NORMAN

G. BAHKI^H

Is

m'-mm^

Speeches

OF

T
AT

.\

4^

^
.<v

DELIVERED

MADRAS.

MADRAS.

GANKSH
19'7

a Co

PRINTED BY
S.

SUNDARESAN &

Brother.,

MADRAS.

I
-it'

.^^^^^^^^"^-^..^^^^^^^^^

SRJ BEPIN CHAi-^

Speechea.
OF

Srj.

BEPIN CHANDRA PAL

{Delivered ai

MA DRA S.J

PUBLISHED
BY

GA.VESH &

Co.,

MADRAS.

PRINTED AT THE IRISH PRESS,

MADRAS

1907.

SPEECHES OF BABU BEPIN CHANDRA DELIVERED IN MADRAS.

PAL.

The first of the series of speeches delivered in Madras by Bubu BepiD Obndra Pal was on the "New Movement." Mr.
G. Sabi-anaanialyer,
voted to the chair
b.a..

Editor

of the

Swadesa-Mithrau, was

The

New Movement.
:

Mr. Subramania Aiyar, friends and fellow-conntrymen

When

at the close of the last Seseion

I

of the

Indian

Nationa*
'

Congress iu Calcutta,
leotaring tour,

was asked to go over here on a short and when in response to that kind invitation I
did not expect the demonstration that I wit-

agreed to do

so, I

nessed last evening

procession.

while

progressing along
it

with you in

I refuse to accept
I

as
I

profession organized iu

my

honour and, therefore,

I

say

was not prepared for the

It

demonstration that

saw

last evening.

was not

in

honour

of any particular individual, but of the ideals of Swadeshi

Swaraj (Criea
already been

of

Vande Mataram),
I

to

and which reference has

made by my

friend in the chair.

see
befoie

Nor did
I

expect

such a large gathering as

me.

was fortunate

enough
ning,
is

to address very large audiences in

occasions, bat this audience, I

am

called

absolutely out of
in
I

all

proportion
city, 4 or

Madras on previous upon to face this eveto what experience j

This
is

had even

your enthusiastic
take
it,

5 years ago.

proof, Sir,

not merely of the idle curiosity of the

(cri^js of

people of this great city,

it

'certainly

not'),

but

take

and

am

glad of that assurancethat

it is

a proof at least

of the )ntei-6Bt that has been

awakened among
that

mj conntrymBu
commenced
thonghta
t)

here in the

New Movement,
raighty

has

already
in the

bring

about

transformations
all

and
read

ideals of oar

countrymen

over this great

Indian
?

continent

(Hear,
in the

hear).

What

is

this

New Movement
manifeetations

You

newspapers

the

outer

of this

move-

ment-

Yon have come

;

Swadeshi

yon
to

with something

to identify this movement with come to identify this movement more than Lord Minto s honest 'Swadesi';

have

you have come

identify this

identify

it

with

Swadesi
;

that is ..organi-

cally related to

boycott

(Hear,

hear)

you

have
;

come

to

come
this

to identify this

movement movement
in the

with the

new

ideal of svoaraj

you have
ripples of

also, as

your chairman told yon,

with the Partition of Bengal (Hear, hoar).

You

see

movement

outbreak

ef

lawlessness in the

Eastern

provinces,

first in

the outbreak of iawles&ness by those

of this

wbo

are

paid by the people

country

(hear, hear

and

cries of
of

shame)
shame).

to

help in the preservation of

law and

order (cries
in the

You saw the ripple

of this

new movement

kind
of

of lawlessness last

year about

this time in

Barisal (cries

shame). You, I believe, recognised also the outer ripples of this

movement in the present outburstof lawlessness

viz, in

in

anothershape
East

the outburst of

Mahomedan Vandalism
to identify this

in parts of

Bengal

You have come

carceration of our joung

men and
shame)
with

old

movement with the inmen also, with the arrests

parts of fiengal.

of popular leaders (cries of

in different

You have uomo

this

to identify it

the regulation sticks

I

uf the
all

Police and the Vande

;

Matarmn
all

sticks of the people.

know

and you also know

these things.

But

do not care just

tho

now

to

speak of these ouier ripples. They are merely the manifesis

tations of a force that

flowing through
fringe',

the very heart of

it

oation.

They are the outermost

as

were, the outermost


oonrse of the raigbfy currents that have commenced to stir to their very depths the still waters of Indian national life

Sometime ago, an English gentleman, a retired Anglo-Tndian official, wrote to a friend of mine iu Calcntta, wanting to know
the inwardness of the

New Movement
you

in

Bengal.
this

desire to

speak a few words

the

to

this evening on

inwardness of

New Movement.
What is
this

movement due

to.''

What

are the foroeaof

its

strength and inspiration?

at the root of this

What are the forces that lie hidden movement ? What is it'that this movement
it

desires to achieve

and how does

to tell

propose to achieve that end?

Partition
of

Reference,

gentlemen, has been made to the

Bengal.

Allow me

yon that the significance of that

measnre has been considerably exaggerated ontside Bengal. It has been, I confess, exaggerated also to some extent even by a
section of

the

Bengali

Press.

The

Partition

measure, the Partition was a hateful measnre.

hated to be divided from their
ces from the
for

whs an evil The Bengalis

own

people, the Eistern Provin-

Western Provinces.

We have

been living together

hew many

centuries past nobody knows;

a peculiar culture of onr own, throngh a

we have developed common language and

yet

common
life of

literature.

Belonging

though, no doubt, to the

wide

Indian Hindus and Indian Moslems,

has
its

Bengal

ilinduism
ideals

own
of

peculiarity,

as
also

the

Moslem

and

cultares

Bengal
been
for

have

their

own
past

peculiarity.

Bengal
speaking

has

many

centuries
to

nation

one

language,

belonging

one

civilization, ''practically trying to

develop one culture,

unity of

and this
religion,

original

unity based jipon

the

language,

civilization

and culture, developed and

of * British rnle in

grew-

thank

God
been

under the community of

the

civic "and political interests.

Ever since

establishment

India,

we had

governed practically by one and the same laws,

ruled by the

same administration
Province, united in

and our

political life has, all these years,

been controlled by one single policy.

lanjfuage, united

Suddenly, however, the

in past

historic

associa-

tion?, united in oivilizatioi^nd oalture, united' in a

common law
cried,

and administration,
two, which gave

this

Province was proposed to be cut into

us.

offence to

It

pained us.
all to

We

we
ad-

prayed,
of

we

petitioned,

we

protested, but
will

no purpose
not call

(cries
it

shame) and the administrative

necessity, because
will

T will

ministrative

we do not
had
its

recognise the neces-

sitythe administrative
October 1905, two
of Bengal.

way,

And on

the

16th

Provinces

were made out of the

Province

haste,

The measure was carried out with almost indecent reason of the haste was this judging from the past experience of ludian political life and agitation, the Government of Lord Curzon evidently believeS (cries of shame)
and the

that as long as the

measure was not carried

out, so long only

would

But once it became a " Settled the agitation also would quietly, like all previous fact," That was the prognosis agitations, more or less settle down. which the acute Viceroy made of the situation. For once,
this agitation continue.

superior
failed
to

wisdom
see

was

blinded,

superior

intelligence

through the

outer

garb and

gathering

of

popular agitation and popular excitement

cheers);

(cries of

shame and
that they
it

and the agitation against Partition instead

of sub.siding,

as previous agitations

bad done, when

;

it

was

foutid
it

would do no
and

good, continued

it

increased,

expanded,

attacked and covered

it

applied these
itself.

before
this

new

force

new grounds. It developed new forces new forces to the solution of the problem (Hear, hear) Whence came this new inspiration, ? Truth to say, wp soon recognised that it is not
any Goyernment,^mt<^h
less is
it

in the

power

of

in the

power

of an aliea Govei'Duieut, to divide a people

whom
dipped

Gods
in

anited
ink,

(Hear, hear).

They might with

to

their pen,

red

pass a line on the administrative

hear),

map

of the

Province (Hear,
in

add fresh laboars

of the

the

dj^ftsmen

the
of

Survey
pen,
it

Department

Government.

Bat the stroke

by
cutting
If
it

the

cannot cut the nation into two.

The

stroke of the pen though

wounds, wounds

in other

ways than
and

things

into

two's and three's twenty's

for a stroke of the

thirty's.

were possible

pen to cut up anything, why, we

have
,

been

applying this stroke,

my

friend in the chair

and

humble

follower of his (cheers).

We
;

tions not into two. but into

have been cutting administratwo bnadreda almost every day by

remaine
the
all
offi-

the stroke of our

the same.
cials

pens

but the administration

We

pierce oflBjials by this instrument.,

but

remain

all

the time hale and

hia

hearty.
pen,

So that when Lord

the

Carzon passed
Bengal

gubernatorial

cut

Province
all

of

in twain,

Bengal

remained one,

and

that

this

attempt did was to create a deathless determination in

people to continue to be one to the end of their
hear). So, really, the Pdrtition
it

the

life

(Hear,

measure failed, and the failare of was conBrroed by the proceedings of the pubic meeting that
held in Calcutta, on the 7th Aagust 190.5.
I

we

was addressing

an overflowing meeting on that memorable evening from the steps

of the Calcutta

Town Hall. The audience was aa large aa this, saw that aadifnc*, the idea struck me that it would be a verv good thing if the Viceroy's astral body could the descend from Simla and Uk<^ \U position on the top of banyan tree, that we have near our Town Hall, and if it could
and when
1

see from the top of that

tree

the crowds
to

that

gathered

and
the

declared their determination

undo the measures of

it,

Partition measure. If he could ha.'e seen

he might have

known

and understood from ocnlan evidence how

Bengal was being

6
partitioned by bira.

No, gentlemen, "the partition has failed." Mr. Morley saye, itisasettled facf. (Cries of sbame). Hietory declares that
it is

a settled failure (cheera),

and

think

pett.led failure is as

good an expression as "settled fact"

failed,
it

(Hear,

hear).

Now, the Partition has

whether
to

and we do notoare whether

the Partition goes or

remains.

Why,

because in

undo this partition, in the agony ot our heart, as our proteKts, our prayers, our petitions failed to move the
obdurate heart of those who are placed over us to

oar eagerness

govern

us

and

to ru lens, in the

agny

of

despair
lean.

we

looked

about and
dark,
to

found nothing on which we could

faith in all the professions

All

was

our

had already commenced

long before

the

Partition

measure
juatice

was
of

broached.
British

wane Our
policy

faith in the generosity

and the

the

had commenced

wane before the Parti'ion measure commenced. Lord Gurzon God bless him (cheeisand laughter). I say it sincerely, GoJ bless him (renewed laughter), because,
to

to

my

rainfi, Sir,

India has not had a more 'beneficent' Viceroy

than Lord Curzon (Hear, hear)

Lord Flipon was kind.

Lord
was

Ripon rcheers) was considerate. Lord RipOn was good, "He

tender-hearted, but Lord Ripon's rule was not

so beneficent to
like

India as

Lnd

Corzou's has been.

Lord Ripon was

the
life

a kind
child

mother, and there are circumstances in

of

when a good mother becomes a bad mother, when a kwd mother woiks more mischief than a hating step-mother migh* have done. Lord Ripon was a kind Viceroy, but Lord Curzon was a beneficent Viceroy. But whether he wished it
or not, that
is

another question.
you.

