities, could now be had in abundance. The result was a
fall in the price of vegetables. But the European planters did not relish this
new development. They felt they now had competitors in a field in which they
believed they had a monopoly. A movement was, therefore, set on foot against
these poor time-expired labourers. The reader will be surprised to learn, that
while on the one hand the Europeans demanded more and more labourers and easily
took in as many of them as went from India, on the other hand they started an
agitation to harass ex-indenture labourers in a variety of ways. This was the
reward for their skill and hard toil!

\par The movement assumed many forms. One set of agitators demanded
that the labourers who completed their indentures should be sent back to India,
and that therefore fresh labourers arriving in Natal from that time forward
should have a new clause entered in their indentures, providing for their
compulsory return to India at the expiration of their term of service unless
they renewed their indentures. A second set advocated the imposition of a heavy
annual capitation tax on the labourers who did not re-indenture themselves at
the end of the first period of five years. Both, however, had the same object
in view, namely, by hook or crook to make it impossible for ex-indentured
labourers to live as free men in Natal in any circumstances. This agitation
attained such serious dimensions, that the Government of Natal appointed a
commission. As the demands of both these classes of agitators were quite
unfair, and as the presence of the ex-indentured labourers was clearly
beneficial to the entire population from an economic standpoint, the
independent evidence recorded by the commission was against the agitators, who
thus failed to achieve any tangible result for the time being. But as fire,
although extinguished, leaves a trail behind it, the agitation created some
impression on the Government of Natal. How could it be otherwise? The
Government of Natal was friendly to the planters. It therefore communicated
with the Government of India and laid before it the proposals of both the sets
of agitators. But the Government of India could not all at once accept
proposals which would reduce indentured labourers to. perpetual slavery. One
justification or excuse for sending labourers to such a far-off land under
indenture was that the labourers, after completing the indentures, would become
free to develop their powers fully and consequently improve their economic
condition. As Natal then was still a Crown Colony, the Colonial Office was
fully responsible for its government. Natal, therefore, could not look for help
from that quarter too in satisfying its unjust demands. For this and similar
reasons a movement was set on foot to attain responsible government, which was
eventually conferred on Natal in 1893. Natal now began to feel its strength.
The Colonial Office too did not any longer find it difficult to accept whatever
demands Natal might choose to make. Delegates from the new responsible
Government of Natal came to India to confer with the Government of India. They
proposed the imposition of an annual poll-tax of twenty-five pounds, or three
hundred and seventy-five rupees, on every Indian who had been freed from
indenture. It was evident that no Indian labourer could pay such an exorbitant
tax and live in Natal as a free man. Lord Elgin, the Governor-General of
India, considered that the amount was excessive, and ultimately he accepted an
annual poll-tax of three pounds. This was equivalent to nearly six months'
earnings on the indenture scale. The tax was levied, not only on the labourer
himself, but also upon his wife, his daughters aged thirteen years or upwards,
and his sons aged sixteen years or upwards. There was hardly any labourer who
had not a wife and a couple of children. Thus, as a general rule, every
labourer was required to pay an annual tax of twelve pounds. It is impossible
to describe the hardships that this tax entailed. Only those, who actually
underwent the hardships, could realize them, and only those who witnessed their
sufferings could have some idea of them. The Indians carried on a powerful
agitation against this action of the Government of Natal. Memorials were
submitted to the Imperial Government and the Government of India, but to no
purpose except for the reduction in the amount of the tax. What could the poor
labourers do or understand in this matter? The agitation on their behalf was
carried on by the Indian traders, actuated by motives of patriotism or of
philanthropy.

\par Free Indians fared no better. The European traders of Natal
carried on a similar agitation against them for mainly the same reasons. Indian
traders were well established. They acquired lands in good localities. As the
number of freed labourers began to increase, there was a larger and larger
demand for the class of goods required by them. Bags of rice were imported from
India in their thousands and sold at a good profit. Naturally this trade was
largely in the hands of Indians who had besides a fair share of the trade with
Zulus. They thus became an eyesore to petty European traders. Again, some
Englishmen pointed out to the Indian traders, that according to law they were
entitled to vote in the elections for the Legislative Assembly of Natal, and to
stand as candidates for the same. Some Indians therefore got their names
entered on the electoral roll. This made the European politicians of Natal join
the ranks of anti-Indians. They doubted whether the Europeans could stand in
competition with Indians if the Indians' prestige increased, and if their
position was consolidated, in Natal. The first step, therefore, taken by the
responsible Government of Natal in connection with free Indians was that they
decided to enact a law, disfranchising all Asiatics save those who were then
rightly contained in any voters' list. A bill to that effect was first
introduced into the Legislative Assembly of Natal in 1894. This was based on
the principle of excluding Indians as Indians from the franchise, and was in
Natal the first piece of legislation affecting them in which racial distinction
was made. Indians resisted this measure. A memorial was prepared during one
night and four hundred signatures were appended to it. When the memorial was
submitted to the Legislative Assembly of Natal, that body was startled. But the
bill was passed all the same. A memorial bearing ten thousand signatures was
submitted to Lord Ripon who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies. Ten
thousand signatures meant almost the total population at the time of free
Indians in Natal. Lord Ripon disallowed the bill and declared that the British
Empire could not agree to the establishment of a colour bar in legislation. The
reader will be in a position later on to appreciate how great was this victory
for Indians. The Natal Government, therefore, brought forward another bill,
removing racial distinction but indirectly disqualifying Indians. Indians
protested against this as well but without success. This new bill was ambiguous
in meaning. Indians were in a position to carry it finally to the judicial
Committee of the Privy Council with a view to its interpretation; but they did
not think it advisable to do so. I still think that they did the right thing in
avoiding this endless litigation. It was no small thing that the colour bar was
not allowed to be set up.

But the planters and the Government of Natal were not likely to stop there. To
nip the political power of Indians in the bud was for them the indispensable
first step; but the real point of their attack was Indian trade and free Indian
immigration. They were uneasy at the thought of the Europeans in Natal being
swamped if India with its teeming millions invaded Natal. The approximate
population of Natal at the time was 400,000 Zulus and 40,000 Europeans as
against 60,000 indentured, 10,000 ex-indentured and 10,000 free Indians. The
Europeans had no solid grounds for their apprehensions, but it is impossible to
convince by argument men who have been seized with vague terrors. As they were
ignorant of the helpless condition of India and of the manners and customs of
the Indian people, they were under the impression that the Indians were as
adventurous and resourceful as themselves. They could scarcely be blamed if
they thus created a bugbear of the vast population of India in comparison with
their own small numbers. However that may be, the result of the successful
opposition to the disfranchising bill was, that in two other laws passed by the
Natal Legislature it had to avoid racial distinction and to attain its end in
an indirect manner. The position, therefore, was not as bad as it might have
been. On this occasion too Indians offered a strenuous resistance, but in spite
of this the laws were enacted. One of these imposed severe restrictions on
Indian trade and the other on Indian immigration in Natal. The substance of the
first Act was that no one could trade without a licence issued by an official
appointed in accordance with its provisions. In practice any European could get
a licence while the Indian had to face no end of difficulty in the matter. He
had to engage a lawyer and incur other expenditure. Those who could not afford
it had to go without a licence. The chief provision of the other Act was that
only such immigrants as were able to pass the education test in a European
language could enter the Colony. This closed the doors of Natal against crores
of Indians. Lest I should inadvertently do the Government of Natal an
injustice, I must state that the Act further provided that an Indian resident
in Natal for three years before the passing of that Act might obtain a
certificate of domicile enabling him to leave the Colony and return at any time
with his wife and minor children without being required to pass the education
test.

