?Third Class inIndian Railways

THIRD CLASSIN

INDIAN RAILWAYS

BY

M. K. GANDHI

GANDHI PUBLICATIONS LEAGUE

BHADARKALI - LAHORE

-161-

THIRD CLASS IN INDIAN RAILWAYS*

I have now been in India for over two years and

a half after my return from South Africa. Over

one quarter of that time I have passed on the Indiantrains travelling third class by choice. I havetravelled up north as far as Lahore, down south upto Tranquebar, and from Karachi to Calcutta.Having resorted to third class travelling, amongother reasons, for the purpose of studying theconditions under which this class of passengerstravel, I have naturally made as critical observa-tions

as I could. I have fairly covered the majority ofrailway systems during this period. Now and thenI have entered into correspondence with the manage-ment

of the different railways about the defectsthat have come under my notice. But I think thatthe time has come when I should invite the pressand the public to join in a crusade against a griev-ance

which has too long remained unredressed,though much of it is capable of redress withoutgreat difficulty.

On the 12th instant I booked at Bombay forMadras by the mail train and paid Rs. 13-9. It waslabelled to carry 22 passengers. These could onlyhave seating accommodation. There were no bunksin this carriage whereon passengers could lie with anydegree of safety or comfort. There were two nightsto be passed in this train before reaching Madras.If not more than 22 passengers found their way into

my carriage before we reached Poona, it was becausethe bolder ones kept the others at bay. With theexception of two or three insistent passengers, allhad to find their sleep being seated all the time.After reaching Raichur the pressure became un-

*Ranchi, September 25, 1917.

102

bearable. The rush of passengers could not bestayed. The fighters among us found the task almostbeyond them. The guards or other railway servantscame in only to push in more passengers.

A defiant Memon merchant protested againstthis packing of passengers like sardines. In vain didhe say that this was his fifth night on the train.The guard insulted him and referred him to themanagement at the terminus. There were duringthis night as many as 35 passengers in the carriageduring the greater part of it. Some lay on the floorin the midst of dirt and some had to keep standing.A free fight was, at one time, avoided only by theintervention of some of the older passengers who did

not want to add to the discomfort by an exhibitionof temper.

On the way passengers got for tea tannin waterwith filthy sugar and a whitish looking liquid mis-called

milk which gave this water a muddy appear-ance.I can vouch for the appearance, but I cite the

testimony of the passengers as to the taste.Not during the whole of the journey was the

compartment once swept or cleaned. The result

was that every time you walked on the floor orrather cut your way through the passengers seatedon the floor,you waded through dirt.

The closet was also not cleaned during thejourney and there was no water in the water tank.

Refreshments sold to the passengers were dirty-looking, handed by dirtier hands, coming out offilthy receptacles and weighed in equally unattract-ive

scales. These were previously sampled bymillions of flies. I asked some of the passengerswho went in for these dainties to give their opinion.Many of them used choice expressions as to thequality but were satisfied to state that they werehelpless in the matter ; they had to take thingsas they came.

On reaching the station I found that the ghari-wala would not take me unless I paid the fare hewanted. I mildly protested and told him I would

pay him the authorised fare. I had to turn passiveresister before I could be taken. I simply told himhe would have to pull me out of the ghari or call thepoliceman.

The return journey was performed in no bettermanner. The carriage was packed already and butfor a friend's intervention I could not have beenable to secure even a seat. My admission wascertainly beyond the authorised number. This com-partment

was constructed to carry 9 passengers butit had constantly 12 in it. At one place an importantrailway servant swore at a protestant, threatenedto strike him and locked the door over the passengerswhom he had with difficultysqueezed in. To thiscompartment there was a closet falselyso called. Itwas designed as a European closet but could hardlybe used as such. There was a pipe in it but nowater, and I say without fear of challenge that itwas pestilentiallydirty.

The compartment itself was evil looking. Dirtwas lying thick upon the wood work and I do notknow that it had ever seen soap or water.

The compartment had an exceptional assort-mentof passengers. There were three stalwart

Punjabi Mahomedans, two refined Tamilians andtwo Mahornedan merchants who joined us later.The merchants related the bribes they had to give toprocure comfort. One of the Punjabis had alreadytravelled three nights and was weary and fatigued.But he could not stretch himself. He said he had

sat the whole day at the Central Station watchingpassengers giving bribe to procure their tickets.Another said he had himself to pay Rs. 5 before hecould get his ticket and his seat. These three menwere bound for Ludhiana and had still more nightsof travel in store for them.

What I have described is not exceptional butnormal. I have got down at Raichur, Dhond, Sone-pur, Chakradharpur, Purulia, Asansol and otherjunctionstations and been at the ' Mosafirkhanas 'attached to these stations. They are discreditable-

looking places where there is no order, no cleanli-nessbut utter confusion and horrible din and noise.