That

is

not

a qnestion

that
it.

need

trouble

Let
the
;

the

English
their

people

judge
interests

Let them

consider in

light of

own

the Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon

but applying our

standard of

judgment

to that Viceroyalty'/I

do not hesitate

to say that it

has beeu one of the must beneBcenf,

if

uot decidedly

the most
no,

beneficent, Viceroyalty that India ever

had
too
to

(cries

of

no)
poli-

We

had been brought up,

Sir, for too long a

period,

upon

tical lollipops.

We

had been given

for

long a

period the

beautiful and

charming baby-comfortei'
it.

keep oui'selves quiet.

it

Lord Ripon had done

by throwing

Others would do

again.

Bat,

God

be thanked, Lord Curzon threw the baby-comforter away, and

it

away he made us

feel the

hunger that

is

in us

the hunger for Swaraj

(Hear, heary, the hunger for

political

autonomy, the hunger for occupying our definitely appointed

place in the council
of nations

(Hear,

hear),

the

hunger for
by the

entering upon our

own

rights in the universal life of humanity^

with a view to deepen, to broaden, to quicken

that

life

provisions of our special culture, civilization and ideals (Hear,

hear).

This

the work that

God han done and he

Let us thank God
us hope and
trust

chose,

in

the mysteriousuess of hia Providence, Lord

Curzon as the main

for

instrument

for

doing this work.

let

Lord

GnrzoH's Viceroyalty, and Curzon will live long and enjoy health, and be the Premier of England when India will place before him the ultimatum. That will be the fitting end of (Shouts of Vande-Mataram).
the

that Lord

drama

of

which the

first

act only has been

played

by

that

capable Viceroy.

Gentlemen, Lord Curzon did this good. He awakened the dormant consciousness of the nation, but he did not create it.

The

consciousness was there.

It

lay

latent,

it

flowed

as

au
tl.e

undercurrent, and recent movements only helped to

latent forces in the nation to the surface.

bring
the

What was
call

pre",

paration for this

New Movement
to say that it

When we

anything new,
that can

we do not mean

has no relation to things

be described as old.

New

atvi offl are only

comparative

terms.

What was new

difference

in 1887

becomes old

ia 1907.

That

is

all

the

and you must recognize that difference, when talking and thinking about the New Movement, the new thought, ideal or the new metbodp. There ia an evolution, there has been an
evolution in the history of Indian Politics also,
first

(remember

the
city

time that

appeared upon a public platform in your

was in 1887. when you had the first Congress here. 1 miss now some kindly faces whom I first came to know in 1887 and when I appeared for the first time on the platform of the Congress in 18S7, in the course of what may be called, so far as
;

Congres!* platforms are concerned,

my

maiden speech,

I declared

that

was a democrat,
took

a democrat of democrats, a radical of

radicals; yet I said that neither

my

democracy nor

my

radicato

lism

the

away Government British

I
is

in the least

measure from
hear.)

my
I

loyalty
in

{Henr,

Thjit

was

1887

and

said it in all siiice'ity

and earnestness.
to

do not believe

that diplomacy
friend, Mr.

needed or suited

a subject nation can

My
subject

Choudry, had declared sometime ago that a

politics.

nation has no

By
ia

politics

only

mean

one
is

thing

and

that
of

thing
ideas

not

diplomacy.

Diplomacy

concealment

and
is

purpose,

concealment of sentiiu

ments and opinions,

that

necessary

negotiations bet~

ween one powerful State and another. |t is not neces.-ary bet> ween a subject people and its Government, unless that sujject
people are viciously inclined and desire to bring about a rebellion before the time is ripe for
it.

In thatcase, diplomacy
I

may

be held good
j^eot- peoples.

but, I do not believe,

say, in diplomacy
its

in .sub-

subject-people

must have

politics,

but a
I said

subject-people cannot have any diplomacy and

when

that

my democracy and my imperialism combined together to said make me immensely loyal to ,the British Government,
1

what I believed

to be

true

then

and

said

what

oambora

9
of

my

educated conntrymen belonging

believed to

to

that generation

absolutely

be true.

In those days,

we had

faith

had been brought up with the idea that our salvation and even our political salvation would come
in the British naJtion.

We

from England.

We

believed

in

those days

that

England's
I

mission in India was a conscientiously divine mission.

is

believe

it

would qualify that old statement by But iu 1887 deleting the word 'conscientiously' from it now. and delibercouBcientiously was England that we all believed
a divine mission, but
I

ately working for the political emancipation of India.

lieved that she would take us
set us in

We

be-

our

own proper

place

up by the hand aud gradually among the nations of the

had been
in-

world.
ciples

We

believed that by the gradual expansion of the prinof self-Government that

and organization

troduced by

Lord Ripon, by the reform and expansion

of

Legislative Coancils, by the introduction of a large

number

of

people of this country into our Public Service, by opening to us

the gates of the military services, by granting us the charter

of free citizenship

and investing us with the right of organiz-

ing national
these

We hoped, we believed in 1887, that by means England would gradually train us to become a free nation and take up our place among the free states of the world and we believed what Lord Macaulay had said many years ago, that if such a day came when the people of India, trained and educated by England in the arts, the Bcience(>, the
railitia.
;

philosophies and the ideals of

the West,

would demand the

right to govern themselves, would desire to have the

institutions, if such a

same
it

free

day came, England would regard

as a

most glorious day

in its history. For,

having found an ancient

it

nation in the very depths of degradation,

took that nation

up, gave oat to that nation its

tion, its

own experience
2

own wisdom, its own inspiraand it^ own strength, and set that

10
ancieut uatiou once more upon the pedestal of free citizenship-

That had been declared by Macaulay and the declaration in one foim or other had been repeated by sticceasive British statesmen here in this country and across the seas. We looked
into these declarations.

We accepted

them as gospel truth and

for our poli'

we

believed that

if

really

we depended on England

tical emancipation, followed her guidance, accepted her disciplines, placed ourselves in her hands for our training, then the

day would come when under her guidance, with her help, we would be able to realise our highest, noblest and deepest political aspirations

and be a free nation among the

free nations of

the world. (Cheers).

That was the

faith that lived in us in the Eighties; that

was

the faith that quickened the activities of the Indian National Congress; that was the faith which governed all our political
agitations in the past.
I

put

it

to

you

have you that faith

to-

day

? (cries of no, no).

You need

not be afraid of saying that

you have no faith. It is clear for the simple reason that Lord Curzon has distinctly stated that there is no ground for enterThat declaration, which gave taining such a faith any more.
us a greater charter than the Queen's Proclamation
(cheers).
I
itself, is this,

will
it

just refresh

your

memory.

Speaking on

the Budget,

was, I believe, in his Lordship's last but one Bud-

get speech, he said that we had misread and misunderstood the Queen's Proclamation. We had been preserving it as our

Magna

Charta.

It

was a

foolish

fancy.

has a peculiar history of

its

own.

Sir, Magna Charta Magna Charta was signed

under peculiarly complex circumstances, and

forces that begot the

in the absence of

these circumstances, in the absence of these

active political

Magna
in

Charta, (Hear, hear) in the ab-

sence of

King John,

the afcaeupe of

Runny meade,

in the

11

absence of the armed baronp, in the absence of the pitiable

dition of the English King, there could be
It

on-

no Magna Charts.

shonld be some other Charta,

still,

bat
it

it

woald not be Magna

Charta. But

we had

looked upoa

as our

Magna Charta it

was the castom

in those days to think of every thing Indian in

life.

ihe terms of English

If

there was a great

man among ns,

either a

say Kalidasa, &c, whoever he might be, he must be

Shakespeare or Milton or Byron or Shelley.

tbi-opist,
is

If

there be a philan-

he must be a Howard.

He

counts for nothing unless he

of the Indian people

Howard.

That was the mental attitude

then and, on account of this peculiar mental attitude we looked

about for our political documents and found this precious docu-

ment

in the Queen's Proclamation.

;

We
that

called

it

the

Magna
Magna
as oar

Charta

that

is

the psychological

explanation,

not that our

loaders did not

know

that the forces

in

created the

Oharta were not present

Proclamation.

India at the
that might be,
all

time of the Queen's

Whatever

we regarded
to the

it

Magua
it

Charta, and we based

our

appeals

Govern-

ment upon that great Charter, and Lord Curzon thought that
was time
to kill

this foolish

fancy and from his place in

the Viceregal Council, he said that we did not read the Charter,

read the Queen's Proclamation as carefully as

done.

we should have
all

We

would repeat

it

by heart

(laughter) with

puncit

tuatioDS from beginning to end.

Why,
it

there

is

nothing in

that

we have
is

forgotten, nothing in

that

we have
did
not

omitted.

What
we

the meaning, then, of

this Viceregal deeliratiou that

did

not read the

?

Magna

Charta,

we

read

the

Queen's Proclamation

Lord Cnizon did

not

keep us long

in suspense, because in the very next sentence^ he declared that

we

did not properly attend to the simple qualifying phrase " eo

it

far as

may

be

."

We had known
but

of this qualifying

nhrase^

of this conditional clanse,

^e had

interpreted

it

in our

own

12

way, we had thought that this conditional clause had reference

to our fitness, to our education, to our character

and not

to

any-

thing

else.

(Hear, hear) Lord Corzon said, "no

it

has refer-

ence not to your education, fitness or character, hut to the per-

manence
far as
it

of British overlordship in India" (cries of shame). "

So

may be" means

supreme
be qualified
affairs,

so far as

is

consistent with the preservaBritish in

this couutry.
to

tion of the

authority of the

You may
your own

by education and character

manage

you may be better qualified than those who are

brought out from across the seas to manage or mismanage the

British administration, but so long as the administration in India

continued to be British, so long the direction of

necessarily
rest

its

affairs

must

with the British.

Therefore, you would be

given every opportunity of carrying out orders, but not to

make

one single order.

You would
details,

be given

every

opportunity of

working out the

but no right to initiate reforms.

repeat*id by

What

Lord Minto only two months back. In his Budget speech, what does Lord Minto say? He says that it is absolutely necessary that whatever
Lord Curzon said has been
reforms are
initiated

introduced by the

Government
;

of

India must be

by the Government

itself

and

it

would be a mischiethe idea got

of

vous thing for the British Government

abroad that the
their

in India, if

Government

of India

had no

conviction

own, that they initiated reforms under

under instructions
is

pressure of public

opinion here or

Government in England. That same thing as Lord Curzon said.

affairs, the direction

from the people and the what Lord Minto says, the It means that the control of
right of
initia-

of the administration, the

tive shall always be taken

by the British
one
present

people and their

It

re-

presentatives here and not by any

else.

means,

Sir,

an

open declaration

by

the

amenable and they

will never

Viceroy be^ampnable to Indian opinion in

that they are not

13
thote matters (cries of shame).

What

right have you to expect

the British Government to do

are doing
?

anything more than what they

position (no, no) ?

Would yoa do it, I ask you, if you were in their Then do not cry shame. You regarded
more than human and
of truth
little less,
if less

them
all,

at one time as
It

at

than Ood.
in the

was your

folly if the disillusionment

has come.

Do not

name
They

and

justice think

them

to be

more
of

than human.

are men,

they have not come here on an

for the expansion

altruistic purpose, they

have come here

their trade, for the spread of their

own

empire,

for the exploi-

tation of the resources of the country

and even

the intellect of

the land
(cries of

for the

improvement

of

their

wealth and intellect

shame).

Look
it

facts

in

the face.

good sentiment, but Minto has made

has a very bad reason.