\par The indentured and free Indians in Natal were and still are
subject to other disabilities, both legal and extralegal, in addition to those
described above. But I do not think it necessary to tax the reader with a
recital of them. I propose to give such details only as are essential to a
clear understanding of the subject. A history of the condition of Indians in
different parts of South Africa would take up much space. But that is beyond
the scope of the present volume.

\chapter{A Review of the Grievances}

\begin{center}
\Huge{The Transvaal and other Colonies}
\end{center}
\vspace{4ex}

\par As in Natal, so in the other Colonies anti-Indian prejudice had more or
less begun to grow even before 1880. Except in the Cape Colony, the general
opinion held was that as labourers the Indians were all right, but it had
become an axiom with many Europeans that the immigration of free Indians was
purely a disadvantage to South Africa. The Transvaal was a republic. For
Indians to declare their British citizenship before its President was only to
invite ridicule. If they had any grievance, all they could do was to bring it
to the notice of the British Agent at Pretoria. Still the wonder is that when
the Transvaal came under the British flag, there was none from whom Indians
could expect even such assistance as the Agent rendered when the Transvaal was
independent. When during Lord Morley's tenure of the office of the Secretary of
State for India, a deputation on behalf of the Indians waited upon him, he
declared in so many words that as the members of the deputation were aware, the
Imperial Government could exercise but little control over self-governing
dominions. They could not dictate to them; they could plead, they could argue,
they could press for the application of their principles. Indeed in some
instances they could more effectively remonstrate with foreign Powers, as they
remonstrated with the Boer Republic, than with their own people in the
Colonies. The relations of the mother country with the colonies were in the
nature of a silken tie which would snap with the slightest tension. As force
was out of the question, he assured the deputation that he would do all he
could by negotiations. When war was declared on the Transvaal, Lord Landsdowne,
Lord Selborne and other British statesmen declared that the scandalous
treatment accorded to the Indians by the South African Republic was one of the
causes of the war.

\par Let us now see what sort of treatment this was. Indians first
entered the Transvaal in 1881. The late Sheth Abubakar opened a shop in
Pretoria and purchased land in one of its principal streets. Other traders
followed in his wake. Their great success excited the jealousy of European
traders who commenced an anti-Indian campaign in the newspapers, and submitted
petitions to the Volksraad or Parliament, praying that Indians should be
expelled and their trade stopped. The Europeans in this newly opened up country
had a boundless hunger for riches. They were almost strangers to the dictates
of morality. Here are some statements they made in their petitions: ``These
Indians have no sense of human decency. They suffer from loathsome diseases.
They consider every woman as their prey. They believe that women have no
souls.'' These four sentences contain four lies. It would be easy to multiply
such specimens. As were the Europeans, so were their representatives. Little
did the Indian traders know what a sinister and unjust movement was being
carried on against them. They did not read newspapers. The newspaper campaign
and the petitions had the desired effect, and a bill was introduced into the
Volksraad. The leading Indians were taken aback when they came to know how
events had shaped themselves. They went to see President Kruger who did not so
much as admit them into his house but made them stand in the courtyard. After
hearing them for a while, he said, ``You are the descendants of Ishmael and
therefore from your very birth bound to slave for the descendants of Esau. As
the descendants of Esau we cannot admit you to rights placing you on an
equality with ourselves. You must rest content with what rights we grant to
you.'' It cannot be said, that this reply from the President was inspired by
malice or anger. President Kruger had been taught from his childhood the
stories of the Old Testament, and he believed them to be true. How can we blame
a man who gives candid expression to his opinions such as they are? Ignorance,
however, is bound to do harm even when associated with candour, and the result
was that in 1885 a very drastic law was rushed through the Volksraad, as if
thousands of Indians were on the point of flooding the Transvaal. The British
Agent was obliged to move in the matter at the instance of Indian leaders. The
question was finally carried to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In the
terms of this Law 3 of 1885 every Indian settling in the Republic for the
purpose of carrying on trade was required to register at a cost of twenty-five
pounds subject to heavy penalties, and no Indian could hold an inch of land or
enjoy the rights of citizenship. All this was so manifestly unjust that the
Transvaal Government could not defend it in argument. There was a treaty
subsisting between the Boers and the British known as the London Convention,
Article XIV of which secured the rights of British subjects. The British
Government objected to the Law as being in contravention of that Article. The
Boers urged in reply that the British Government had previously given their
consent, whether express or implied, to the law in question.

\par A dispute thus arose between the British and the Boer
Governments, and the matter was referred to arbitration. The arbitrator's award
was unsatisfactory. He tried to please both parties. The Indians were therefore
the losers. The only advantage they reaped, if advantage it can be called, was
that they did not lose as much as they might have done otherwise. The Law was
amended in 1886 in accordance with the arbitrator's award. The registration fee
was reduced from twenty-five to three pounds. The clause, which completely
debarred Indian from holding landed property, was removed, and it was provided
instead, that the Indians could own fixed property in such locations, wards and
streets as were specially set apart for their residence by the Transvaal
Government This Government did not honestly carry out the terms of the amended
clause, and withheld from Indians the right to purchase freehold land even in
the locations. In all towns inhabited by Indians, these locations were selected
in dirty places situated far away from the towns where there was no water
supply, no lighting arrangement and no sanitary convenience to speak of. Thus
the Indian became the Panchamas of the Transvaal. It can be truly said that
there is no difference between these location and the untouchables' quarters in
India. Just as the Hindus believe that touching Dhedhs or residence in their
neighbourhood would lead to pollution, so did the Europeans in the Transvaal
believe for all practical purpose that physical contact with the Indians or
living near them would defile them. Again the Transvaal Government interpreted
Law 3 of 1885 to mean that the Indians could trade, too, exclusively in the
locations. The arbitrator had decided that the interpretation of the law rested
with the .ordinary tribunals of the Transvaal. The Indian traders were
therefore in a very awkward condition. Still they managed to maintain their
position fairly well by carrying on negotiations in one place, by having
recourse to law courts in another, and by exerting what little Influence they
possessed in a third. Such was the miserable and precarious position of Indians
in the Transvaal at the outbreak of the Boer War.

\par We shall now turn to examine the position in the Free State. Hardly a
dozen Indians had opened shops there when the Europeans started a powerful
agitation. The Volksraad passed a stringent law and expelled all Indian traders
from the Free State, awarding them nominal compensation. That law provided that
no Indian could on any account hold fixed property or carry on mercantile or
farming business or enjoy franchise rights in the Free State. With special
permission an Indian could settle as a labourer or as a hotel waiter. But the
authorities were not obliged to grant even this precious permission in every
case. The result was that a respectable Indian could not live in the Free State
even for a couple of days without great difficulty. At the time of the Boer War
there were no Indians in the Free State except a few waiters.

\par In the Cape Colony, too, there was some newspaper agitation against
Indians, and the treatment to which they were subjected was not free from
humiliating features. For example Indian children could not attend public
schools, etc., and Indian travellers could hardly secure accommodation in
hotels. But there were no restrictions as to trade and the purchase of land for
a long time.