Passengers have no benches or not enough to siton. They squat on dirty floors and eat dirty food.They are permitted to throw the leavings of theirfood and spit where they like, sit how they likeand smoke everywhere. The closets attached tothese places defy description. I have not the poweradequately to describe them without committing abreach of the laws of decent speech. Disinfectingpowder, ashes, or disinfecting fluids are unknown.The army of flies buzzing about them warns youagainst their use. But a third-class traveller is dumband helpless. He does not want to complain eventhough to go to these places may be to court death.I know passengers who fast while they are travellingjust in order to lessen the misery of their life inthe trains. At Sonepur flies having failed,waspshave come forth to warn the public and the authori-ties,

but yet to no purpose. At the Imperial Capitala certain third class booking-office is a Black-Holefit only to be destroyed.

Is it any wonder that plague has become endemicin India ? Any other result is impossible wherepassengers always leave some dirt where they go andtake more on leaving.

On Indian trains alone passengers smoke with

impunity in all carriages irrespective of the presenceof the fair sex and irrespective of the protest ofnon-smokers. And this, notwithstanding a bye-lawwhich prevents a passenger from smoking withoutthe permission of his fellows in the compartmentwhich is not allotted to smokers.

The existence of the awful war cannot beallowed to stand in the way of the removal ot this

gigantic evil. War can be no warrant for toleratingdirt and overcrowding. One could understand anentire stoppage of passenger traffic in a crisis likethis, but never a continuation or accentuation ofinsanitation and conditions that must underminehealth and morality.

Compare the lot of the first class passengerswith that of the third class. In the Madras case the

first class fare is over five times as much as the

third class fare. Does the third class passenger getone-fifth, even one-tenth, of the comforts of his first

class fellow ? It is but simple justice to claim thatsome relative proportion be observed between the

cost and comfort.

It is a known fact that the third class traffic

pays for the ever-increasing luxuries of first andsecond class travelling. Surely a third class passen-ger

is entitled at least to the bare necessities of life.

In neglecting the third class passengers, oppor-tunityof giving a splendid education to millions

in orderliness, sanitation, decent composite life and

cultivation of simple and clean tastes is being lost.Instead of receiving an object lesson in these mattersthird class passengers have their sense of decencyand cleanliness blunted during their travelling ex-perience.

Among the many suggestions that can be made for

dealing with the evil here described, I would respect-fullyinclude this

:let the people in high places, the

Viceroy, the Commander-in-Chief, the Rajas, Maha-rajas,the Imperial Councillors and others, who

generally travel in superior classes, without previouswarning, go through the experiences now and thenof third class travelling. We would then soonsee a

remarkable change in the conditions of third

class travelling and the uncomplaining millions will

get some return for the fares they pay under the ex-pectationof being carried from place to place with

ordinary creature comforts.

VERNACULARS AS MEDIA OF INSTRUCTION*

It is to be hoped that Dr. Mehta's labour oflove will receive the serious attention of English-educated India. The following pages were writtenby him for the Vedanta Kesari of Madras and are nowprinted in their present form for circulation through-out

India. The question of vernaculars as media ofinstruction is of national importance ; neglect ofthe vernaculars means national suicide. One hears

many protagonists of the English language beingcontinued as the medium of instruction pointingto the fact that English-educated Indians are the solecustodians of public and patriotic work. It wouldbe monstrous if it were not so. For the only educationgiven in this country is through the English language.The fact, however, is that the results are not all

proportionate to the time we give to our education.We have not reacted on the masses. But I must

not anticipate Dr. Mehta. He is in earnest. Hewrites feelingly. He has examined the pros andcons and collected a mass of evidence in supportof his arguments. The latest pronouncement on the

subject is that of the Viceroy. Whilst His Excellencyis unable to offer a solution, he is keenly alive to thenecessity of imparting instruction in our schoolsthrough the vernaculars. The Jews of Middle andEastern Europe, who are scattered in all parts ofthe world, finding it necessary to have a commontongue for mutual intercourse, have raised Yiddish

to the status of a language, and have succeededin translating into Yiddish the best books to befound in the world's literature. Even they could

not satisfy the soul's yearning through the manyforeign tongues of which they are masters ; nor did

Introduction to Dr. Mehta's *' Self-Government Series".

the learned few among them wish to tax the massesof the Jewish population with having to learn aforeign language before they could realise theirdignity. So they have enriched what was atone time looked upon as a mere jargon " but whatthe Jewish children learnt from their mothers " bytaking special pains to translate into it the bestthought of the world. This is a truly marvellouswork. It has been done during the present genera-tion,

and Webster's Dictionary defines it as apolyglot jargon used for inter-communication byJews from different nations.

But a Jew of Middle and Eastern Europe wouldfeel insulted if his mother tongue were now so des-cribed.