Crying shame is a Now, Sir, Lord

this distinct declaration, that public opinion in

India will not have any influence with the Government of this

country so far as administration proceed

is

concerned. For, reform must

source

from

him,

Any

other

cannot but

be a

mischievous thing.
if

Why
I

mischievous. Sir ?

Why,

because,

once

you and
force

get

the

idea
of

into

our

head
find

that

we
in

can
India,
.''

the
after
will

hands
that

the

British

Government
but

then

what would

you

deluge
until
fore,

Then yon

clamour for more, more, more, and more,

of their hands.

you have get the whole thing out

.There-

They will do nothing simply because you want them to do it. They will do nothing under pressure of Indian opinion, and yet we have all these 25 years
Lord Minto
warns
you.

and more been dreaming

tion,

of this

one thing, namely, that, by the

application of popular opinion to

the problems of administraby the creation of enlightened public opinion in India and
of that opinion
xuition at

by applyiiig the force

thiH country

and the British

upon the Government of Home, we would be able

14
to obtain every

kind of political reform that we might demand.

belief.

That has been oar

settled

That has
of

been the one absolutely

the

plan

in

the

programme

Congress.

We

have

always believed in this, that the

able to

Government
;

of India is

amen,

Indian

pablic pinion
it

if it

has not been gaided by

that we have not been able to create a sufficiently strong public opinion. That

Indian public opinion

is

due

to

the fact

has been our idea, Sir, but Lord Minto knocks that idea on the

head at once and he says, "No, we shall

tenth, a of Indian public opinion can influence

not budge a fifth, a hundredth or a millionth part of an inch. No pressure

So Lord Minto paraphrases Lord Curzon's declarations and Lord Minto

has the

Government,"
this

support of

'

honest
is

John'

in

matter; because

if

Lord Minto's declaration

a paraphrase

on the one hand of

Lord Curzon's ancient dicta, then on the other hand the commentary is John Morley's statement, that " so far as my imagination reaches, so

long the Government in India must be a per-

sonal and absolute

Government"
to
is

An

absolute Government

is

that which

refuses

absolute Government

amenable to public opinion. An anew euphamism for despotic Governbe

is

ment,

An

absolute Government
is

despotic Government,
is

Despotic Government
opinion.

that

which
is

not amenable to public

An

to be gijided

absolute Government and controlled by the

that which does not agree

opinions, ideals

and

senti-

ments
back,

of those

whom

it

governs.

It is a despotic

Government,

and what Lord Curzon had said some three or four years what Mr. John Motley declared last autumn, that is

what Lord Minto has

rf presented in
;

other words and in another

context in his last Budget speech

and yet

ibis

was not what

we had been taught and trained to believe of the British Government in India. We had been trained to believe for the last 25 years, we have lived upone this one faith, that the

15
British
Is
it,

Government
it

in India

is

a constitution*!
?

Government.

Sir,

a constitutional Government
is

My

moJerate friends

still

claim that

a constitutional

Government.
is

They say

that the British Government in India

a constitutional Govern-

is some little confusion of thought in regard to Every Government must have a constitution of its own. There can be no Government without a constitution, becnuse, if a Government had no conatitution, there would be no continuity of purpose and policy. If a Government had

ment. There
this claim.

no constitution, there would be nothing

to parts and the parts
to

to

regulate the parts

the

whole.

government,

if

it

has nothing more, has at least an

administrative
constitution;

machinery,
it

and a machinery
mechanical
own.

must

have a
it

though

be a

constitution

must

have a

constitution of its

Therefore, every

own.

Government has a constitution of its But every Government is not called in political science
as a
constitutional

and
it

in political history
?

Government.

Is

so

of its

The Government of the Czar has also a constitution own. Even the autocrat of all the Kussias is bound
customs,
certain

by certain laws, certain precedents, certain

ideas and ideals, and therefore, there is a constitution in Russia,

But whoever called the Government of the Czar a constitutional Governmant? Persia, Sir, had a constitution five years ago. If it had no constitution. Government would have been impossible in Persia, but still you say that the people
of Persia got a constitution

only a few months back

this,

What
history
;

then do you inean

is

You mean

The^word
is

vjoustitution'

used in a technical, in a special

political science.

sense, in

political

and

What
is

is

that sense ? it

this

consti-

tutional government

that

which organises the

State ma-

chinery, in which there are recognised

organs, through
the

which

the opinions of the people

maypply themselves on

work

16
of

the Governmenk.

That

is

what

is

understood by consti-

tutional Governraent. Constitutional

governments are govern-

ments that allow, by their very constitution, every right to the people to assert their opinions and ideas effectively upon those who govern. That is a constitutional government. And I put
it

to you,

my

dear friends, have we

these

any such
rights,
if

rights

(cries

we have not the of No). And if we have not opinion of the unanimous organs by and through which the Governpeople of India could apply itself to the work of the ment of India, if we have no such right and no such organ in a State organization, how then can we say that the Government of India is a constitutional government ? Take
will be done by the

Lord Mi nto's statement. He distinctly declares that nothing Government under pressure of Indian
Is that the

public opinion.

declaration
of India, I

of the

constitutional

character of
friends,

the Government

ask?

(shame).
if

My

understand before you

is

cry' shame'.

And

the Govern-

ment of India

not a constitutional Government,

of the plea of constitutional agitation?

what becomes The word, in fact,

The words, 'constitution' and 'constitutionarhave been used in a technical sense by lawyers and Indian politicians- They understood by 'constitution'
has been used in a very loose way.

and

'constitutional',
is

simply that which

It

is

regulated by law, 'that

which

within the bounds of law.

does not

matter

who
means

made

the law, or

who makes them

means
an
agitation

Constitutional

legal, lawful

and absolutely nothing

more

in

India.
is

Consti-

tutional agitation

which

consistent

with the safety of the agitator.

Constitutional

agitation thus

means an agitation that

will

not

conjure

up the

dreaded
agitation

Section of 124 A, of the Penal Code.

Constitutional

that be the

means an agitation within the limits of meaning of constitatioDal

the Penal
agitation,

Code.
the

If

New

17

Movement has
do not as
yet

not as yet

made any

declaration against

it.

We
the

proclaim

anything
of
it

which
India,
will bo

transgresses

existing laws of the

80 far as
in the

Government
believe

and we

do not,

we

see,

now

that

necessary for us

near future to transgress those limits.

We

respect the

laws and we shall respect the laws of

the present

Government
not
create

as long as those laws respect the primary rights of citizenship.

There are certain rights which Governments do

but rights which
created

Governments

themselves.

Those
rights.

are not constitutional

rights-

They are not created

They are natural rights, as my friend in the chair suggests. They are primary rights, rights that inhere to every individual

human

being, rights

the

charter

of

which

is

received

from no mau but from

every

Him who

stand.s on

High, who endowed

man

with his

life,

with his limbe,

man

with his

human
and

instincts,

who endowed every who endowed every man with

and ethical endowment.
rights

his intellect

every

spiritual

The charter of these

crowned head, but
throne of
it

primary

comes
of

not

from

any

comes from the King

Kingp, from the

God

himself.

And

so

long as the British

those

GovernIndiaa

ment

in India will respect those natural,

primary, those

uncreated rights of persons and property of individual

citizens,

so

long

we

shall

respect

their

laws, and
In this sense

our

agitation shall be conducted along such lines.

may

claim

to

be as constitutional
character
'

as are those
of

accept the constitutional

we who refuse to our programme and

has
very

propaganda.

This word,

constitutional'

been
loose

used, I

repeat, in Indian

political literature in a
is

way, to

mean not what

political history,
Sir,

always

meant

in

political

science and

but simply law-abiding, legal, lawful.

Now

Lord Minto, before him Mr. Morley, before him Lord Curzon, and before Lord Curzon siuccBssive administrators in India,
3

Id
bad wui'ked together
faith io the British
to kill the faith

that was io

this ua<iion,

people, faith in

the British Government,

in India.

faith in England's altruistic miijsion

This faith bad

been killed in the course of the last twenty years, and the

New

Movement has

risen

up,

for

it

is

a new faith out of the

ashes of the old faith.

In proportion as our faith in the foreign

in proportion as

Government has been decaying,

dence on the
foreign people

our depen-

and the

foreign

increased

and, the

realisation of
in

our national

Government destiny grew

overwhelming
anything

weaker and weaker,

in Indian politics.

that

proportion
side

things have appeared

is

On one
If

there

an

sense of helplessness.

the Government
If

won't do

how

are

we

to achieve

our end ?

the Government will not

realise

listen
realise
aide.

to our

prayers,

how can we
is

what we want
despair
in

to

ourselves?

It
in

an

attitude

of

on

one

The

loss of faith

the foreign nation,

the foreign

Government and in the foreign people has grown keen, not I mean a general I was going to say keen and bitter sense of despair which leads a lot of people to seek for their own re-generation. 'Since improvement is impossible why follow
bitter,

the chimera?

Go and improve

yourself.

Make your

pile

and

enter into friendly relations with

the Government.

The people

won't be the better or the worse for your association year after
year, in the participation of this
all

Government.
I will

So,

why when
all ?

are doomed, should you say,

not have more than

1 will

have As. 15-9 pies and you keep the three pies in the

rupee.'

That

is

one attitude

that has

grown

of late

in

the

public life of this country.

There
faith in the

is

another attitude, that with the decadence of the

foreign

people ^nd

in the foreign

Government,
administration

with the decadence of our faith in

the foreign

19

which has come to os. We have learnt to look nearer home Oar eyes have been tarned away from the Government House, away from the Houses of Parliament, from Simla and Calcalta and our faces have turned now to the starving, the naked, the
patient and long suffering 300 millions of
in it

Indian people, and

new potency, because we view them now with an eye of love which we never bad felt before, and in the teeming, starving and naked populations of India, we find toiling,

we

see a

possibilities,

potentialities,
is

germs that have given

the

rise to this

New Movement. That

namely. Faith
Faith in

corner-stone of

this

movement,

in the people.

Faith in the genius of the nation,

the genius
of this nation

God who has been guiding

ages

through

by

historical evolution, Faith in the

eternal

destiny of the Indian people.

in the foreign

With
in

the decadence of ourfi^ith

Government and
in

the

foreign

nation,

has
vital

grown np and more

it

this higher, this dearer, this deeper, this

more

divine faith

Indian

humanity

(cheers).

And

to

understand the understand this

New Movement
this

properly you

roust look

upon

through the prism of

new

faith into the Indian people.

To

New Movement

the prism of the Indian historic

you must look upon it through evolution of your race. To under-

stand this

New Movement
the highest

aright, you

must look into

highest

it

through

the prism of

ideals of your nation,

and highest
political life.

teaching of your

scriptures and
industrial

the

possibilities of

your
It is

social,

economic,

and even your

beg to

not an idle dream.

This

is

the message of Indian history,

I

and

this is the highest generalisation,

submit,

to

political scientist.

Because, after

all,

what's this Indian pro-

blem?

Is

it

a problem of

politics? Is it a

problem of

eco-

nomics?
aa such.

Is it a
It is

problem of administration?
not a political problem,

I refuse to accept it

not an economic pro'

blem.

What

is it

then?

It

is

a^simple, psychological problem.

20

Yon do not seem

conntry?
there

to follow

me.

How many

are the people of this

Three hundred millions and more.

these people? Less than three
non-officials together.