\par There were reasons for this state of things. As we have already
seen, there was a fair proportion of the Malays in the population of the Cape
Colony in general and of Cape Town in particular. As the Malays are Musulmans,
they soon came in contact with their Indian coreligionists, and consequently
with other Indians later on. Moreover, some Indian Musulmans married Malay
women. How could the Government of the Cape Colony legislate against the
Malays? The Cape was their motherland, Dutch was their mother tongue, they had
been living with the Dutch from the very first and therefore largely imitated
them in their ways of life. The Cape Colony, therefore, has been the least
affected by colour prejudice.

\par Again as the Cape Colony was the oldest settlement and the chief
centre of culture in South Africa, it produced sober, gentlemanly and
large-hearted Europeans. In my opinion, there is no place on earth and no race,
which is not capable of producing the finest types of humanity, given suitable
opportunities and education. It has been my good fortune to come across this
class of people in all parts of South Africa. In the Cape Colony, however, the
proportion of such persons was very much the larger. Perhaps the best known and
the most learned among them is Mr Merriman who was a member of the first and
subsequent ministries that came in power after the grant of responsible
government to the Cape Colony in 1872, was again the Premier in the last
ministry when the Union was established in 1910, and was known as the Gladstone
of South Africa. Then there are the Moltenos and the Schreiners. Sir John
Molteno was the first Premier of the Colony in 1872. Mr W. P. Schreiner was a
well-known advocate, for some time Attorney-General, and later on Premier. His
sister, Olive Schreiner, was a gifted lady popular in South Africa and well
known wherever the English language is spoken. Ever since she wrote the book,
she became famous as the authoress of Dreams. Her love for all mankind was
unbounded. Love was written in her eyes. Although she belonged to such a
distinguished family and was a learned lady, she was so simple in habits that
she cleaned utensils in her house herself. Mr Merriman, the Moltenos and the
Schreiners, had always espoused the cause of the Negroes. Whenever the rights
of the Negroes were in danger, they stoutly stood up in their defence. They had
kindly feelings for the Indians as well, though they made a distinction between
Negroes and Indians. Their argument was that as the Negroes had been the
inhabitants of South Africa long before the European settlers, the latter could
not deprive them of their natural rights. But as for the Indians it would not
be unfair if laws calculated to remove the danger of their undue competition
were enacted. All the same they had a warm corner in their hearts for Indians.
When Gokhale went to South Africa, Mr Schreiner presided over the. Townhall
meeting in Cape Town, where lie was accorded his first public reception in that
country. Mr Merriman also treated him with great courtesy and expressed his
sympathy with the Indian cause. There were other Europeans of the type of Mr
Merriman. I have mentioned these well-known names as typical of their class.

\par The newspapers in Cape Town, too, were less hostile to Indians
than in other parts of South Africa.

\par While it is true that for these reasons there has always been
less race hatred in the Cape Colony than in other parts, it is but natural that
the anti-Indian feeling which constantly found expression in the other colonies
also found its way to the Cape. There too two laws copied from Natal were
passed, namely, the Immigration Restriction Act and the Dealers' Licences Act.

\par It can be said that the door in South Africa, which was formerly wide open,
had thus been almost closed against Indians at the time of the Boer War. In the
Transvaal there was no restriction on immigration except the registration fee
of three pounds. When Natal and the Cape Colony closed their ports to Indians,
they had difficulty in landing on their way to the Transvaal which was in the
interior. They could reach it via Delagoa Bay, a Portuguese port. But the
Portuguese also more or less imitated the British. It must be mentioned that
some stray Indians were able to find their way to the Transvaal via Natal or
Delagoa Bay by suffering great hardships or by bribing port officers.

\chapter{A Review of the early struggle}

\par While considering the position of Indians in the previous
chapters, we have seen to some extent how they withstood the attacks made upon
them. In order, however, to give an adequate idea of the origin of Satyagraha,
it is necessary to devote special space to the endeavours made with a view to
defend Indian interests in the pre-satyagraha days.

\par Up till 1893 there were hardly any free and well. Educated Indians in South
Africa capable of espousing the Indian cause. English-knowing Indians were
mostly clerks whose knowledge of English was only commensurate with the needs
of their occupation and not adequate to drafting representations, and who,
again, must give all their time to their employers. A second group of
English-educated Indians was composed of such of them as were born in South
Africa. They were mostly the descendants of indentured labourers, and if at all
qualified for the work, were in Government service as interpreters in law
courts. Thus they were not in a position to help the Indian cause beyond
expressing their fellow-feeling.

\par Again, indentured and ex-indentured labourers hailed mainly from
Uttar Pradesh and Madras State, while, as we have already seen, the Musulmans
mostly traders and the Hindus mostly clerks, who chiefly represented the class
of free Indians, belonged to Gujarat. Besides there were a few Parsi traders
and clerks, but the total population of Parsis in South Africa did not probably
exceed thirty or forty souls. A fourth group among free Indians was composed of
Sindhi traders. There were two hundred or more Sindhis in South Africa.
Wherever the Sindhi has settled outside India he deals in ``fancy goods,''
namely, silks and brocades, carved boxes and other furniture made of ebony,
sandalwood and ivory and similar goods. His customers are mainly Europeans.

\par Indentured labourers were called ``coolies'' by the Europeans. A ``coolie''
means a porter. The expression was used so extensively that the indentured
labourers began to describe themselves as ``coolies.'' Hundreds of Europeans
called Indian lawyers and Indian traders ``coolie'' lawyers and ``coolie'' traders.
There were some Europeans who were unable to perceive or believe that the name
implied an insult, but many used it as a term of deliberate contempt. Free
Indians, therefore, tried to differentiate themselves from the indentured
labourers. For this and other reasons peculiar to conditions in India, a
distinction was sought to be drawn in South Africa between indentured and freed
labourers on the one hand and free Indians on the other.

\par Free Indians and especially the Musulman traders undertook to
resist the wrongs detailed above, but no direct attempt was made to seek the
cooperation of the indentured and ex-indentured labourers. Probably it did
not occur to any one to enlist their support; if the idea did suggest itself to
some, there was in their opinion the risk of making matters worse by allowing
them to join the movement. And as it was considered that the free traders were
the chief target of attack, the measures for defence were limited to that
class. It can be truly said that free Indians fought well against difficulties,
seeing that they were thus seriously handicapped, that they were ignorant of
English, and that they had had no experience of public work in India. They
sought the help of European barristers, had petitions prepared, waited upon the
authorities on some occasions in deputations, and did what they could to mend
matters. This was the state of things up till 1893.

\par It will be helpful to the reader to bear some important dates in
mind. Before 1893 Indians had been hounded out of the Orange Free State. In the
Transvaal, Law 3 of 1885 was in force. In Natal, measures, calculated to enable
only indentured labourers to live in the colony and to turn out the rest, were
under contemplation, and responsible government had been achieved to that end.