If these Jewish scholars have succeeded,within a generation, in giving their masses a langu-age

of which they may feel proud, surely it shouldbe an easy task for us to supply the needs of ourown vernaculars which are cultured languages.South Africa teaches us the same lesson. There

was a duel there between the Taal, a corrupt formof Dutch, and English. The Boer mothers and theBoer fathers were determined that they would not lettheir children, with whom they in their infancytalked in the Taal, be weighed down with having toreceive instruction through English. The case forEnglish here was a strong one. It had able pleadersfor it. But English had to yield before Boer patriot-ism.

It may be observed that they rejected even theHigh Dutch. The school masters, therefore, whoare accustomed to speak the published Dutch ofEurope, are compelled to teach the easier Taal. Andliterature of an excellent character is at the presentmoment growing up in South Africa in the Taal,which was only a few years ago, the commonmedium of speech between simple but brave rustics.If we have lost faith in our vernaculars, it is asign of want of faith in ourselves ; it is the surestsign of decay. And no scheme of self-government,however benevolently or generously it may bebestowed upon us, will ever make us a self-govern-

ing nation, if we have no respect for the languagesour mothers speak.

10

SWADESHI*

It was not without great diffidence that I under-took

to speak to you at all. And I was hard put toit in the selection of my subject. I have chosena very delicate and difficult subject. It is delicatebecause of the peculiar views I hold upon Swadeshi,and it is difficult because I have not that command

of language which is necessary for giving adequateexpression to my thoughts. I know that I may rely

upon your indulgence for the many shortcomings youwill no doubt find in my address, the more so whenI tell you that there is nothing in what I am about tosay that I am not either already practising or amnot preparing to practise to the best of my ability.It encourages me to observe that last month youdevoted a week to prayer in the place of an address.I have earnestly prayed that what I am about to saymay bear fruit and I know that you will bless myword with a similar prayer.

After much thinking I have arrived at a defini-tionof Swadeshi that, perhaps, best illustrates my

meaning. Swadeshi is that spirit in us which restrictsus to the use and service of our immediate surround-ings

to the exclusion of the more remote. Thus,as for religion, in order to satisfy the requirementsof the definition, I must restrict myself to my an-cestral

religion. That is the use of my immediatereligious surrounding. If I find it defective, I shouldserve it by purging it of its defects. In the domainof politics I should make use of the indigenousinstitutions and serve them by curing them of theirproved defects. In that of economics I should useonly things that are produced by my immediate

*Address delivered before the Missionary Conference onFebruary 14, 1916.

11

neighbours and serve those industries by makingthem efficient and complete where they might befound wanting. It is suggested that such Swadeshi,if reduced to practice, will lead to the millennium.And, as we do not abandon our pursuit after themillennium, because we do not expect quite toreach it within our times, so may we not abandonSwadeshi even though it may not be fullyattainedfor generations to come.

Let us briefly examine the three branches ofSwadeshi as sketched above. Hinduism has becomea conservative religion and, therefore, a mightyforce because of the Swadeshi spiritunderlying it.It is the most tolerant because it is non-proselytising,and it is as capable of expansion today as it hasbeen found to be in the past. It has succeeded notin driving out, as I think it has been erroneouslyheld, but in absorbing Buddhism. By reason of theSwadeshi spirit,a Hindu refuses to change his reli-gion,

not necessarily because he considers itto be the best, but because he knows that hecan complement it by introducing reforms. Andwhat I have said about Hinduism is,I suppose, trueof the other great faiths of the world, only it isheld that it is speciallyso in the case of Hinduism.But here comes the point I am labouring to reach.If there is any substance in what I have said, willnot the great missionary bodies of India, to whomshe owes a deep debt of gratitude for what theyhave done and are doing, do stillbetter and servethe spiritof Christianitybetter by dropping the goalof proselytisingwhile continuing their philanthropicwork ? I hope you will not consider this to be animpertinence on my part. I make the suggestion inall sincerity and with due humility. Moreover Ihave some claim upon your attention. I have en-deavoured

to study the Bible. I consider it as partof my scriptures. The spiritof the Sermon on the'Mount competes almost on equal terms with theBhagavad Gita for the domination of my heart.I yield to no Christian in the strength of devotion

12

with which I sing " Lead kindly light" and severalother inspired hymns of a similar nature. I havecome under the influence of noted Christian mis-sionaries

belonging to different denominations. Andenjoy to this day the privilegeof friendship withsome of them. You will perhaps, therefore, allowthat I have offered the above suggestion not as abiased Hindu, but as a humble and impartial studentof religionwith great l^eanings towards Christianity.May it not be that

" Go ye unto all the world"

message has been somewhat narrowly interpretedand the spiritof it missed ? It will not be denied, Ispeak from experience, that many of the conversionsare only so-called. In some cases the appeal hasgone not to the heart but to the stomach. Andin every case a conversion leaves a sore behindit which, I venture to think, is avoidable. Quotingagain from experience, a new birth, a change ofheart, is perfectly possible in every one of thegreat faiths. I know I am now treading upon thinice. But I do not apologise in closing this partof my subject,for saying that the frightfuloutragethat is just going on in Europe, perhaps shows thatthe message of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Peace,had been little understood in Europe, and that lightupon it may have to be thrown from the East.