How many are

lakhs, taking

who govern
and

merchants

Now,

bow can you

explain this Government of three-hundred millions of people,

not concentrated upon a tiny bit of space
like the great island,

which

is

the

home

of

our rulers, but spread over a contiuent,

many times the size of England, the size of Great Britain P Ton ought to be able to find it for yourself, now, this problem,
this

strong
of

problem, the government of 300

millions

and more
over a
of

aliens

by

less

than

three

lakhs of persons

vast

arras. It

continent. England rules India not by force would be an impossibility, utter impossibility,

Th# Timea might show

his

ns his sword.

The Pioneer m'ght remind

with
shall
it

Hs of the tiger claws of the Anglo-Saxon, who, 1 believe, loses

canine

character

by

association

Bengal
have

climate.

They
the
It

might
not

declare that India

be governto

ed

by

sword

and

by

the

sword

will

be kept

was

won
If it

by

the

swoid.

British

bayo-

nets did not win India.

the sword of the Indian sepoy that

won by the sword, it was won India for the British nation, and it is not kept by the sword either. How many swords have you got in a district ? How many have you got in your Talukas ? Have you one single bayonet in a village
was
or can you keep one
village in India.
in all the

military

man

with a

bayonet in every

It is utterly

impossible.

There

is

no ai^my

world possessed by
or Russia,

any Power, nay,

village
in India
Sir, I

not even

by

Germany

who

could place one soldier and for his

(langhter).
!

protection another too,

in every

The sword never won India. When I hear. won the Empire of India by the sword, when
with the sword of the'Ttmes, 1

ah

England

am

threatened

am reminded

of the story in the

21

Upanishads.

In the Taitreya Upaniahads you the

know

that story

that Brahman made

gods
the

conqner the enemies, but the

'it is

gods forgot
our

all

about him.

They thought
gods

our glory,
just

it is

cotiquest.'

When

were

sitting

as

they did in the Delhi durbar and Indra was

self

congratulating him-

upon the prowess of his thunderbolt by which he had subdued the Asuras and when Agoi was also congratulating himself upon his prowess by which he had conquered and Varuna
had been doing the same, there appeared
the council of
nise
it.

a strange
it

figure near

tlie
is

gods.

They looked
figure ?

at

but could not recogsent Agni, the

Who
*

that

unknown

The gods
is.'

messenger.

Go

thou and ask

who
I

he

Agni went and asked,

'

Who
r'
'

art thou?'

This strange figure asked Agni,

'

Who art

thou

Agni replied

am

Agni,

am

fire.'

'

What
I

canst thou

do

asked this strange figure, earth and the heavens.' That

it

Agni

said,

can

burn th
dry
said,

strange figare

took up a
fire,

piece of grass and held

'

before Agni, the god of

and

failed.

Burn thou this.' Agni applied all his force to burn it and Varuna went. He said, I can drown Pverythiog.' This
' '

strange figure said,

applied

Drown thou
'

this tiny little weed.'

Varuna
This

all his forces,

but the weed could not be drowned. Then

I

Vayu went and

could not do.
is'

said,
'

can

blow away

everything.'

strange figure said,

Blow thou
came and

this tiny little

said,
'

weed.

'

But he

They

all

We do

not know
as ho

who he
symbol
Asuras,
the 300
their

Then Indra was asked

to go.

As soon

went, this

strange figure disappeared.

0}

In its place appeared the

Divine knowledge and she told India that this strange per-

son was

but

He by whose power they had whom they had forgotten. If,

Indian people
could once

conquered the

Mr, Chairman,

millions of

concentrate, not

strength, but merely their determination and set that determi-

nation up in the neighbouchoo^ of the Delhi Durbar,

if

they ask

22

who

this strange thing

is,

then they would know that the powei

that won India was the power of this yaksha.

The power
They are

that

governs India

is

the power of

that yaksha.

In their pride, in
like

their ignorance

and

in their folly

tbey see not.

the scriptural image that has eyes but see not, that has ears

bat heareth not, that has intelligence,

but the

intelligence

is

not applied to the actualities of the situation about them.

Who

governs India, Sir

to

any district.

Sometimes two,
than

we who govern India. (How, how ?) Go How many Englishmen are there in a district ? sometimes three sometimes four, but never more
? It is

To whofe tune do the Magistrates, the Police Superintendents and the Judge play ? The Police
balf-a-dczen.

Superintendent answers
Inspector
is

to the

tune of

the Inspector

and the

The Magistrate answers to the tune of the Huzar Sheriatadar and the Hnznr Sheristadar is your man. Judge who adjudicates. He adjudicates properly It is the more often by the light of the native officials and the native lawyers than by his own imported light. Let me ask, who
your man.
keeps
the

peace of the

country.

It is

my

Constable,

my
They

Chowkidar,
are Hindus,

my Head

Constable and

my
sit

Sub-Inspector.

Mahomedans

or Christians.

They are

all

either

brown

or black, never white.

These

on the top, receive the

work.

fattest pay,

but we do the most troublesome, the most arduous,

complicated

the most difficult, complex and

The ad-

ministrative machinery would come to a stand still if we draw ourselves away from it (cries of surely). Then, my dear friends,
if it is so,

what
Is
it

is

the secret of this.

Is

it

hypnotism
it

Is it

magic

incantation ?
is

What

is

then
it is

(cry of

poverty).
It is

That

quite a different matter.

Now,

hypnotism.

Maya, Maya, and Maya, and in the recognition

lies
;

of the

magic

character of the British power in India

the strength of the

New Movement. What we want h

this

to remove this Maya,

23
to dispel this illasiou, to kill aud destroy this hypuotistu. Wo have heen hypnotised into the belief that though three hand-

red millions

we

might

be,

yet

been dinned into our e^rs, for

we are weak. The thing has how many years you all know,
it

Por the last 50 years this thinjr has been dinned into oar ears.

For the
that

last

one hundred years

has been dinned into our ears

we

are weak.
call
it

They

and then
tory.

their

up one conquest. That

set

Indian against
is

another,

how

they write our hisPlassey, tho

They

are going to celebrate the festival of

who fought and conquered, and who was defeated at the battle of Plassey? Mir Juffir stood away. The treacherous Mir JaflSrstood away. My Mahomedan friends would take note of it, that when the last Mahomedan Nawab was deprived of his Sultanath in Bengal, the only man who fought and tried to die for him was a Hindu gentleman. His Maho* medan General stood aside. Had Mir Jaffir not played the part
festival of Clive, but
of a traitor,

had Mir

Jaffir

fought as valiantly and as faithfully

treacherous

aa

Mohan

Lai did, had not that Jagat Sett, that

another
treacherous

banker, had not

aristocracy,
tical
life

member

of the

Banking
poliin

had not certain other men, the leaders

of

of the

Bengal
if

in

those

days,

conspired

secret

against the
into the

Nawab,

they

had

not

played

themselves

hands

of the tiny little clerk in

Fort

William, Olive's

record of heroism would never have come into existence.

is

This

how the British Empire is being administered by them, but we know it not. The Sberistadar knows not his own power. The Inspector knows not the measure of his own brains. The
Deputy Magistrate knows not tho important functions that he
discharges in the administration of the country.

He

looks to hia
hie

pay and looks up to the

pay.

men who

can increase or decrease

He

has no time to look into himself, nor about

himself
friends, a

and, therefore, this hypnotisA continues.

My

dear

24
moment's cosidcration
this
will

show

that

if

we are weak

to-day

weakness

is

not real, bat illusory.

is

If

we

are disorganised,
If

this disorganisation

also caused by this

hypnotism.

we

are disorganised,
interest
is

we

must organise
matter,

ourselves

when any
But what

vital

involved in any

and

for

the safety

of that
vital

interest, organisation is absolutely oeceasary.

interest have

we
?

in this country outside

our personal,

private

family interest

What

interest

have we in the

Government

of this country ?

we

are divided.

You say we cannot govern ourselves because You say that we cannot administer our own
from caste, there
is reli-

affairs because there is caste divided

gion dividing denominations from denominations.

the

There are Hindus standing apart from the Mussulmans and the Mussalmans standing apart from the Christians. You say
there arj so

many

religions, so

many languages,
will

so

many

castes

and so many

differences,

how

you organise yourselves?

Were

there not at one time difforenoes of riligion, differences, of

of interests, of

olasses.oouflict

class against

class in
in

England?

before the master-hand of Bismarck, helped by the late

Germany Emperor William, -welded together these heterogenious Germans in one grciit German nation ? Common interests, common life, and the same vital community of interest we have that has made

Were there not provincial differences and jealousies

other people forget these differences in the pursuit of that vital

thing.

Have not we

lessons in regard to this in our

India knows of only two instances within the

tory of nation-building.
of the Sikhs,

own past P memory of histhe history

One was

in
in

the Punjab,

and the other was

the Decoan, the history of

?

the Maharattas.

And What was

peculiar in the Punjab

What

was peculiar

iu

the Maharashtra ?

Leave the Punjab alone,

to

because that was tbe problem that was sought

be worked in

very limited

field.

Take

the t^istory

of

the

Maharattas.

25

What do yon

find

there?

Sivaji

combined not only the Hin-

dus but he combined the Hindus and the Mahomedans both. He united the interests of the two great com muni ties in his own
ideal of a Maharashtra.

What

did Pratap Aditya do in Bengal.

You

talk of

disunion

between the English and the

Pratap, the

MahoSatrap,

medans.
the

Bat, at the time of

Mahomedan
Munsingh,

Princes in Bengal fought aide by side with the Hindus against

common Moghul Emperor,

when he came
Isaph
if

against

Akbar's

General,

to conquer

Pratap.

There was Isapb,

really the

one

of the

great 12 landlords of Bengal,

joined

who were
fought

ruling chiefs.

Pratap

and

with
if

the

Moghnls.
one

So,

you can create

community

of interests,
all

you

can present something that can be

regarded by

people as

common

ideal, if

you can present an ideal

that can appeal

to every

community

in India,

not to their individuality, not to

their peculiar culture and character, but the fulfilment accord-

ing to his

own

lines of the highest

aspirations

that quicken in
these differen-

them,

if

yon can present such an

ideal,

then

all

ces will disappear.

We
it.

have

we have
rant and
in
it,

believed in

We
it.

we are disunited and have been told that we are weak

been told

and we have believed

in

We

have

been

told

we

are igno-

we cannot understand
this belief

politics

and we have believed

all

and
it

has been the cause of

cause.
a
It
is

our weakneM;

and

has a

hypnotic
it

induced

by magic,
Mayaic
the
that

by

Maya

and
of

is

upon

recognition
in

of this

character

the

present
itself,

sovereignty

India

new movement bases

the

and

it

proclaims,
first

therefore, that

salvation of India

must come

and

foremost of

all

through

right knowledge.
it

Maya can

be dispelled by
It is

original

knowledge whether
that

be Vedantic or politic.
of the people

therefore
It is It
is,

we proclaim the strength therefore, that we proclaini from

to

them.

the house-tops our ideal

26
therefore, that

we make uo

secret of our
is this,

propaganda, because

the thing that has to be cleared

ness in the people.
this despair, killing

the sense of helplessis I

The thing
despair in

that has to be fonght against

the

nation.

What you and

yon ard
I

want now now is the

intellect

is

the message of strength.