\par I left India for South Africa in April, 1893. I had no idea of the previous
history of the Indian emigrants. I went there on a purely professional visit. A
well-known firm of Porbandar Memans then carried on trade in Durban under the
name and style of Dada Abdulla. An equally well-known and rival firm traded at
Pretoria under the designation of Taib Haji Khanmamad. Unfortunately, an
important law-suit was pending between the rivals. A partner of the firm of
Dada Abdulla who was in Porbandar thought that it would help their case if they
engaged me and sent me to South Africa. I had been just called to the bar and
was quite a novice in the profession, but he had no fear of my mishandling
their case, as he did not want me to conduct the case in the court but only to
instruct the able South African lawyers they had retained. I was fond of novel
experiences. I loved to see fresh fields and pastures new. It was disgusting to
have to give commission to those who brought me work. The atmosphere of
intrigue in Saurashtra was choking to me. The engagement was only for one year.
I did not see any objection to my accepting it. I had nothing to lose as Messrs
Dada Abdulla expressed their willingness to pay my travelling expenses as well
as the expenses that would be incurred in South Africa and a fee of one hundred
and five pounds. This arrangement had been made through my elder brother, now
deceased, who was as father to me. For me his will was a command. He liked the
idea of my going to South Africa. So I reached Durban in May 1893.

\par Being a barrister-at-law, I was well dressed according to my lights and
landed at Durban with a due sense of my importance. But I was soon
disillusioned. The partner of Dada Abdulla who had engaged me had given me an
account of what things were like in Natal. But what I saw there with my own
eyes absolutely belied his misleading picture. My informant was, however, not
to blame. He was a frank, simple man, ignorant of the real state of affairs. He
had no idea of the hardships to which Indians were subjected in Natal.
Conditions which implied grave insult had not appeared to him in that light. I
observed on the very first day that the Europeans meted out most insulting
treatment to Indians.

\par I will not describe my bitter experience in the courts within a
fortnight of my arrival, the hardships I encountered on railway trains, the
thrashings I received on the way and the difficulty in and the practical
impossibility of securing accommodation in hotels. Suffice it to say, that all
these experiences sank in me. I had gone there only for a single case prompted
by self-interest and curiosity. During the first year, therefore, I was merely
the witness and the victim of these wrongs. I then awoke to a sense of my duty.
I saw that from the standpoint of self-interest South Africa was no good to me.
Not only did I not desire but I had a positive aversion to earning money or
sojourning in a country where I was insulted. I was on the horns of a dilemma.
Two courses were open to me. I might either free myself from the contract with
Messrs Dada Abdulla on the ground that circumstances had come to my knowledge
which had not been disclosed to me before, and run back to India. Or I might
bear all hardships and fulfil my engagement. I was pushed out of the train by a
police constable at Maritzburg, and the train having left, was sitting in the
waiting room, shivering in the bitter cold. I did not know where my luggage
was, nor did I dare to inquire of anybody, lest I might be insulted and
assaulted once again. Sleep was out of the question. Doubt took possession of
my mind. Late at night, I came to the conclusion that to run back to India
would be cowardly. I must accomplish what I had undertaken. I must reach
Pretoria, without minding insults and even assaults. Pretoria was my goal. The
case was being fought out there. I made up my mind to take some steps, if that
was possible, side by side with my work. This resolution somewhat pacified and
strengthened me but I did not get any sleep.

\par Next morning I wired to the firm of Dada Abdulla and to the
General Manager of the Railway. Replies were received from both. Dada Abdulla
and his partner Sheth Abdulla Haji Adam Jhaveri who was then in Natal took
strong measures. They wired to their Indian agents in various places to look
after me. They likewise saw the General Manager. The Indian traders of
Maritzburg came to see me in response to the telegram received by the local
agent. They tried to comfort me and told me that all of them had had the same
bitter experiences as myself, but they did not mind such things, being
habituated to them. Trade and sensitiveness could ill go together. They had
therefore made it a principle to pocket insults as they might pocket cash. They
told me how Indians could not enter the railway station by the main gate and
how difficult it was for them to purchase tickets. I left for Pretoria the same
night. The Almighty Searcher of all hearts put my determination to a full test.
I suffered further insults and received more beatings on my way to Pretoria.
But all this only confirmed me in my determination.

\par Thus in 1893, I obtained full experience of the condition of
Indians in South Africa. But I did nothing beyond occasionally talking with the
Indians in Pretoria on the subject. It appeared to me that to look after the
firm's case and to take up the question of the Indian grievances in South
Africa at the same time was impossible. I could see that trying to do both
would be to ruin both. 1894 was thus already upon us. I returned to Durban and
prepared to return to India. At the farewell entertainment held by Dada
Abdulla, some one put a copy of the Natal Mercury in my hands. I read it and
found that the detailed report of the proceedings of the Natal Legislative
Assembly contained a few lines under the caption ``Indian Franchise.'' The local
Government was about to introduce a Bill to disfranchise Indians, which could
only be the beginning of the end of what little rights they were then enjoying.
The speeches made at the time left no doubt about the intention of the
Government. I read report to the traders and others present and explained the
situation to them as best I could. I was not in possession of all the facts. I
suggested that the Indians should strenuously resist this attack on their
rights. They agreed but declared their inability to fight the battle themselves
and urged me to stay on. I consented to stay a month or so longer by which time
the struggle would be fought out. The same night I drew up a petition to be
presented to the Legislative Assembly. A telegram was sent to the Government
requesting a delay of proceedings. A committee was appointed at once with Sheth
Haji Adam as chairman and the telegram was sent in his name. The further
reading of the Bill was postponed for two days. That petition was the first
ever sent by the Indians to a South African legislature. It did create an
impression although it failed to defeat the Bill, the later history of which I
have narrated in chapter Four. This was the South African Indians' first
experience of such agitation, and a new thrill of enthusiasm passed through the
community. Meetings were held every day and more and more persons attended
them. The requisite funds were oversubscribed. Many volunteers helped in
preparing copies, securing signatures and similar work without any
remuneration. There were others who both worked and subscribed to the funds.
The descendants of the ex-indentured Indians joined the movement with alacrity.
They knew English and wrote a fine hand. They did copying and other work
ungrudgingly day and night. Within a month a memorial with ten thousand
signatures was forwarded to Lord Ripon, and the immediate task I had set before
myself was done.

\par I asked for leave to return home. But the agitation had aroused such keen
interest among the Indians they would not let me go. They said: ``You yourself
have explained to us that this is the first step taken with a view to our
ultimate extinction. Who knows whether the Colonial Secretary will return a
favourable reply to our memorial? You have witnessed our enthusiasm. We are
willing and ready to work. We have funds too. But for want of a guide, what
little has been done will go for nothing. We therefore think it is your duty to
stay on.'' I also felt that it would be well if a permanent organisation was
formed to watch Indian interests. But where was I to live and how? They offered
me a regular salary, but I expressly declined. One may not receive a large
salary for public work. Besides I was a pioneer. According to my notions at the
time, I thought I should live in a style usual for barristers and reflecting
credit on the community, and that would mean great expense. It would be
improper to depend for my maintenance upon a body whose activities would
necessitate a public appeal for funds, and my power of work would be thereby
crippled. For this and similar reasons I flatly refused to accept remuneration
for public work. But I suggested that I was prepared to stay if the principal
traders among them could see their way to give me legal work and give me
retainers for it beforehand. The retainers might be for a year. We might deal
with each other for that period, examine the results, and then continue the
arrangement if both parties were agreeable. This suggestion was cordially
accepted by all.