I have sought your help in religiousmatters,which it is yours to give in a special sense. ButI make bold to seek it even in politicalmatters.I do not believe that religion has nothing to dowith politics. The latter divorced from religionis like a corpse only fit to be buried. As a matter offact, in your own silent manner, you influencepoliticsnot a little. And I feel that, if the attemptto separate politics from religion had not beenmade as it is even now made, they would not havedegenerated as they often appear to have done.No one considers that the politicallife of thecountry is in a happy state. Following out theSwadeshi spirit,I observe the indigenous institutionsand the villagepanchayats hold me. India is really

13

a republican country, and it is because it is that,that it has,survived every shock hitherto delivered.Princes and potentates, whether they were Indianborn or foreigners, have hardly touched the vastmasses except for collecting revenue. The latterin their turn seem to have rendered unto Caesarwhat was Caesar's and for the rest have done muchas they have liked. The vast organisation of casteanswered not only the religiouswants of the com-munity,

but it answered to its politicalneeds. Thevillagersmanaged their internal affairs through thecaste system, and through it they dealt with anyoppression from the ruling power or powers. Itis not possibleto deny of a nation that was capableof producing the caste system its wonderful powerof organisation. One had but to attend the greatKumbha Mela at Hardwar last year to knowhow skilful that organisation must have been, whichwithout any seeming effort was able effectivelyto cater for more than a million pilgrims. Yet itis the fashion to say that. we lack organising ability.This is true, I fear, to a certain extent, of those whohave been nurtured in the new traditions. We havelaboured under a terrible handicap owing to analmost fatal departure from the Swadeshi spirit.We, the educated classes,have received our educa-tion

through a foreign tongue. We have thereforenot reacted upon the masses. We want to representthe masses, but we fail. They recognise us notmuch more than they recognise the English officers.Their hearts are an open book to neither. Theiraspirations are not ours. Hence their is a break.And you witness not in realityfailure to organisebut want of correspondence between the representa-tives

and the represented. If during the last fiftyyears we had been educated through the vernaculars,our elders and our servants and our neighbourswould have partaken of our knowledge; the discover-ies

of a Bose or a Ray would have been householdtreasures as are the Ramayan and the Mahabharat.As it is,so far as the masses are concerned, those

14

for her requirements within her own borders. Sheneed not be, she ought not to be, drawn intothe vertex of mad and ruinous competition whichbreeds fratricide,jealousy and many other evils.But who is to stop her great millionaires fromentering into the world competition ? Certainly notlegislation. Force of public opinion, proper educa-tion,

however, can do a great deal in the desireddirection. The hand-loom industry is in a dyingcondition. I took special care during my wanderingslast year to see as many weavers as possible, andmy heart ached to find how they had lost, howfamilies had retired from this once flourishingandhonourable occupation. If we follow the Swadeshidoctrine, it would be your duty and mine to find outneighbours who can supply our wants and to teachthem to supply them where they do not know howto proceed, assuming that there ar,e neighbours whoare in want of healthy occupation. Then everyvillage of India will almost be a self-supportingand self-contained unit, exchanging only suchnecessary commodities with other villages wherethey are not locallyproducible. This may all soundnonsensical. Well, India is a country of nonsense.It is nonsensical to parch one's throat with thirstwhen a kindly Mahomedan is ready to offer purewater to drink. And yet thousands of Hindus wouldrather die of thirst than drink water from aMahomedan household. These nonsensical mencan also,once they are convinced that their religiondemands that they should wear garments manufac-tured

in India only and eat food only grown inIndia, decline to wear any other clothing or eat anyother food. Lord Curzon set the fashion for tea-drinking. And that pernicious drug now bids fairto overwhelm the nation. It has already underminedthe digestive apparatus of hundrends of thousandsof men and women and constitutes an additional taxupon their slender purses. Lord Hardinge can setthe fashion for Swadeshi, and almost the whole ofIndia forswear foreign goods. There is a verse

16

in the Bhagavad Gita, which, freelyrendered, means,masses follow the classes. It is easy to undo theevil if the thinking portion of the community wereto take the Swadeshi vow even though it may, for atime, cause considerable inconvenience. I hatelegislativeinteference, in any department of life.At best it is the lesser evil. But I would tolerate,welcome, indeed, plead for a stiff protective dutyupon foreign goods. Natal, a British colony, pro-tected

its sugar by taxing the sugar that came fromanother British colony, Mauritius. England hassinned against India by forcing free trade upon her.It may have been food for her, but it has beenpoison for this country.