What

want

declaration of

some sach
Such an

ideal that will quicken our

well, that

and culture and our emotions as

will take

possession of our wills.

ideal will lead us to

united determination to cut asurder this

make one Maya and make us

this

prepare ourselves
will naturally
sacrifice,

fo.

those sacrifices
in the future.

which

determination

demand

This determination, this

it

this knowledge, this ideal,

is

these

that would
tries

solve the Indian problem, and which

to

the

new Movement
lecture,

place

before

you

to-night.

But

one

though

extending over a couple of houis, is not sufficient to explain to you all the aspects, all the principles, much less the great sublime philosophy that stands behind
not a merely
political

this

new movement.
politics has

It is

movement, though

come

to

receive, perhaps, the largest

amount

of its attention just

now.
it is

This movement This movement

is

not a mere economic movement, though

applied to the solution of the great problem of Indian

is

poverty.
It

essentially a

spiritual

movement.
life of

has

its

application in social, in economic, in political

tttfeosophy of the

the sublime

Vedanta.

It

means the desire

to carry the

message

of freedom.

It is the

supreme message

of the

Vedanta
social,

to carry out that

message, to
political life.

realise that ideal in the

economic and the

What

is

the message of the

is

Vedanta

The message

of the

Vedanta

this

that every

man has within himself, bis own soul^ as the very root and realiand as God is sation of his own being, the spirit of God eternally free and is every man so self-realised, free, eternally
;

Belfrealised.

Freedom

ib

man's

'ijirtli-right,

It

is

his

birth-

27
right in God,
is
Ifc

is

inherent in the very making of man.

Man

made not out

of the image, not in tho

is

image, but out of the

Bubstance of the maker, and as God

prince or peasant,
or

eternally free, so are you,

Brahman

or Pariah,

man

or

woman, Hindu

Mahomedan, Buddhist or

Christian, rich

or poor, ignorant

or learned, /ree and eternal.

You

realise it uof, because

you are enveloped in ignorance.

because this spirit
as

You
of

realise it nob,

because freedom has not organised itself as

life.

yet in your social

You

realise it not,
to organise
it

freedom has not been able

life.

itself

yet in your

economic
ideal of
cal
life.

You

realise

not

because this

freedom, this

freedom has not as yet acfcualised

itself in

your

politi-

They are
you

in the

freedom of the free citizen comprising

can you bring
In the
before yourself,

a free state.
actualise, can

There and there alone can you recognise, can you

objectify,
it

your own natural freedom.

citizenship of a free state

rule

you regulate yourself, you control yourself, you

yourself,
is

you restrain yourself want

of restraiut

and freedom,
;

my
is

dear friends,
is

not

but self-restraint

freedom

not want of

regulation but self-regulation, freedom

nation,

not want of determiit

but
of

self

determination
state,

and
free
.

only

consists, as
of

membeis
state,
in

free

as

citizens

a
in

free

the

administration of
the

your own
that

sffaiip,

your

submitting

yourself to

laws

you helped

to

make
large

and in submitting yourself

to

to the

regulations that

you helped
at,

impose upon yourselves and upon the community

(cheers).
life of

That gives the clue

to this
if

political life.

It is the

a free citizen in a free state,

is

you

realise the

freedom of

God which
I

self-restraint, self-regulation

and self-determina(cheers).

tion for the

purpose of self-realisation,
ig ncft

Therefore,
It

say this

New Movement

a mere political movement.

28
movement. They do not understand They cannot understand its strength. They have no faith in this movement unless they recognised as a supremely spiritual movement and because we recognise it so, we believe that the spirit of our race will fulfill and realise
is

eesentially a spiritual

its

meaning.

itself

in

and through

this

divinely appointed destiny of our nation.

faith in the history in

movement and shall realise the Our faith is first in God,

and through which God reveals himself.

Our

faith is in the history of our

own

people, and in the genius

of our

own

nation.

It is

the manifestation within the limits of

this

the spirit of
faith,

God and God Himself, and because we have

we

believe that.

We

are disorganised to-day,

butwe

shall

become organised to-morrow. We are weak to-day but we can We become strong in our own native strength to-morrow.
believe
attain the strength for

we are incapabla of self-sacrificing to-day but we shall making the self-sacrifice to-morrow, and
means,

by

this

by

determination,

by

self-sacrifice

and by
end

combination we
that this

shall be able sooner or later to realise the

New Movement

has set up, namely that of Swaraj,

(continued cheers and cries of Bande Mataram),

The Qospel

of

Swaraj

(the second lectdre.) [Mr. Pal,

who was

received with enthnaiastio cheeringi

:]

addressed the meetiDg for two bonrs as follows

Mr. Chairman, friends and fellow-countrymen, the word

Swaraj, on which I have been asked to speak to you to night,

a

is

oew word

in the literature of
to us

modern Indian
President,

politics.

This

word was given

during the last session of the Indian

its

National Congress by

honoured

Mr. Dadabhai

Naoroj (shouts of Vande Mataram).

Mr. Dadabhai standing

on
tbe
say,

the

platform

of the

Indian National Congress as

representative, the

accredited,

was

almost going to
that

the

elected,

representative of all India declared

Swaraj, i.e.,

self-government, was the goal of his people.

If

This

declaration is peculiarly signi6oant.

after saying 'self-government

Mr. Dadabhai stopped

goal,'
it

was our

would have

meant nothing
Indian
oflBcials

or anything. Self-gOvern^ent is an old

word

in

politics,

and

it

had been applied by

different persons,

and non-oflBcials, in qnite a number of ways; but Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji did not stop by merely declaring that our
His definition was extremely signiwas significant because of certain things that had happened a few months before the meeting of the Congress. This definition that Mr. Dadhabai gave of self Government was

ideal

was self-government.
It

ficant.

also significant in view of an earlier definition of his own.

definition that he

The

had given

to

self-Government, the declaration

of the ideal of the National Congress, that he

had made on the

eve of the session of the Congress in Madras in 1903, addressing the Congressmen in this country in a series of letters from
different Congress leaders in

England all

these were published

30
in the

pages of the Hindustan Btview, Allahabad

of

was
under

that the
British

ideal

the

Cougress was

Belf-government

paramountcy.

Self-government under British paramountcy.

This ideal was not very clearly understood by some of us-

We

did not exactly understand

be,

what the character

of this self-

government would

be the conditions that

what would be its limits and what -would British paramountcy would impose
These are questions that arise in

upon our self-government.

our minds when we read this declaration from the oldest leader
of Indian political life. (Hear, hear\ Would our self-government mean what it means in other self-governing coantries ? Would it mean the right of self-taxation? Would it mean the

right of self-legislation?

Would

it

mean

the right of the people

it

of India to grant admission or to refuse

like,

to

whomsoever they
from outside?
British

seeking entrance into their

it

territories

Would
vileges
all this,
ter.)

mean, this self-government

these
other

under

parapri-

mountcy,
of

and

other

essential

rights
?

and
If it

self-governing

communities

meant

where would
relations

the jmramoantcy

come

in ?

(Laugh-

The

paramountcy might come

;

iu

the matter of our

foreign
trolled

but foreign

relations can

only

be con-

by the help of a national

army.

The ultimate argu-

ment in diplomacy among the nations of the world is not an argument of reason, but an argument of force, not applied, but
possible of being applied at any

moment when

the constitution
fail.

Without a background of military power, foreign relations have never been known to be controlled anywhere, in barbarity or civilizait

might demand

and when diplomacy might

tion (Hear,hear).
relations,

England, thereforoiif she controlledour foreign

<

would naturally and very

reasonably also

demand

31
the confcrol of our array aud
if

sbe had to coutrol oar

of the

army she
control

would be forced by the necessily

ling of the

duty that the control-

&rmy would

irnpo3e upon her,

todemaud the

of the purse of the nation.

And

if

this is so,

where would the

right of self-taxittion and the right of self-administration go ?

It

would

be, I dare say,

an exceedingly convenient thing for us

if England would mind guarding our frontiers, at her own expense (Hear, hear and cheers) with her own people and allow-

ed us the supreme and precious privilege

of

taxing

ourselves,

governing ourselves and doing everything that a self-governing

people does.
It

would be very comfortable for

ua,

but

it

would
unless

be exceedingly uncomfortable for England (cheers) and England would not undertake this great and glorious duty

we agree
land does

to

pay her for

it.

But you
in regard to
?

might say
she does

why
in

Engshould

it in

regard to the Colonies,

she does
it

it

regard

to Australia,

Canada.

Why
is

she not do

it

in

regard to India

England
(laughter).

is

white.

Australia

The one answear to Canada white. is

it is this.

white

We

are black aud

brown (laughter and

cheers,)

That

ia

one answer.

^white people, even for the Boers

less troubli s

England would do a great deal for a who had put her to such end-

seven years back.

non-white people.
mitted,

Profedsor Bryce,
of the

But she would not do it for a adI think, it would be

mind
of his

knows something

own

people.

It

will be admitted, there are

few
of

men

in English public life

politics in

who

have had larger experience

modern

England and
of the

even in Greater Britain than the distinguibhed author

Holy

Roman Empire and

Just about

the

American

Common
?

Wealth.

Therefore, his authority must be respected in this matter.

And
Prois

what aid bo say

fessor

3 or 4 years back
Theatre
in

At an ad-

dress delivered in the Sheldonian

Oxford,

Bryce said

'

The colouf sense

of the

Anglo-Saxon

n
one of
their
his

strongest senses.

The
the

AsiaUcs

may overcome
and
least

sense of colour, bat the Earopean cannot,

of

all,

can

it

be expected of

Anglo-Saxon Earopean."
her
Colonies can

Again, the relation between

never possibly be the

England and
between

relation

India and England

England sends oat her sarplua populaiion to the Colonies and the Colonies receive with open arms the immigrants from the
mother country, because they help the
their

Colonies

to

develop

own

resoaices.

the native race.

They help the Colonies to exterminate They help the Colonies to strengthen the
Therefore England

white power in distant parts of the globe.

is

interested in the

upkeep

of the

Colonies.

Can you expeot

regard
the
to I^dia ?

that the

same thing would happen Can you expect on your own side,

with
to

receive

sarplua
no) But

population of the British Isles into your

midst.'' (no,

the Colonies recieve them. You would not, but you receive them now, because you cannot help it (yes, exactly so), aad therefore the moment you have Swaraj, the moment you have

self-government,

the

moment
like

you

have

the

right

to

exclude

whomsoever you
all

from getting
pass a
aliens

inside

your

territories,

that moment you

even
British

will

lawi as

Australia

has done, against

undesirable
the

and

Australia has
iuhabitantp,
I,

passed this law against

the subjects of the

residents, the

Empire.

You and

unless

we

know

to

read and write at least one Earopean language, cannot

It is

go into Australia.

not

in

human nature
as

that

when
to
to

you and

have the same

to,

right
or

the

Australians have

granting admission
foreigner,

refusing

this

admission

any

we

shall

not exercise this ri^ht for excluding

undesirable aliens.

England

cannot

expect the same help

Australia, from

fiom India as she can naturally

expect from

Canada, and from the

the

other
its

Colonies.
life

India cannot expect

and strength by the inflax of white emigration as the Australians and Canadians expect it. Therefore what England is doing in regard to

same

accession

to

national

Aastralia or Canada, undertaking

the expenses for the

pro-

tection of her Colonies, she will not do, she will

in regard to a self

not undertake

governing India.