\par I applied for admission as an advocate of the Supreme Court of
Natal. The Natal Law Society opposed my application on the sole ground that the
law did not contemplate that coloured barristers should be placed on the roll.
The late Mr Escombe, the famous advocate, who was Attorney. General and
afterwards also Premier of Natal, was my counsel. The prevailing practice for a
long time was that the leading barrister should present such applications
without any fees, and Mr Escombe advocated my cause accordingly. He was also
Senior Counsel for my employers. The Senior Court over-ruled the Law Society's
objection, and granted my application. Thus the Law Society's opposition
brought me into further prominence without their wishing it. The newspapers of
South Africa ridiculed the Law Society and some of them even congratulated me.

\par The temporary committee was placed on a permanent footing. I had
never attended a session of the Indian National Congress, but had read about
it. I had seen Dadabhai, the Grand Old Man of India and admired him. I was
therefore a Congress devotee, and wished to popularise the name. Inexperienced
as I was, I did not try to find out a new name. I was also afraid of committing
a mistake. So I advised the Indians to call their organisation the Natal Indian
Congress. I laid before them very imperfectly what meagre knowledge I had of
the Indian National Congress. Anyhow the Natal Indian Congress was founded
about May 1894. There was this difference between the Indian and the Natal
Congress, that the latter organisation worked throughout the year and those who
paid an annual subscription of at least three pounds were admitted to
membership. Amounts exceeding that sum were gratefully received. Endeavours
were made to obtain the maximum amount from each member. There were about half
a dozen members who paid twenty-four pounds a year. There was a considerable
number of those paying twelve pounds. About three hundred members were enrolled
in a month. They included Hindus, Musulmans, Parsis and Christians, and came
from all Indian States that were represented in Natal. The work proceeded with
great vigour throughout the first year. The well-to-do traders went about far
off villages in their own conveyances, enrolling new members and collecting
subscriptions. Everybody did not pay for the mere asking. Some required to be
persuaded. This persuasion was a sort of political training, and made people
acquainted with the facts of the situation. Again, a meeting of the Congress
was held at least once a month, when detailed accounts were presented and
adopted. Current events were explained and recorded in the minute-book. Members
asked various questions. Fresh subjects were considered. The advantage of all
this was that those who never spoke at such meetings got accustomed to do so.
The speeches again must be in proper form. All this was a novel experience. The
community was deeply interested. In the meanwhile the welcome news came that
Lord Ripon had disallowed the Disfranchising Bill, and this redoubled their
zeal and self-confidence.

\par Side by side with external agitation, the question of internal
improvement was also taken up. The Europeans throughout South Africa had been
agitating against Indians on the ground of their ways of life. They always
argued that the Indians were very dirty and close-fisted. They lived in the
same place where they traded. Their houses were mere shanties. They would not
spend money even on their own comforts. How could cleanly open-handed Europeans
with their multifarious wants compete in trade with such parsimonious and dirty
people? Lectures were therefore delivered, debates held, and suggestions made
at Congress meetings on subjects such as domestic sanitation, personal hygiene,
the necessity of having separate buildings for houses and shops and for
well-to-do traders of living in a style befitting their position. The
proceedings were conducted in Gujarati.

\par The reader can see what an amount of practical and political
education the Indians thus received. Under the auspices of the Congress, the
Natal Indian Educational Association was formed for the benefit of the young
Indians, who, being the children of ex-indentured labourers, were born in Natal
and spoke English. Its members paid a nominal fee. The chief objects of the
Association were to provide a meeting place for those youths, to create in them
a love for the mother country and to give them general information about it. It
was also intended to impress upon them that free Indians considered them as
their own kith and kin, and to create respect for the latter in the minds of
the former. The funds of the Congress were large enough to leave a surplus
after defraying its expenses. This was devoted to the purchase of land which
yields an income to the present day.

\par I have deliberately entered into all these details, for without
them the reader cannot realize how Satyagraha spontaneously sprang into
existence and how the Indians went through a natural course of preparation for
it. I am compelled to omit the remarkable subsequent history of the Congress,
how it was confronted with difficulties, how Government officials attacked it
and how it escaped scatheless from their attacks. But one fact must be placed
on record. Steps were taken to save the community from the habit of
exaggeration. Attempts were always made to draw their attention to their own
shortcomings. Whatever force there was in the arguments of the Europeans was
duly acknowledged. Every occasion, when it was possible to cooperate with the
Europeans on terms of equality and consistent with self-respect, was heartily
availed of. The newspapers were supplied with as much information about the
Indian movement as they could publish, and whenever Indians were unfairly
attacked in the Press replies were sent to the newspapers concerned.

\par There was an organisation in the Transvaal similar to the Natal
Indian Congress but quite independent of it. There were likewise differences in
the constitutions of the two bodies into which we need not enter. There was a
similar body in Cape Town as well with a constitution different from that of
the Natal Congress and the Transvaal Association. Still the activities of all
the three bodies were nearly identical.

\par The Natal Congress completed its first year in the middle of
1895. My work as an advocate met with the approval of my clients, and my stay
in Natal was prolonged. In 1896 I went to India for six months with the leave
of the community. I had hardly completed that period in India, when I received
a cablegram from Natal asking me to return at once, and so did I. The events of
1896-97 demand a fresh chapter for their treatment.

\chapter{A Review of the early struggle}

\begin{center}
\Huge{Continued}
\end{center}
\vspace{4ex}

\par Thus the Natal Indian Congress was placed on a permanent
footing. I spent nearly two years and a half in Natal, mostly doing political
work. I then saw that if I was still to prolong my stay in South Africa, I must
bring over my family from India. I likewise thought of making a brief sojourn
in the homeland and of acquainting Indian leaders with the condition of Indian
settlers in Natal and other parts of South Africa. The Congress allowed me
leave of absence for six months and the late Mr Admaji Miyankhan, the
well-known merchant of Natal, was appointed Secretary in my stead. He
discharged his duties with great ability. He had a fair knowledge of English,
which had been greatly supplemented by use. He had studied Gujarati in the
ordinary course. As he had mercantile dealings chiefly with the Zulus, he had
acquired an intimate knowledge of the Zulu language and was well conversant
with Zulu manners and customs. He was a man of very quiet and amiable
disposition. He was not given to much speech. I have entered into these details
in order to show, that to the holding of responsible positions, truthfulness,
patience, tolerance, firmness, presence of mind, courage and common sense are
far more essential qualifications than a knowledge of English or mere learning.
Where these fine qualities are absent the best literary attainments are of
little use in public work.

\par I returned to India in the middle of the year 1896. As steamers
from Natal were then more easily available for Calcutta than for Bombay, I went
on board one bound for that city. For the indentured labourers were embarked
from Calcutta or Madras. While proceeding to Bombay from Calcutta, I missed my
train on the way and had to stop in Allahabad for a day. My work commenced
there. I saw Mr Chesney of the Pioneer. He talked with me courteously, but told
me frankly that his sympathies were with the Colonials. He, however, promised
that if I wrote anything, he would read it and notice it in his paper. This was
good enough for me.

\par While in India, I wrote a pamphlet on the condition of Indians
in South Africa. It was noticed by almost all newspapers and it passed through
two editions. Five thousand copies were distributed in various places in India.
It was during this visit that I had the privilege of seeing Indian leaders, Sir
Pherozeshah Mehta, Justices Badruddin Tyebji, and Mahadev Govind Ranade and
others in Bombay, and Lokamanya Tilak and his circle, Prof. Bhandarkar and
Gopal Krishna Gokhale and his circle in Poona. I delivered speeches in Bombay,
Poona and Madras. I do not propose to deal with these events in detail.