It has often been urged that India cannot adoptSwadeshi in the economic life at any rate. Thosewho advance this objection do not look uponSwadeshi as a rule of life. With them it is a merepatriotic effort not to be made if it involved anyself-denial. Swadeshi, as defined here, is a religiousdisciplineto be undergone in utter disregard ofthe physical discomfort it may cause to individuals.Under its spellthe deprivation of a pin or a needle,because these are not manufactured in India,needcause no terror. A Swadeshist will learn to dq with-out

hundreds of things which today he considersnecessary. Moreover, those who dismiss Swadeshifrom their minds by arguing the impossible,forgetthat Swadeshi, after all, is a goal to be reachedby steady effort. And we would be making for thegoal even if we confined Swadeshi to a given setof articles allowing ourselves as a temporary measureto use such things as might not be procurable inthe country.

There now remains for me to consider one moreobjection that has been raised against Swadeshi.The objectorsconsider it to be a most selfish doctrinewithout any warrant in the civilised code of mora-lity.

With them to practise Swadeshi is to revertto barbarism. I cannot enter into a detailed analy-sis

of the position. But I would urge that Swadeshi

17

is the only doctrine consistent with the law of humi-lityand love. It is arrogance to think of launching

out to serve the whole of India when I am hardlyable to serve even my own family. It were betterto concentrate my effort upon the family and con-sider

that through them I was serving the wholenation and, if you will, the whole of humanity.This is humility and it is love. The motive willdetermine the quality of the act. I may serve myfamily regardlessof the sufferings I may cause toothers. As for instance, I may accept an employ-ment

which enables me to extort money from people,I enrich myself thereby and then satisfy manyunlawful demands of the family. Here I am neitherserving the family nor the State. Or I may recog-nise

that God has given me hands and feet only towork with for my sustenance and for that of thosewho may be dependent upon me. I would then atonce simplify my life and that of those whom I candirectlyreach. In this instance I would have servedthe family without causing injury to anyone else.Supposing that everyone followed this mode of life,we should have at once an ideal state. All will notreach that state at the same time. But those ofus who, realisingits truth, enforce it in practice willclearly anticipate and accelerate the coming of thathappy day. Under this plan of life,in seeming toserve India to the exclusion of every other county,I do not harm any other country. My patriotism isboth exclusive and inclusive. It is exclusive in thesense that in all humility I confine my attention tothe land of my birth,but it is inclusive in the sensethat my service is not of a competitive or antagonis-tic

nature. Sic utere tuo ut alienum non la is notmerely a legal maxim, but it is a grand doctrine oflife. It is the key to a proper practice of Ahimsa orlove. It is for you, the custodians of a great faith,to set the fashion and show, by your preaching,sanctified by practice, that patriotism based onhatred *' killeth " and that patriotism based on love41 giveth life."

18

AHIMSA*

There seems to be no historical warrant for the

belief that an exaggerated practice of Ahimsa syn-chronisewith our becoming bereft of manly virtues.

During the past 1,500 years we have, as a nation,given ample proof of physical courage, but we havebeen torn by internal dissensions and have beendominated by love of self instead of love of country.We have, that is to say, been swayed by the spirit ofirreligion rather than of religion.

I do not know how far the charge of unmanli-

ness can be made good against the Jains. I hold nobrief for them. By birth I am a Vaishnavite, and

was taught Ahimsa in my childhood. I have derivedmuch religious benefit from Jain religious works as Ihave from scriptures of the other great faiths of theworld. I owe much to the living company of thedeceased philosopher, Rajachand Kavi, who was aJain by birth. Thus, though my views on Ahimsaare a result of my study of most of the faiths of theworld, they are now no longer dependent upon theauthority of these works. They are a part of my life,and, if I suddenly discovered that the religious bookslead by me bore a different interpretation from theone I had learnt to give them, I should still holdto the view of Ahimsa as I am about to set forthhere.

Our Shastras seem to teach that a man who

really practises Ahimsa in its fulness has the worldat his feet ; he so affects his surroundings that eventhe snakes and other venomous reptiles do him noharm. This is said to have been the experience ofSt. Francis of Assisi.

In its negative form it means not injuring any'The Modern Review. October, 1916.

19

livingbeing whether by body or mind. It may not,therefore, hurt the person of any wrong-doer, or bearany ill-willto him and so cause him mental suffering.This statement does not cover suffering caused tothe wrong-doer by natural acts of mine which do notproceed from ill-will. It,therefore,does not preventme from withdrawing from his presence a childwhom he, we shall imagine, is about to strike.Indeed, the proper practice of Ahimsa requires meto withdraw the intended victim from the wrong-doer,

if I am, in any way whatsoever, the guardianof such a child. It was, therefore, most proper forthe passive resisters of South Africa to have resistedthe evil that the Union Government sought to doto them. They bore no ill-willto it. They showedthis by helping the Government whenever it neededtheir help. Their resistance consisted of disobedienceof the orders of the Government, even to the extentof sufferingdeath at their hands. Ahimsa requiresdeliberate self-suffering,not a deliberate injuringof the supposed wrong-doer.