TEB DECLARATION.
Therefore,
it

seems

to

me,

Sir, that
is

this

ideal

of selfideal-

government under British paramountcy

it

an imposHible
(laughter),

might be a theoretically perfect

it is

ideal

making
has

lor the universal brotherhood of

man but
of

the millennium

not yet arri red, and

able
ideal

not in any case a

ideal

practically attain-

that

is,
;

the

self-government,

under

British paramountcy

for either

British

paramountcy would

mean nothing
paramountoy

or self-gevernment

would

mean
of

nothing.

We

do not understand this ideal of self-government under British

;

we do not make any

regarding
it,

secret

our opinions
before the

and estimates
kindness

and
the

a few

months
were

Session of the last Congress, some of us

driven by
India

the
its

will call

it

of

newspaper
in

and

partiality for the

Liberal

administration

England,

we

were driven by certain remarks that were made in regard to Mr, Morely's last budget speech by the newspaper India to make a very simple declaration- That declaration was this. It was made first through the columns of the 'notorious' newspaper called Bande Malaram:

"

The time has come when

advancement and
all

in the

interest of
of

truth and

the civio

the

freedom

the people,

our
are
all

British friends should be

distijjictly

told that while

we

thankful to them for

5

the

kind things they

have said

34
these years for ns and the ready sacrifice

make our

lot

easy and their yoke light,

made to we cannot any longer

they have
political
;

suffer to be guided

by

them

in

our attempts for

is

progress and emaucipation.

desire to
to

Their weapon

not ours

they

in

make the Government in India popular. They desire make the Government in India popular without ceasing any esense to be essentially British, We desire to make it
of

autonomous, absolutely free

the British

Parliament." (Loud

cheers and shouts of Vande Matharam).

This declaration, a very natural thing

people

even in

a subject
instincts

of freedom

an honest expression of the common hum^t this took our Anglo-Indian friends by

surprise.

They never thought that such a thing might be said or could They held up possibly be said by any Indian journalist. thought and that we harry-carry were going in hands their The Englishman in deluge. Calcutta the ran to very close
into hysterics (cries ef shame), the

Pioneer

did the

threatened us with a
of India did the same.

series of evil consequences.

same and The Times

paragraph

in full,

and

for a

The London Times also quoted the number of days- it tried to prove
band
of

that this was the declaration of a small

persons,

irresponsible

who deserved

to

be put down.

That was what the

Times practically said and the Times of India coaxed, begged, beseeched the moderate politicians, the model moderates to

make a declaration from the

subscribe

Congress

that

whatever else

might happen, the Congress does not subscribe and will never a declaration as till the end of the woz'ld, to such The Times of India and even the London Times did this".
something more.
extremist,

leaders in the matter.

They held out temptations to the Moderate They said " if only you expel the and make an open declaration of policy from the
:

35
Congress platfrom that yoa desire
British overlordship, then

the

perpetaation
will

of

the

your

cause

be

strengthened.
at ouce

The Muhammadans who are holding

and there

aloof

will join it

is a verj strong and sensible body of Anglo Indian opinion which would also throw in its strength with you and join the National Congreas and by this means the Congress would be a power in the land and the Govern,

non-ofiBcial

ment would be bound

the representations

to treat

with respect and consideration

of

such a body".

The Times

of India

asked Mft Dadabhai

for the old

Naoroji, in a
it

sudden

outburst of

love

had abused outright and the London Times also said that whatever Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji's views on economics might be, he was at heart a loyal man and
would
of

man whotu

course
all

make some
nonsense.

declaration

that would

put an

end to

this

And

the declaration than Mr*

significant
of India

Dadabhai Naoroji actually made became extremely

on account; of this
little

previous history.

The Times

wanted Mr. Dadabhai, the London Times wanted the National Congress to declare it officially and openly, that they would
not go in for autonomous
India,

that

their

ideal

was

aelf-

governmeiit under British pararaonntcy.

This had been declared

as'T .said,

to

he the ideal of the Congresp,

by Mr. Dadabhai some years back. Mr.

Dftdhabhai,
last

however, standing on the platform of the Congress

refused to report the old declaration (hear, hear).
t.o

year

He

refused

condemn this new idoal. Ou the contrary, he declared idflftl whijh praoticnlly accepted the declaration of policy m^de by that notorious paper Bande Matharam. What did
an

Mr. Naoroji say

Hn

said

self-government
?

is

our

ideal.

What, kind
the United

of

self-government
or in

" Solf-Government
".

as

in

Kingdom

the Colonies

That

is

Swaraj

36
These
are

the

words

so

far

as

remember
in the

of

Mr.

Dadabhai Naoroji,
dom," what does
does
it

" Self-GovernraeDt as

United King-

it

mean but the right

of self

of self taxation ?

What
does
it

mean but the right

Legislation?

What

mean bat

the right of self administration and what does itmean

of the

but the supreme control

nation over

its

political affairs,
affairs.

home
That

affairs
is

and foreign
is

affairs, civil affairs

and military
in the

what

meant by self-Government as
also,
It

United

Kingdom.
of

Mr. Naoroji added

self-Government as in the

United Kingdom or the Colonies.

Colonies
essentially

means th^t

in the opinion

Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, the self-government thatobtainsin the

is

obtains in the United

and practically the same as that which Kingdom, because the Colonies also have
the mother country conof the Colo-

the right of self-taxntion. have the right of self-legislation, have

the right of self-administration, and

trols the political relations
nies, it is

if

and the foreign relations

simply owing to the fact that the mother country

in

undertakes to pay for this control

Military expenditure

and when once Great Britain wanted a contribution immediately

after the close of

the Boer

war from Australia towards the

fleet

expenses of the squadrons of the British

Paciflc, Australia point

stationed

on the

blank refused to pay even a farthing

self-

towards those expenses and therefore practically speaking

government

in the

Colonies
I

is

the same as self-governmeut in

to

the United Kingdom.

would draw your attention

the

construction of the sentence in which Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji

this declaration.

made

Dadabhai did not say that the ideal was Co-

lonial self-government.

He
I

said our ideal

was self-government
you
will under-

as in the Colonies, and

think, Sir, as a lawyer,

*

stand there

is

a difference between

Colonial self-government
'

and self-government as

in the Colonies
,*,he

(cheers and laughter).

Colonial self-government means

perpetuation of the rela-

87
tion of the existing British Colonies with the

mother country

self-go vera men t as in the Colonies

means self-government
it.

si-

milar to that obtaining in the Colonies, not identical with

lonial

Co-

Self-government would declare identity of our ideal with

Self-

the kind of self-government obtaining in the colonies.

government as
It

in the Colonies

does not declare that identity.

simply points as a sample and when you copy a pattern, you

it

necessarily copy
differences

with more or

less certain

slight differences,

due

to personal equation

would be due

to national eqxiation.

and here the differences This declaration then from

Dadabhai Naoroji is a significant declaration. This is really the same ideal that had been proclainred by us. This declaration

meantan open repudiation by Dadabhai Naoroji of the claims

And, gentlemen, Dadabhai Naoroji made
his
this

that had been pat forward by the Times of India and the London
Times.
declara-

tion first of all in

presidential

address

but towards the

close of the session, in his

closing

speech

he emphasised this

declaration

still

further.

He

dtclared that as the result of the

labours of the last 50 years, this generation

discover this great national ideal of
Szvaraj,

had been able

to

He

said'.

-'The

generation thati^ passing away gives you, young men, this ideal.
It devolves

on you to work

it

oat

in

practice."

These are the

the

last words of Dadabhai Naoroji, uttered from the chair of

Indian National Congress last December and they are significant words.

After the declaration of Dadabhai Naoroji

to

it is

no

longer possible, Sir, for Moderates or Extremists

say
to

that

they are not Swarajists.

They

are

compelled now

accept

with good grace or with bad grace, but they are compelled to
accept

this ideal as
Mr

the

national ideal.

gokhalb's ideal and th extrbmtst ideal.

in

Mr> Gokhale went to Allahabad

February and he pro-

88
olaimed the same ideal at Allahabad.
not put aoy limitation, any limits to

He

said

that he

would
bis

the aspirations of

couotiymen.

He

said that be

wanted his people

to live in their

country as other peoples

live in their

own

countries.

And

by
the

other peoples he necessarily meant not

the Hottentot, not

Zulu, not the Fiji Islander, but he meant the free peoples of the
world.

And he

said that be

wanted

his

own people

in

India

believe just as the other peoples of theVworld, lived in their

Countries.

own
Mr.

That was a paraphrase

predominant both

of the ideal of Sitaraj.

Gokhale with the emphasis on the

that
is

ethical side of every question

life

so

in

his

and conversation, deattain

their indus-

clared

further

that he wanted that bis people should

is

the highest that

trial, in

their

them moral, and in

in
it

io their intellectual, in

their spiritual

life.

What

does

it

mean,

Sir, unless

means a declaration
it is

of the ideal of

Su-araj.

He

did not use the world Swaraj,

is

true

but we ought not

of India,

to forget that he

member

really of

the Government

because, according to the constitution of that Grovernment, every

member
the

of

the Legislative
of

Council

is

really

a
of

member

of

Government

India as every
of

member
of

Parliament

constitutes

a part

the

Government

England.

So

every

member

of the Legislative Council

forms a part

of lihe

organic element in the constitution of the Government of India.

But Mr. Gokhale said

theoretically perfect
practically.
ideal I

it

was a theoretically perfect

I

ideal;

but

not practically attainable.

don't understand an ideal that is

is

but
is

which

absolutely

nnatt-iinable
is

That which
lo

not practically attainable,

fancy,
it.

not an

beg

submit

it is

is

a figment of
It is

the imagi;

nation.

It is

a dream. an ideal.

It is

poetry.

a fairy abstraction

but

it is

not

Modern thought does not recognise

is

abstractions.

The

ideal

organically related to the real, the

ideal is implied in the real, the iUeal is involved in the real

and

.59

the ideal

is

based on acluAlities of the

real.

It

is

not some-

thing that comes from the outside.

of the rose.
little
it is

Where do you

find the ideal

Is it in

the lotas f

No.

It is in the rose, the tioy

rose itself suggests the

idf al of a full

blown rose and

in the rose, in the reality of the rose, that

you
it
;

find the ideal

of the rose suggested but never

exhausted by

so the ideal of

humanity you find and not any where

life

in

man

or

woman

or the general

else.

It is in

the realities of our

human race human

is

and activities that we

race; the ideal
is

find the suggestion of the ideal of the

human
It is a

of

humanity.

So,
it is

that

which
it is

not

practically attainable

not an ideal,

a fancy,

a poesy.
ideal of

dream,

it

is

a fanciful
if

abstraction
it

and our
not

Swaraj would not be an ideal

able.

were not practically attain,

is

Mr. Gokhale says that this ideal of Sjcaro;

practi-

cally attainable.

Why

because the English

people

will

not

understand

it.

Empire but
stauc;^

they do
will
I

They understand self-government within the not understand and will not underfight

and

shy

of

his

outlandish
to

ideal

of

Swaroj.

But.
if

ask

you

gentlemen,
within

consider for one

moment

eelf-government

really practically attainable ideal,

the Empire is a what guarantee have we that

the British people, those responsible British statesmen,

would

be willing to grant us even this practically attainable privilege

of self-government within the

Empire

What

did Mr. Morley,

Honest John, say

I

last

autumn

in the course of his

budget speech?

referred to

it last

night.

I will refer to it

once more to night.

',

'As Icng as
'

my

imagination reaches, so long

of India

Mr, Morley said*

personal

the

Government

must continue

to be a

and
Sir ?

absolute Gevernment.'