\par I cannot, however, resist the temptation of describing here a
sacred reminiscence of Poona, although it is not strictly relevant to our
subject. The Sarvajanik Sabha was controlled by the Lokamanya, while Shri
Gokhale was connected with the Deccan Sabha. I first saw Tilak Maharaj. When I
spoke to him about my intention to hold a meeting in Poona, he asked me if I
had seen Gopalrao. I did not understand whom he meant. He therefore asked me
again if I had seen Shri Gokhale and if I knew him.

\par ``I have not yet seen him. I know him by name and mean to see him,'' I
replied.

\par ``You do not seem to be familiar with Indian politics,'' said the Lokamanya.

\par ``I stayed in India only for a short time after my return from
England, and had not then applied myself to political questions, as
I thought it beyond my capacity; I said.

\par Lokamanya then said: ``In that case I must give you some information. There
are two parties in Poona, one represented by the Sarvajanik Sabha and the other
by the Deccan Sabha.''

\par I replied: ``I know something about this matter.''

\par Lokamanya: ``It is easy to hold a meeting here. But it seems to
me that you wish to lay your case before all the parties here and seek to
enlist the support of all. I like your idea. But if a member of the Sarvajanik
Sabha is selected to preside over your meeting, no member of the Deccan Sabha
will attend it. Similarly, if a member of the Deccan Sabha were to preside,
members of the Sarvajanik Sabha would absent themselves. You should therefore
find out a nonpartisan as chairman. I can only offer suggestions in the matter,
and shall not be able to render any other assistance. Do you know Prof.
Bhandarkar? Even if you do not know him, you should see him. He is considered a
neutral. He does not take part in politics, but perhaps you can induce him to
preside over your meeting. Speak to Shri Gokhale about this, and seek his
advice too. In all probability he will give you the same advice. If a man of
the position of Prof. Bhandarkar consents to preside, I am certain that both
the parties will see to it that a good meeting is held. At any rate you can
count upon our fullest help in the matter.''

\par I then saw Gokhale. I have written elsewhere how I fell in love
with him at this very first sight. The curious may look up the files of Young
India\footnote{Issue of July 13, 1921.} or Navajivan\footnote{Issue of July 28,
1921.} for it. Gokhale liked the advice which Lokamanya had given
me. Accordingly I paid my respects to the venerable Professor. He heard
attentively the story of the Indian wrongs in Natal and said, ``You see I rarely
take part in public life. Then again, I am getting old. But what you have told
me has stirred me deeply. I like your idea of seeking the cooperation of all
parties. You are young and ignorant of political conditions in India. Tell the
members of both the parties that I have agreed to your request. On an
intimation from any of them that the meeting is to be held, I will certainly
come and preside.'' A successful meeting was held in Poona. The leaders of both
the parties attended and spoke in support of my cause.

\par I then went to Madras. There I saw Sir (then Mr Justice) Subrahmanya Aiyar,
Shri P. Anandacharlu, Shri G. Subrahmanyam, the then editor of the Hindu, Shri
Parameshvaran Pillai, editor of the Madras Standard, Shri Bhashyam Iyengar, the
famous advocate, Mr Norton and others. A great meeting too was held. From
Madras I went to Calcutta, where I saw Surendranath Banerji, Maharaja Jyotindra
Mohan Tagore, the late Mr Saunders, the editor of the Englishman, and others.
While a meeting was being arranged in Calcutta, I received a cablegram from
Natal asking me to return at once. This was in November 1896. I concluded that
some movement hostile to the Indians must be on foot. I therefore left my work
at Calcutta incomplete and went to Bombay, where I took the first available
steamer with my family. S. S. Courland had been purchased by Messrs Dada
Abdulla and represented one more enterprise of that very adventurous firm,
namely, to run a steamer between Porbandar and Natal. The Naderi, a steamer of
the Persian Steam Navigation Company, left Bombay for Natal immediately after.
The total number of passengers on the two steamers was about 800.

\par The agitation in India attained enough importance for the
principal Indian newspapers to notice it in their columns and for Reuter to
send cablegrams about it to England. This I came to know on reaching Natal.
Reuter's representative in England had sent a brief cablegram to South Africa,
containing an exaggerated summary of my speeches in India. This is not an
unusual experience. Such exaggeration is not always intentional. Very busy
people with prejudices and prepossessions of their own read something
superficially and then prepare a summary which is sometimes partly a product of
imagination. This summary, again, is differently interpreted in different
places. Distortion thus takes place without any one intending it. This is the
risk attending public activities and this is also their limitation. While in
India I had criticised the Europeans of Natal. I had spoken very strongly
against the £ 3 tax on indentured labourers. I had given a vivid account of the
sufferings of an indentured labourer named Subrahmanyam who had been assaulted
by his master, whose wounds I had seen and whose case was in my hands. When the
Europeans in Natal read the distorted summary of my speeches, they were greatly
exasperated against me. The remarkable fact, however, was that what I had
written in Natal was more severe and detailed than what I wrote and spoke in
India. My speeches in India were free from the slightest exaggeration. On the
other hand, as I knew from experience that if we describe an event to a
stranger, he sees more in it than what we intend to convey, I had deliberately
described the South African situation in India less forcibly than the facts
warranted. But very few Europeans would read what I wrote in Natal, and still
fewer would care for it. The case, however, was obviously different with my
speeches and writings in India. Thousands of Europeans would read Reuter's
summaries. Moreover, a subject which is considered worthy of being communicated
by cablegram becomes invested with an importance it does not intrinsically
possess. The Europeans of Natal thought that my work in India carried the
weight attributed to it by them and that therefore the system of indentured
labour would perhaps come to an end, and hundreds of European planters would
suffer in consequence. Besides, they felt blackened before India.

\par While the Europeans of Natal were thus in an excited state of
mind, they heard that I was returning to Natal with my family per S. S.
Courland, that it carried from 300 to 400 Indian passengers, and that S. S.
Naderi was also arriving at the same time with an equal number of Indians. This
inflamed them all the more, and there was a great explosion of feeling. The
Europeans of Natal held large meetings, which were attended by almost all the
prominent members of their community. The Indian passengers in general and
myself in particular came in for a great deal of severe criticism. The expected
arrival of the Courland and the Naderi was represented as an ``invasion'' of
Natal. The speakers said that I had brought those 800 passengers to Natal and
that this was my first step towards flooding Natal with free Indians. A
unanimous resolution was passed that the passengers of both the steamers
including myself should be prevented from landing in Natal. If the Government
of Natal would not or could not prevent the passengers from landing, the
Committee appointed at the meeting was to take the law into their own hands and
to prevent the Indians from landing by main force. Both the steamers reached
Durban on the same day.