In its positive form, Ahimsa means the largestlove, the greatest charity. If I am a follower ofAhimsa, I must love my enemy. I must apply,thesame rules to the wrong -doer who is my enemy or astranger to me, as I would to my wrong-doing fatheror son. This active Ahimsa necessarily includestruth and fearlessness. As man cannot deceive theloved one, he does not fear or frighten him or her.Gift of life is the greatest of all gifts; a man whogives it in reality,disarms all hostility. He haspaved the way for an honourable understanding.And none who is himself subject to fear can bestowthat gift. He must, therefore, be himself fearless.A man cannot then practice Ahimsa and be a cowardat the same time. The practice of Ahimsa calls forththe greatest courage. It is the most soldierlyof asoldier's virtues. General Gordon has been repre-sented

in a famous statue as bearing only a stick.This takes us far on the road to Ahimsa. But asoldier,who needs the protectionof even a stick,is

20

to that extent so much the less a soldier. He isthe true soldier who knows how to die and stand his

ground in the midst of a hail of bullets. Such a onewas Ambarisha, who stood his ground without liftinga finger though Duryasa did his worst. The Moorswho were being pounded by the French gunners andwho rushed to the guns' mouths with

* Allah ' ontheir lips,showed much the same type of courage.Only theirs was the courage of desperation. Amba-risha's was due to love. Yet the Moorish valour,readiness to die, conquered the gunners. Theyfrantically waved their hats, ceased firing, andgreeted their erstwhile enemies as comrades. Andso the South African passive resisters in their thou-sands

were ready to die rather than sell theirhonour for a littlepersonal ease. This was Ahimsain its active form. It never barters away honour. A

helpless girl in the hands of a follower of Ahimsafinds better and surer protection than in the handsof one who is prepared to defend her only to thepoint to which his weapons would carry him. Thetyrant, in the first instance, will have to walk to hisvictim over the dead body of her defender ; in thesecond, he has but to overpower the defender ; for itis assumed that the cannon of propriety in thesecond instance will be satisfied when the defenderhas fought to the extent of his physical valour. Inthe first instance, as the defender has matched hisvery soul against the mere body of the tyrant, theodds "are that the soul in the latter will be awaken-ed,

and the girl would stand and infinitelygreaterchance of her honour being protected than in anyother conceivable circumstance, barring of course,that of her own personal courage.

If we are unmanly today, we are so, not becausewe do not know how to strike, but because we fearto die. He is no follower of Mahavira, the apostleof Jainism, or of Buddha or of the Vedas, who beingafraid to die, takes flightbefore any danger, realor imaginary, all the while wishing that somebodyelse would remove the danger by destroying the

21

person causing it. He is no follower of Ahimsa who

.

doesnot care a straw if he kills a man by inches by

deceiving him in trade, or who would protect by

force ofarms a

fewcows

and makeaway

with the

butcheror who, in order to do a supposed good to

hiscountry, does not mind killing off a few officials.

All theseare

actuated by hatred, cowardice and fear

Here the love of thecow or

the country is a vague

thing intended to satisfy one's vanity, or soothe a

stinging conscience.

Ahimsa truly understood is in my humble

opinion a panacea for all evils mundane and extra-

mundane. Wecan never

overdo it. Just at present

we are not doing it at all. Ahimsa does not displace

the practice of other virtues, but renders their prac-tice

imperativelynecessary

before itcan

be practised

evenin its rudiments. Mahavira and Buddha

were

soldiers, andso was

Tolstoy. Only thej7 saw deeperand truer into their profession, and found the secret

ofa true, happy, honourable and godly life. Let us

be joint sharers with these teachers, and this land of

ourswill

once morebe the abode of gods.

tive effort in Champaran. I have gone throughMr. Ewbank's ten main points which are like rheCommandments, and I-have gone through the twelvepoints of Mr. Collins of Behar, which remind meof the law of the Twelve Tables. There are so-calledagricultural banks in Champaran. They were to medisappointing efforts, if they were meant to bedemonstrations of the success of co-operation. Onthe other hand, there is quiet work in the samedirection being done by Mr. PJodge,a missionarywhose efforts are leaving their impress on thosewho come in contact with him. Mr. Hodge is aco-operative enthusiast and probably considers thatthe result which he sees flowing from his efforts aredue to the working of co-operation. I, who wasable to watch the efforts, had no hesitation in infer-ring

that the personal equation counted for successin the one and failure in the other instance.

I am an enthusiast myself,but twenty-five yearsof experimenting and experience have made me acautious and discriminating enthusiast. Workersin a cause necessarily,though quite unconsciously,exaggerate its merits and often succeed in turningits very defects into advantages. In spite of mycaution I consider the little institution I am con-ducting

in Ahmedabad as the finest thing in theworld. It alone gives me sufficient inspiration.Critics tell me that it represents a soulless soul-forceand that its severe disciplinehas made it merelymechanical. I suppose both " the critics and I" arewrong. It is,at best, a humble attempt to placeat the disposalof the nation a home where men andwomen may have scope for free and unfettereddevelopment of character, in keeping with thenational genius, and, if its controllers do not takecare, the disciplinethat is the foundation of charac-ter

may frustrate the very end in view. I would

venture, therefore, to warn enthusiasts in co-opera-tionagainst entertainingfalse hopes.With Sir Daniel Hamilton it has become a

religion. On the 13th January last,he addressed the

24

students of the Scottish Churches College and, inorder to point a moral, he instanced Scotland'spoverty of two hundred years ago and showed howthat great country was raised from a condition of

poverty to plenty." There were two powers, which

raised her " the Scottish Church and the Scottishbanks. The Church manufactured the men and thebanks manufactured the money to give the men astart 'in life.