What is

a personal Government,
?

What

are the characteristics of absolute government

ideal
of

Is self-

government consistent with the

unless you refer to the

personal government}

self'government o^ the person

who

4o
goverud and Dot of those

who

are governed.

Is

self-govern-

ment consistent with absolute government P Has Russia self* Why not, beccuse the Czar is an absolute government ? monarch there. Has Afghanistan self-Government ? Why not P, because HabibuUa is an absolute monarch in Afghan
territory.

Has Persia self-government

it

Only very recently

in

and

if

she had not,

was because the rule that obtained

Persia was a personal and absolute rule.

Personal and absolute

Government
real shape or

is

dramatically opposed to self-government in any

form and therefore how are we to know in the face most distinguished,
liberal

of this open, this deliberate declaration,by the

the most broad-minded, the most sympathetic, the most philosophical and the most literary of the English

statesmen ?

How

are

we

to

understand
like

in the face of

his broad

open decla'

ration, by a

man

Mr. John Morley, the right-hand

?

man

of the lato

Mr. Gladstone

How
we

are

we

to

understand

in the

face of such a declaration that they

of self-government
if

would
keep
it

listen to

our demands
the Empire
to

only

shall

within

mure considerately and kindly than they are

our demand for absolute autonomy or Swaraj.

likely to listen

PK&OTICALLT ATTAINABLE IDEALS.

Then again, Sir, i Empire a practicable ideal. mean

really

self-Government within the

it

What would
more what
us
I

mean

It

woald
either

have

to repeat once
for

said just

now

no real self-Government
England.

or no real overlordship for

Would we
P

besatibfled with a

shadow

of self-Govern-

ment

If not,

would England be
In either case

overlordship

shadow of England would not be satisfied

satisfied with the

with a shadowy overlordship.

Wo

refuse to be satisfied

with a

shadowy self-government.
therefore no compromise

(Hear,
is

hear

and cheers.)

And

(iiV)Fsiblo

tinder such

conditions

41

between self-goveinmeut in
England. The fact
of granting us
of the

India and
is this
;

the overlordship

of

matter

England

will

not think

any measure
so.

of real self-government until

she

is

compelled to do
sion

(Hear

hear.)

And when
the

the compuloP

becomes
opinion

irresistible,

when
is

pressure
irresistible

Indian
the
self-

public

becomes

absolutely

and

alternative before

England

either to give us substantial

government or lead

to the severance of India's connection

with
itself

England, (hear, hear.)

consider any
tial

when
it is

that

alternative presents

before English statesmen,

then only that they will begin to

1

demands that you and

may make
;

for
if

a substanself-govern-

measure of self-government
is

in India

and

ment

conceded to us, what would be England's position not

itself.

only in India but in the British Empire

Self-government
control,

means right
it

of self-taxation,

it

means right

of financial

means the right

tariff

of the people to

impose protective and pro-

hibitive

on

foreign

imports.

The

the
not

right
try

of

self-taxation,

what
this

shall

to

be

engaged in
shall

uphill

moment we have we do ? We shall work of Industrial

or

boycott.

But we

do what every nation

almost

every

nation did,

why, every nation has done.

Under the

circumstances in which we live

prohibitive
protective tariff

now we

shall

impose a heavy
textile fabric

upon every inch

of

from Manchester,
tariff

We

shall

impose a protective, prohibitive

upon every blade

of knife that

comes from Leeds.

We

shall

refuse to grant admittance to a British soul into our territory.

We shall
tralia

make

it

impossible for Mauritius as well as for Austo carry our

and Belgium and France

sugar industries by

carrying cheap beet-root sugar from their territories here.

And

then England's
(Laughter).

trad)
is

with India would be a thing of the past

That

what we

would

do.

Would England

consent to

it ?

This grand ideal of an Indian Parliament or an

42
Indian Legislative assembly

imposing a prohibitive

tariff

on

Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and other foreign British imports.

It is

more thinkable.

Does

it

appeal better to the self-interest

then what
else.

of

Englishmen than Swaraj

We

would refuse

admittance to
not,

Englishmen within these

territories.

They would

be permitted to develop the natural resources of our country

and convert ns into a race of coolies. They would not be permitted to set up the Agricultural lustitute at Pusa in Berar with
a view to the exploitation of asricultural resources of
province.

that rich
in

We

would not allow British capital

to be

engaged

the development of Indian resources as British capital is now engaged, we would not grant any right to British capitalist to dig up the mineral wealth of the land and carry would refuse to do all these things, isle.
it

to their own

We

We

shall vf&rxb

foreign capital.

ment

of

must want foreign capital for the developour own resources. But we shall apply for foreign
whole world
guaranteeing the

We

loan in the open market, of the

as

Nation, for the recredit of the Indian Government, the Indian

payment
jiist

of the loan just

as Russia is

doing now, just as

America had done and Japan has been

is

doing,

doing of

and England's commerical interest in India will not be farthered in the way these are being furthered now under the
late

conditions of popular self-Governraent in this country, though it might be within the empire? But what would it mean if within the empire ?
It

would mean that

England

would have to

enter into some arrangement with us for some preferential tariff. England would have to come to our markets on the conditions
that

we would impose on

her for the purpose, and

if

she wantIndia,

ed

to

havo an open door, an honest

Swadeshism

in

would also, perhaps not immediately, but after a while, have developed our resources c'i Httle' and organised an industrial life, we would want open door not only to England but

wo when we

43
to every part of the British

Empire.

And doyoa know

thore

is

a British Empire growing

continent as a possible set

in seorefc
oi

and silence on the African Empire and' against- the Indian

exclusion of

we wonld almost occupy

to the practical

England
think

over the markets in the future African British Empire as Eng-

land occupied overy market iu India to-day.

it is

And do you

possible for a small country

like

England with a
enorraoasly

handcon-

fal of population alt

bough she might be

terms

wealthy
with
the
to

to

compete on
teeming

fair

and equitable

with a

mighty
millions,

tinent like India, with

an immense

natural

resources,

her

populations, with

her labouring

soberest and the most abstemious labouring population

known

any others part

of the world. If we have ment within the Empire, if we have the rights of freedom of the Empire as Australia has, as Canada has, as England has

really self-Govern-

herselt to-day, of the

if

we, the 300 millions of people, have that freedom

to be

Empire, the Empire would cease

the

British.

It

would be the Indian Empiie

aiid tlie alliance

between Ergland
alliance.
It

and India would be absolutely an unequal

small earthen pot and throwing

would
a That

be, as I have said elsewhere like tying a big brass

it

vessel with

at the breakers there.

would be

if

we had

really

self-government

within

the

Empire
comeS

That

would exactly be the relhtion as co-partners in a co-British

if

or the anti-British Empire of the future, and

the day

when England

will be

reduced absolutely to the alternative of

having us as an absolutely independent people or a co-paitner

with her in the Empire, she

would prefer to have us

like

the

Japanese an ally and no longer a co-partner, because we are

bound

to

be the predominant

partner

in

this

imperial firm.

Therefore, no sane Englishman, politician or publicist, can ever

contemplate seriously the possibility of a self-trovernirg India

like the self-governing Colonies

forming

a vital and

organic

44
part of the BritiHb Empire.
It
is,

therefore, that

Mr. Morley

says that so long as India remniHs under the

Britain, the

control of

Great
per-

Government

of India

must continue

to be a

sonal and absolute Goverment.

It is for this reason that

Lord

Minto says that it would be a dangerous and mischievous thing for the Indian Govern'nent to be allowed to be controlled by
public opinion
in India,

It

is,

therefore,

tht^t

Lord

Cnrzon
to be

said that as long

as

tlie

Government

in India continne

British, thedirectionof the affairs of this

Government, the direcrest

it

tion and the control of its policy

must entirely

with the

British and not with the Indian people.

Therefore

seems to

me

that this ideal, the practically attainable ideal of self-Gov-

ernment within the

Empire, when we analyse

light of

it

with

carOj

when we study when we study

it

in the in

common human
when we study

psychology,

it

the light of our past experience of racial

in the light

characteristics of the British people,

of past British history in India

and

in other parts of the world,

when we study and analyse this ideal of self-Government within the Empit e, we find that it is a far more impracticable thing to
attain even our ideal of Swaraj.

Ode
Now,
Sir,

difficdlties

and deficibnces.

when we

talk of this ideal ot Swadeshi

of our difficulties and deficiencies. W^e are reminded of our

we are told want

or
of self-

of muscle.

Mr. Gokhale

reminded

us of

it

at

Allahabad

Luckuow,
at

Our want
the

of muscle, the lack of

the spirit

sacrifice in the country,

war with

our want Mahomedans, and

of union, the
all

Hindus being

these things are conjured

to scare us

up before the mind's

this Bwaraj

vision with a view

away from
mere

this glorious ideal of swaraj, an^ gentlemen, the attainment of

was no

child's play.

It

will not

be done by

45
public meetiDgs and enthasiastic
Sir, as fully

demonstrations.
sfcroni^ly

I recognise,

and as clearly and as

as

anybody

else in
It

this country the

enormous

difficulties that

stand in our way.

would be the height of

culties that stand in our
to over-estimate

folly

on the part of any

man who

really
diffi-

desires to realise the ideal of swaraj to underestimate the

way.

It

would be also an act of suicide

difficulties

them. Let us take a proper measure of these and recognising these difficulties the question is, "Will

the continuance of our present policy, the

association with,

moderate

policy of
will this

and opposition

to,

the Government,

policy, this policy of trying to

appease the authorities with a view

tosecuresmall mercies,

will this policy of

moderate Indian politics

they help to
increase

help to remove these difficulties or will

and strengthen them."

Tliis is the question I

difficulty.

put before you.

You

talk of the

Hindu-Mahomedan

This difficulty
difficulty

was not

in existence

30 or 40 years ago. This

the

was un-

known 50 years back, even during

Sepoy Mutiny.
because no

turbulent times of the

How

then these

difficulties

and by

whom have
qaostion,
in

they been created?

It is

not possible to answer this

secret of the political

man knows the

movements

So we do not know under whose inspiration and moved by what impulse the Mahomedans have fallen away in some parts of India from the Hindus, or why the
any part
of the world.

Hindus have not been able to bring the Mahomedans to their owe ranks. But this much I will say that this conflict between the Hindus and the Mahomedans is not industrial conflict. Our
interests are identical.
life of

There

is

nothing

in the

agricutural

the country which

creates

any

conflict

at the

present
agri-

time between the

culturist.

Mahomedan
is

agricuturist and the

Hindu
these

There

absolutely no conflict between

two

great communities in the trad^-life of

the land.

The Mahoby side

medan shopkeeper

peacefully does his

business side

46
with the Hinda shokeepers, and there
in trade ruattefd
is

absolutely no

conflict

between MahomedaD traders as a class and the

Hindu traders

as a clasp.

There might be

conflicts,

rivalries

between individual shop-keepers.

one Hindu shopkeeper and another
rivalries exist in
is

Such

rivalries exist

between

some bazars
life

of

Hindu shopkeeper. Such Hindus and Mahomedans. It

the
agricultural
life
life

not in the commerical

is

or in

that
is

there

any

conflict of interest.

In the industrial
is

there
of

DO

conflict of interest.