\par The reader will remember that bubonic plague made its first
appearance in India in 1896. In their effort to prevent our landing the
Government of Natal were hampered by legal difficulties as the Immigration
Restriction Act had not yet come into being. Otherwise their sympathies were
entirely with the Committee of Europeans referred to above. The late Mr
Escombe, a member of the Government, took a prominent part in the proceedings
of that Committee. It was he who instigated them. There is a rule in force at
all ports that if a ease of contagious disease occurs on board a steamer, or if
a steamer is coming from an infected port, it is detained in quarantine for a
certain period. This restriction can be imposed only on sanitary grounds, and
under orders from the Health Officer of the port. The Government of Natal
abused their power by enforcing the above rule for political purposes. Although
there was no contagious disease on board, both the steamers were detained far
beyond the usual time limit, for as many as twenty-three days. Meanwhile, the
Committee of Europeans continued their activities. Messrs Dada Abdulla, who
were the owners of the Courland and the agents for the Naderi, were subjected
to a severe hectoring by them. Inducements were offered to them if they agreed
to take back the passengers, and they were threatened with loss of business if
they refused to do so. But the partners of the firm were no cowards. They said
they did not care if they were ruined; they would fight to the bitter end but
would not be coerced into committing the crime of sending away those helpless
but innocent passengers; they were no strangers to patriotism. The old advocate
of the firm, Mr F. A. Laughton, K.C., was also a brave man.

As luck would have it, the late Shri Mansukhlal Hiralal Nazar, a Kayastha
gentleman from Surat and a nephew of the late Mr Justice Nanabhai Haridas,
reached Africa about the same time. I did not know him, nor was I aware of his
going. I need scarcely say that I had no hand in bringing the passengers who
arrived by the Naderi and the Courland. Most of them were old residents of
South Africa. Many again were bound for the Transvaal. Threatening notices were
served by the Committee of Europeans even upon these passengers. The captains
of the steamers read them out to the passengers. The notices expressly stated
that the Europeans of Natal were in a dangerous temper, and said in effect that
if in spite of the warning the Indian passengers attempted to land, the members
of the Committee would attend at the port and push every Indian into the sea. I
interpreted this notice to the passengers on the Courland. An English-knowing
passenger on board the Naderi did the same for his fellow-passengers. The
passengers on both the steamers flatly declined to go back and added that many
of them were proceeding to the Transvaal, that some of the rest were old
residents of Natal, that in any case every one of them was legally entitled to
land and that the threats of the Committee notwithstanding, they were
determined to land in order to test their right to do so.

\par The Government of Natal was at its wits' end. How tong could an
unjust restriction be enforced? Twenty-three days had passed already. Dada
Abdulla did not flinch, nor did the passengers. The quarantine was thus lifted
after 23 days and the steamers were permitted to steam into harbour. Meanwhile,
Mr Escombe pacified the excited Committee of Europeans. At a meeting which was
held, he said, ``The Europeans in Durban have displayed commendable unity and
courage. You have done all you could. Government has also helped you. The
Indians were detained for 23 days. You have given sufficient expression to your
sentiments and your public spirit. That will make a profound impression on the
Imperial Government. Your action has made the path of the Government of Natal
easy. If you now prevent by force a single Indian passenger from landing, you
will injure your own interests and place the Government in an awkward position.
And even then you will not succeed in preventing the Indians from landing. The
passengers are not at all to blame. There are women and children among them.
When they embarked at Bombay, they had no idea of your feelings. I would
therefore advise you to disperse and not to obstruct these people. I assure
you, however, that the Government of Natal will obtain from the Legislative
Council the requisite powers in order to restrict future immigration.'' This is
only a summary of Mr Escombe's speech. His audience was disappointed, but he
had great influence over the Europeans of Natal. They dispersed in consequence
of his advice and both the steamers came into port.

\par A message reached me from Mr Escombe advising me not to land
with the others but to wait until evening when he would send the Superintendent
of Water Police to escort me home, and adding that my family were free to land
at any time. This was not an order according to law, but was by way of advice
to the captain not to allow me to land and of warning to me of the danger that
was hanging over my head. The captain had not the power forcibly to prevent me
from landing. But I came to the conclusion that I should accept this
suggestion. I sent my family to the residence of my old friend and client,
Parsi Rustomji, instead of to my own place, and told them that I would meet
them there. When the passengers had disembarked, Mr Laughton, counsel for Dada
Abdulla and a personal friend of mine, came up and met me. He asked me why I
had not yet landed. I told him about Mr Escombe's letter. He said that he did
not like the idea of my waiting till evening and then entering the city like a
thief or offender, that if I was not afraid, I should accompany him there and
then, and that we would walk to the town as if nothing had happened. I replied:
"I do not think I am afraid. It is only a question of propriety whether or
not I should accept Mr Escombe's suggestion. And we should also consider
whether the captain of the steamer is responsible in the matter.'' Mr Laughton
smiled and said: ``What has Mr Escombe done for you that you must needs heed his
suggestion? And what reason have you to believe that he is actuated by
kindliness and not by some ulterior motive? I know more than you what has
happened in the town, and what hand Mr Escombe had in the happenings there.'' I
interrupted him with a shaking of the head. ``We might assume,'' continued Mr
Laughton, ``that he is actuated by the best of motives. But I am positively of
opinion that if you comply with his suggestion, you will stand humiliated. I
would, therefore, advise you, if you are ready, to accompany me just now. The
captain is our man, and his responsibility is our responsibility. He is
accountable only to Dada Abdulla. I know what they will think of the matter, as
they have displayed great courage in the present struggle.'' I replied: ``Let us
then go. I have no preparations to make. All I have to do is to put on my
turban. Let us inform the captain and start.'' We took the captain's leave.

\par Mr Laughton was an old and well-known advocate of Durban. I had
come in intimate contact with him before I returned to India. I used to consult
him in difficult cases and often to engage him as my senior. He was a brave and
powerfully built man.

\par Our road lay through the principal street of Durban. It was
about half past four in the evening when we started. The sky was slightly
overcast and the sun was not to be seen. It would take a pedestrian at least
one hour to reach Rustomji Sheth's place. The number of persons present about
the wharf was not larger than what is to be usually seen there. As soon as we
landed, some boys saw us. As I was the only Indian who put on a turban of a
particular type, they at once recognised me, began to shout ``Gandhi,'' ``Gandhi,''
``thrash him,'' ``surround him,'' and came up towards us. Some began to throw
pebbles at us. A few elderly Europeans joined the boys. Gradually the party of
rioters began to grow. Mr Laughton thought that there was danger in our going
on foot. He therefore hailed a rickshaw. I had never sat in a rickshaw before,
as it was thoroughly disgusting to me to sit in a vehicle pulled by human
beings. But I then felt that it was my duty to use that vehicle. I have
experienced five or seven times in my life that one, whom God wishes to save,
cannot fall even if he will. If I did not fall I cannot take any credit for it
to myself. These rickshaws are pulled by Zulus. The elderly Europeans and the
boys threatened the rickshaw puller that if he allowed me to sit in his
rickshaw, they would beat him and smash his rickshaw to pieces. The rickshaw
boy, therefore, said ``Kha'' (meaning ``no'') and went away. I was thus spared the
shame of a rickshaw ride.

\par We had no alternative now but to proceed to our destination on
foot. A mob followed us. With every step we advanced, it grew larger and
larger. The gathering was enormous when we reached West Street. A man of
powerful build took hold of Mr Laughton and tore him away from me. He was not
therefore in a position to come up with me. The crowd began to abuse me and
shower upon me stones and whatever else they could lay their hands on. They
threw down my turban. Meanwhile a burly fellow came up to me, slapped me in the
face and then kicked me. I was about to fall down unconscious when I held on to
the railings of a house near by. I took breath for a while and when the
fainting was over, proceeded on my way. I had almost given up the hope of
reaching home alive. But I remember well that even then my heart did not
arraign my assailants.