.. .

The Church disciplined thenation in the fear of God which is the beginning ofwisdom and in the parish schools of the Church thechildren learned that the chief end of man's life wasto glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever. Menwere trained to believe in God and in themselves,and on the trustworthy character so created theScottish banking system was built." Sir Daniel thenshows that it was possible to build up the marvellousScottish banking system only on the character sobuilt. So far there can only be perfect agreementwith Sir Daniel, for that * without character thereis no co-operation * is a sound maxim. But he wouldhave us go much further. He thus waxes eloquenton co-operation : " Whatever may be your day-dreams

of India's future, never forget this that it isto weld India into one, and so enable her to take herrightfulplace in the world, that the British Govern-ment

is here; and the welding hammer in the handof the Government is the co-operative movement."In his opinion it is the panacea of all the evilsthat afflict India at the present moment. In itsextended sense it can justifythe claim on one condi-tion

which need not be mentioned here ; in thelimited sense in which Sir Daniel has used it, Iventure to think, it is an enthusiast's exaggeration.Mark his peroration : "Credit, which is only Trustand Faith, is becoming more and more the moneypower of the world, and in the parchment bulletinto which is impressed the faith which removesmountains, India will find victory and peace." Herethere is evident confusion of thought. The creditwhich is becoming the money power of the world

25

has littlemoral basis and is not a synonym for Trustor Faith, which are purely moral qualities. Aftertwenty years' experience of hundreds of men, whohad dealings with banks in South Africa, the opinionI had so often heard expressed has become firmlyrooted in me, that the greater the rascal the greaterthe credit he enjoys with his banks. The banksdo not pry into his moral character : they aresatisfied that he meets his overdrafts and promissorynotes punctually. The credit system has encircledthis beautiful globe of ours like a serpent's coil,andif we do not mind, it bids fair to crush us outof breath. I have witnessed the ruin of many ahome through the system, and it has made no differ-ence

whether the credit was labelled co-operativeor otherwise. The deadly coil has made passiblethedevastating spectacle in Europe, which we are help-lessly

looking on. It was perhaps never so trueas it is today that, as in law so in war, the longestpurse finallywins. I have ventured to give promi-nence

to the current belief about credit systemin order to emphasise the point that the co-operative

movement will be a blessingto India onlyto the extent that it is a moral movement strictlydirected by men fired with religious fervour. Itfollows,therefore, that co-operation should be con-fined

to men wishing to be morally right,but failingto do so, because of grinding poverty or of thegrip of the Mahajan. Facilityfor obtaining loans atfair rates will not make immoral men moral. Butthe wisdom of the Estate or philanthropistsdemandsthat they should help on the onward path, menstrugglingto be good.

Too often do we believe that material prosperitymeans moral growth. It is necessary that a move-ment

which is fraught with so much good to Indiashould not degenerate into one for merely advancingcheap loans. I was therefore delighted to readthe recommendation in the Report of the Committeeon Co-operation in India, that

" they wish clearlyto express their opinion that it is to true co-opera-

26

tion alone, that is,to a co-operation which recog-nisesthe moral aspect of the question that Govern-mentmust look for the amelioration of the masses

and not to a pseudo-co-operative edifice, howeverimposing, which is built in ignorance of co-operativeprinciples." With this standard before us, we willnot measure the success of the movement by thenumber of co-operative societies formed, but by themoral condition of the co-operators. The registrarswill, in that event, ensure the moral growth ofexisting societies before multiplying them. And theGovernment will make their promotion conditional,not upon the number of societies they have regis-tered,

but the moral success of the existing institu-tions.This will mean tracing the course of every

pie lent to the members. Those responsible forthe proper conduct of co-operative societies willsee to it that the money advanced does notfind its way into the toddy-seller'sbill or into thepockets of the keepers of gambling dens. I wouldexcuse the rapacity of the Mahajan if it has suc-ceeded

in keeping the gambling die or toddy fromthe ryot'shome.

A word perhaps about the Mahajan will notbe out of place. Co-operation is not a new device.The ryots co-operate to drum out monkeys or birdsthat destroy their crops. They co-operate to use acommon thrashing floor. I have found them co-operate

to protect their cattle to the extent of theirdevoting the best land for the grazing of theircattle. And they have been found co-operatingagainst a particular rapacious Mahajan. Doubtshave been expressed as to the success of co-opera-tion

because of the tightnessof the Mahajan's holdon the ryots. I do not share the fears. Themightiest Mahajan must, if he represent an evilforce, bend before co-operation, conceived as anessentiallymoral movement. But my limited experi-ence

of the Mahajan of Champaran has ^mademerevise the accepted opinion about his * blightinginfluence/ I have found him to be not always

27

relentless,not always exacting of the last pie. Hesometimes serves his clients in many ways and evencomes to their rescue in the hour of their distress.My observation is so limited that I dare not drawany conclusions from it,but I respectfullyenquirewhether it is not possibleto make a serious effort todraw out the good in the Mahajan and help him orinduce him to throw out the evil in him. May henot be induced to join the army of co-operation,or has experience proved that he is past prayingfor?

I note that the movement takes note of all indi-genousindustries. I beg publicly to express my

gratitude to Government for helping me in myhumble effort to improve the lot of the weaver.The experiment I am conducting shows that there isa vast field for work in this direction. No well-wisher of India, no patriot dare look upon theimpending destruction of the hand-loom weaver withequanimity. As Dr. Mann has stated, this industryused to supply the peasant with an additional sourceof livelihood and an insurance against famine.Every registrar who will nurse back to life thisimportant and graceful industry will earn the grati-tude

of India. My humble effort consists firstlyinmaking researches as to the possibilitiesof simplereforms in the orthodox hand-looms, secondly, inweaning the educated youth from the craving forGovernment or other services and the feeling thateducation renders him unfit for independent occupa-tion

and inducing him to take to weaving as a callingas honourable as that of a barrister or a doctor,and thirdly by helping those weavers who haveabandoned their occupation to revert to it.,I willnot weary the audience with any statement on thefirst two parts of the experiment. The third may beallowed a few sentences as it has a direct bearingupon the subject before us. I was able to enterupon it only six months ago. Five families that hadleft otf the calling have leverted to it and theyare doing a prosperous business. The Ashram supplies

28

them at their door with the yarn they need ; itsvolunteers take delivery of the cloth woven, payingthem cash at the market rate. The Ashram merelyloses interest

on the loan advanced for the yarn. It

hasas yet suffered no loss and is able to restrict its

loss to a minimum by limiting the loan to a particu-larfigure. All future transactions are strictly cash.

We are able to command a ready sale for the clothreceived. The loss of interest, therefore, on the

transaction is negligible. I would like the audience

to note its purely moral character from start tofinish. The Ashram depends for its existence onsuch help as friends render it. We, therefore, canhave no warrant for charging interest. The weaverscould not be saddled with it. Whole families that

were breaking to pieces are put together again. The

use of the loan is pre-determined. And we, themiddlemen, being volunteers, obtain the privilege of

entering into the lives ot these families, I hope, fortheir and our betterment. We cannot lift them

without being lifted ourselves. This last relation-shiphas not yet been developed, but we hope, at an

early date, to take in hand the education too of

these families and not rest satisfied till we have

touched them at every point. This is not tooambitious a dream. God willing, it will be a reality

some day. I have ventured to dilate upon the small

experiment to illustrate what I mean by co-opera-tionto present it to others for imitation. Let us be

sure of our ideal. We shall ever fail to realise

it, but we should never cease to strive for it. Then

there need be no fear of**

co-operation ofscoundrels " that Ruskin so rightly dreaded.

NATIONAL DRESS*

I have hitherto successfully resisted to tempta-tionof either answering your or Mr. Irwin's critic-ism

of the humble work I am doing in Champaran.Nor am I going to succumb now except with regardto a matter which Mr. Irwin has thought fit to dwell

upon and about which he has not even taken the

trouble of being correctly informed. I refer to hisremarks on my manner of dressing.

My " familiarity with the minor amenities ofWestern civilisation " has taught me to respect mynational costume, and it may interest Mr. Irwin toknow that the dress I wear in Champaran is thedress I have always worn in India except that for avery short period in India I fell an easy prey incommon with the rest of my countrymen to the

wearing of semi-European dress in the courts andelsewhere outside Kathiawar. I appeared before theKathiawar courts now 21 years ago in precisely thedress I wear in Champaran.

One change I have made and it is that, havingtaken to the occupation of weaving and agricultureand having taken the vow of Swadeshi, my clothingis now entirely hand-woven and hand-sewn andmade by me or my fellow workers. Mr. Irwin'sletter suggests that I appear before the ryots in adress I have temporarily and specially adopted inChamparan to produce an etfect. The fact is that Iwear the national dress because it is the mostnatural and the most becoming for an Indian. Ibelieve that our copying of the European dtess is asign of our degradation, humiliation and our weak-ness,

and that we are committing a national sin indiscarding a dress which is best suited to the Indian

*Reply.to Mr. Irwin's criticism of his dress in the Pioneer.

30

Printed by K. R. Sondhi at the Allied Press, Lahore, and publishedby R. P. Soni for Gandhi Publications League, Lahore.

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