\par While I was thus wending my way, the wife of the Superintendent
of Police at Durban was coming from the opposite direction. We knew each other
well. She was a brave lady. Although the sky was cloudy and the sun about to
set, she opened her sunshade for my protection and began to walk at my side.
The Europeans would not insult a lady, especially the wife of the old and
popular Superintendent of Police, nor would they hurt her. They must avoid
injuring her while aiming blows at me. The injuries, therefore, which I
received after she joined me, were not serious. Meanwhile the Superintendent of
Police came to know of the attack upon me and sent a party of constables for my
protection. The police surrounded me.

The Police Station was on our way. When we reached there I saw that the
Superintendent of Police was waiting for us. He offered me asylum in the Police
Station, but I declined the offer with thanks and said, ``I must reach my
destination. I have faith in the fair play of the citizens of Durban and in the
righteousness of my own cause. I am thankful to you for sending the police
party for my protection. Mrs Alexander too has contributed to my safety.''

\par I reached Rustomji's house without further trouble. It was
nearly evening when I reached there. Dr Dadibarjor the medical officer of the
Courland, who was with Rustomji Sheth, began to treat me. He examined my
wounds. There were not many of them. One blind wound in particular was very
painful. But I was not yet privileged to rest in peace. Thousands of Europeans
gathered before Rustomji Sheth's house. After nightfall, hooligans also joined
the crowd. The crowd sent word to Rustomji Sheth that if he did not hand me
over to them, they would burn him and his house along with me. Rustomji Sheth
was too good an Indian to be daunted. When Superintendent Alexander came to
know how matters stood, he quietly joined the crowd with a number of
detectives. He sent for a bench and stood upon it. Thus under the pretence of
talking to the crowd, he took possession of the entrance to Rustomji's house so
that none could break and enter it. He had already posted detectives at proper
places. Immediately on arrival, he had instructed a subordinate to disguise
himself as an Indian trader by putting on Indian dress and painting his face to
see me and deliver to me the following message: ``If you wish to save your
friend, his guests and property, and your own family, I advise you to disguise
yourself as an Indian constable, come out through Rustomji's go-down, steal
through the crowd with my man and reach the Police Station. A carriage is
awaiting you at the corner of the street. This is the only way in which I can
save you and others. The crowd is so excited that I am not in a position to
control it. If you are not prompt in following my directions, I am afraid the
crowd will raze Rustomji's house to the ground and it is impossible for me to
imagine how many lives will be lost and how much property destroyed.''

\par I gauged the situation at once. I quickly disguised myself as a
constable and left Rustomji's house. The Police Officer and I reached the
Police Station in safety. In the meantime Mr Alexander was humouring the crowd
by singing topical songs and talking to them. When he knew that I had reached
the Police Station, he became serious and asked:

\par ``What do you want?''

\par ``We want Gandhi.''

\par ``What will you do with him?''

\par ``We will burn him.''

\par ``What harm has he done to you?''

\par ``He has vilified us in India and wants to flood Natal with Indians.''

\par ``What if he does not come out?''

\par ``We will then burn this house.''

\par ``His wife and children are also there. There are other men and
women besides. Would you not be ashamed of burning women and children?''

\par ``The responsibility for that will rest with you. What can we do
when you make us helpless in the matter? We do not wish to hurt any one else.
It would be enough if you hand over Gandhi to us. If you do not surrender the
culprit, and if others are injured in our endeavour to capture him, would it be
fair on your part to blame us?''

\par The Superintendent gently smiled and informed the crowd that I had left
Rustomji's house, passed through their midst, and reached another place
already. The crowd laughed loudly and shouted, ``It is a lie, it is a lie.''

\par The Superintendent said: ``If you will not believe your old
Superintendent of Police, please appoint a committee of three or four men from
amongst you. Let others promise that they will not enter the house, and that if
the committee fail to find Gandhi in the house, you will peacefully return to
your homes. You got excited today and did not obey the police. That reflects
discredit on you, not on the police. The police therefore played a trick with
you; it removed your prey from your midst and you have lost the game. You
certainly cannot blame the police for this. The police, whom you yourselves
have appointed, have simply done their duty.''

\par The Superintendent addressed the crowd with such suavity and
determination, that they gave him the promise he had asked for. A committee was
appointed. It searched Rustomji's house through and through, and reported to
the crowd that the Superintendent was right and had beaten them in the game.
The crowd was disappointed. But they kept their word and dispersed without
committing any mischief. This happened on January 13, 1897.

\par The same morning after the quarantine on the steamers had been
removed, the reporter of a Durban newspaper had seen me on the steamer. He had
asked me everything. It was quite easy to dispose of the charges against me to
his satisfaction. I showed to him in detail that I had not indulged in the
least exaggeration. What I had done was only my duty. If I had failed to
discharge it, I would be unworthy of the name of man. All this appeared in the
newspapers the next day. Sensible people among the Europeans admitted their
mistake. The newspapers expressed their sympathy with the standpoint of the
Europeans in Natal, but at the same time fully defended my action. This
enhanced my reputation as well as the prestige of the Indian community. It was
proved that the Indians, poor as they were, were no cowards, and that the
Indian traders were prepared to fight for their self-respect and for their
country regardless of loss.

\par Thus though the Indian community had to suffer hardship and
though Dada Abdulla incurred big losses, the ultimate result, I believe, was
entirely beneficial. The community had an opportunity of measuring their own
strength and their self-confidence increased in consequence. I had a most
valuable experience, and whenever I think of that day, I feel that God was
preparing me for the practice of Satyagraha.

\par The events in Natal had their repercussion in England. Mr Chamberlain,
Secretary of State for the Colonies, cabled to the Government of Natal asking
them to prosecute, my assailants and to see that justice was done to me.

\par Mr Escombe, who was Attorney-General with the Government of
Natal, called me. He told me about Mr Chamberlain's cable. He expressed his
regret for the injuries I had sustained, and his pleasure that the consequences
of the assault were not more serious. He added, ``I can assure you that I did
not at all intend that you or any other member of your community should be
injured. As I feared that you might possibly be hurt, I sent you word to say
that you should land at night. You did not like my suggestion. I do not wish to
blame you in the least that you accepted Mr Laughton's advice. You were
perfectly entitled to do what you thought fit. The Government of Natal fully
accepts Mr Chamberlain's demand. We desire that the offenders should be brought
to book. Can you identify any of your assailants?''

\par I replied: ``I might perhaps be able to identify one or two of
them. But I must say at once before this conversation proceeds that I have
already made up my mind not to prosecute my assailants. I cannot see that they
are at fault. What information they had, they had obtained from their leaders.
It is too much to expect them to judge whether it was correct or otherwise. If
all that they heard about me was true, it was natural for them to be excited
and do something wrong in a fit of indignation. I would not blame them for it.
Excited crowds have always tried to deal out justice in that manner. If any one
is to blame it is the Committee of Europeans, you yourself and therefore, the
Government of Natal. Reuter might have cabled any distorted account. But when
you knew that I was coming to Natal, it was your duty and duty of the Committee
to