-Oar trade
in the

more

in the

hands

the
is

Mabomedans than even

the conflict of interest.

hands of the Hindus, where then

The

conflict of interest is in the

oflices like

Govern-

ment

service,

and

in those

honorary

the Legislative Councils and Municipal

(cries of Bycott.

and

District

membership of Boards

That

is

no doubt a good suggestion,

we

shall

come

to that later on.) It is

it is

herein the competition for GovernManiuipal and

it is

ment appointments,

here in the rivalry in

District Boards or Legislative Council

Membership,

here

that the interests of the two seem just

tion to one another,

now

to stand in

opposi-

and

this opposition is

due

entirely to

the

fact that these offices are in the gift of the foreign

tion.

administra-

The English
fight for

rnler throws out

a bone in the

form

of a

Sub-Rf'gistrarship between the

and two

that bone.

Mahomedans He throws out a High Court

Hindus and the

Judgeship and the Mahomedan Barristerand the Hindu Pleader fight for that bone in the High Court. He throws out a few
bones of Legislative Council Membership and the
the

Hindus and
in

Mahomedans

try to fight over this.

It

is

just

those
it is

matters that are in the keeping of the foreign bureaucracy,

in regard to these matters

and these
A^nd

matters alone
the Hindus

that

this

new

conflict

has been

created

between

and
dear

the

Mfthomedans

in this country.

is it likely,

my

sirs, I

want

to

know, that a continuance of the responsiBle authority

47
io the politios in this

country of

this alien

bareancracy

that

will

make

for the
I

amalgamation
no.

of the

Hinda and Mahomedan

of the administration

interestp.

answer
be

It is the
is

system

they have introduced that

the effect cannot Therefore,
it is

responsihie for
as long as

this

conflict

and

removed

the

cause

existSi

impossible to hope for a solution of the Hinduexisting conditions

will noc solve
it.

Mahomedan problem under

the development of muscle.
the people.

and even

self-

Government within the Ernpire

You

talk of

You

talk of the physical powers of

We
in

are emasculated.

We

have been awfully deis

generated
for
it

our physique.

Partly our poverty

responsible

and partly the restrictive regulations

it.

of the

Government
are
not,

in certain matters are also responsible for

We

per-

mitted to form a Volunteer corps of our own.

The Madrasia

acquired half of India for the British at one time, bat the

Madrasi
army,

is

not
I

now admitted

as he used to be into the British

was passing through the Northern Circars I happened to see in the way half a dozen men of the Reddiar caste* Finer specimens of physical humaaity I had never seen in all ray
wanted
to take

As

travels over three continents, and I

of these
est,

photograph

men and

write underneath this photograph

who

say-

mother, thou art without prowess or strength.

These Red-

diars

might make the

finest

army

in

any part of the world, but

they are not allowed to enter the British army in India.

Why?
possi-

The answer comes neither from

ble for our

the

Government nor
national

is it

moderate friends

to render

a satisfactory answer.
militia?

can muscle be developed without a

Can

muscle and muscular power be developed when a whole nution

is

we

disarmed by the outrageous Arms Act, Impossible. When are deprived of the right of defending our own couutiy by

our

own

muscle, muscular development

is

a dream that can

never be realised until the Government removed the restrictions

4d
of tbe

Arms

Act.

They are making the administration

in every

of that

Act more and more stringent

part of India.
of

Arms Act we owe

to

the

administration

This Lord Lytton.

During the electioneering campaign that followed the dissolntion of tbe Beaconsfield

Cabinet in 1881 Mr. Gladstone attacked

most strongly the Vernacular Press Ac^, the Arms Act and the Cabul war during the administration of Lord Lytton in
India.

When

Mr.

Gladstone got into power be sent out hia

to this coontry to

chosen

man Lord Ripon

undo the

evil that

had been done by the Beaconsfield-Lytton administration, Lord

Ripon came and went away bat the Arms Act remained and
remains even to-day-

it

Lord Ripon did something-

He repealed
in

the Vernacular Press Act;

why

Because

it

was necessary
if

the interests of tbe Government to repeal that pernicious Ac^

for this reason.
If

we

stop our cewspapers to-day,

we

stop

onr public meetings to-day, the Government, the

reaucracy

foreign

bu-

who know not the mind of the people and have no means of knowing their mind would ran mad in twenty-four They also admitted that hours, under the weight of anxiety.
the VernaculHT Press Act

was

like sitting on the safety valve.

It le(s out the

gas which

if

accumulated might lead to tbe outI

burst of the boiler; and in whose interest

say has the safety the valve

its
itself,

valve to be kept open

Not

in the interest of
is

but in the interest of the machinery which

saved by

being

kept open.
the matter

Who

is

injured ? Grief and

harm comes
sits

to him, in
it,

of this safety valve, to the

man who

on

and

who was
own

sitting

upon

it ?

The Government
therefore,

of India,

through

this Vernacular Press Act,

in the interests of their

and salvation had to leave the safety valve and That was how the Act came to be and sit elsewhere. out come repealed, but the Arms Act wau not a dangerous thing to the
safety

Guverumeni.

It

worked harm

to the people,

bat

it

made the

49
administration of the country easy and safe.
Therefore, the

Arms Act
policy.

could not be repealed,

That

is

the character, Sir, of

1

the British policy, liberal or conservative.

do not blame that

As

I said last night,

the British are a

humau
whether

people

and the
as

instinct of self-preservation is as strong in

individuals
social

it is in

nations, as

it is

also in organisations,

or political and the instinct of self-preservation in the

Govern-

ment
Act,

of India compelled

them

to

repeal the Vernacular Press

to coutinue the

and the same

it

instinct led

them

Arms Act
its strin*

and

leads

them

still

now

to continue it

and increase

gency.

Therefore development of muscle or whatever else you

is

may

say

impossible as long as this Act

is

not repealed, and

it.

they will notjrepeal this Act simply because you and 1 want

No

nation, Sir, no

Government has

eviir

been

known

as yet to

commit harri-karri in the interests of political emancipation of The Government of the Czar, has not committed its subjects. suicide simply to emancipate the Russian people and the Foreign Government in India will not attempt by anything that

we may
this in

say or do to commit suicide in our interest.

I

That

is

thing which you and

will

have to bear in mind.

Bearing
this

mind we can dismiss without further oonsideration

plea of want of muscle as a plea for the continuance of the present order of things.

From whatever

point of view you look

upon

it, it is

impossible not only to attain but even to advance

towards your goal as long as the present order has not changed.

Mr. Gokhale talked

tual

of

intellectunl

advancement.

Is

intellec-

advancement

really possible in India

under present condisubject

tions.

Don't you recognise what a large share every State has

in the
lation.

development of the

intellectual life of its

popu-

And

is

the

Government

of India

run along such lines

Colonel Du.
staff,

as are likely to develop the iotellect of the nation.

Pre, a

member
7

of the

Government^of ludia Survey

in his

50
evidence before the Public Service Commission

made a

signifi-

cant declaration.
to

He

said "I never allow

I

my

native assistants
to Itouoh the

do any

scientific
I

work,

never allow them

theodolite.

never allow them to do any real

to

scientific

work^

because
for our

if

we allow them

do

it

there will be no justification

drawing the higher pay that we do now.

said,

This was

what Colonel Du Pre

and you

will find it

in the records of

the evidence before the Public Service

Commission.

Does

it

not indicate the general Policy of British Government in regard

to the intellectual life of your people P

How

can

it

be other-

wise, sir ?

We are
ia

so related

to one

anothei',

the people of

India and the foreign

nation

that

rules

them now, that our

is

economic loss

their economic

gain.

Our economic gaio

their economic loss.

Every inch

of textile fabric that is

turn-

ed out by our hand-looms means the exclusion of a correspond' ing inch of Manchester manufactured article from the Indian
market.

Every expansion

of the industries of

India means a

corresponding contraction of the trade of England

country.

with

his

Every ounce
in India

of sugar that

we grow and
turned

that

we

consume
market.

means an ounce
of

less of
is

imported sugar in our

Every blade

knife that

by our black-

smith means the

Sheffield

loss of the value

of one

blade of koife to

and Leeds.

Now,

it

stands almost as an

open thing.
existing

Our economic

interests are in perpetual conflict under

conditions with the economic interest of the British nation and

lh& British Government, and our loss economically

gain.

is

England's
Similarly

Our gain economically

is

England's

loss.

intellectual life. You will remember, v *n regard to our some of you at any rate, the important declaration made by Lord Cnrzon when he went out to England in the He Viberoyalty and another. interregnum between one

made au

impoi'taut speech >-theQ

in the

Guildhalli

Loudon,

51

and

in

t,

hat speech he put forward

the the

claims
British

of the

Indian

Governraent upon the attention of

people,

and
of of

what did he say

then.

He
of

said

that

the

Government
intellect
so, it

India offered the best

training

ground for the

If
it is

England and the character

so

England.

means
the

much

loss of opportunity for the

of

intellectual
to
us,

advancement
people of
of

and development
country.

mauly
office

character
that
is

Every high

in

the keeping

an

Englishman means
so

not

merely so much pay and pension,

much money,

it

means something far means

so

more

valuable

than
asset
loss

pay or pension.

It

credited to England, and so

much intellectual or moral much intellectual and moral

credited to the people of India. Responsiblitj and opportunity

are the two schools for the development of

human
of

mind and
India
is

human

character.

So

far

as the

Government

concerned, both th^se

schools

are

crammed almost
loss.
It

in every

form by the foreigner, and we are excluded from these schools;

and

it

means

intellectual

and moral
England.
gain.
is

means
loss is

intellec-

tual and moral

gain to

Our

intellectual

loss

is

England's intellectual

Our moral

England's
loss.

moral gain.

Our moral gain

and

England's moral
loss.

Our
as

intellectual gain is England's intellectual

They are
this

clear

as

daylight

when you consider

intellectual

perpetual

conflict of interest, economic,

and moral between

nation

one nation and another, how can

you expect that the

will,

which holds r.upreme snthority over you now

good and generous, commit economic
harri-karri and moral self-immolation with

however

suicide,

intellectnal

a view to advance
the

your economic

life,

with a view

to help

development of

your intellectnal

life,
[^

or with a view to advance your spiritual

Sir, M/^.

and moral culture. No,

to see the

Gokhale talks of his ambition

fully

manhood

of

the nation

developed.

say

62
nnder existing relations between
the people
of India to
of this

this foreign

bureaucracy and
the
is

country,
this

it^is

impossible for
It

manhood
absolutely

reach
;

natural perfection.
of

impossible

and therefore, this ideal

self-governmout

within
to,

the Empire, this policy of association with, and opposition the Government, this
policy of

helping to smooth
will

rough places
sympathies.

of the adminstration

not do.

down the They talk of

and
liberal

British liberalism.

They

talk of a

liberal

policy

I say, Sir,

our people had a clearer insight into

Before the Act of 1832

the history of liberal politics.

what
until

was Liberal

politics in

England.

After the Act of 1832

policy,

very recently, what was the character of liberal

policy of the

the
the

Manchester School

of

British liberalism,

policy of Bright and

Cobden
? It

What was
to

the

liberal

policy

50 years ago
giving
certain

in

England
and

was the policy of

the

laissez fairtf

policy of not allowing

Government
to

do anything
people.

more
There

than
are

peace

protection

primary rights

inherent in

every subject,

under
Govern-

every Government.
ties that rest

So there are certain primary responsibili-

with every Government, whether that

ment be

despotic or constitutional.

And

those

responsibilities

are the responsibilities of giving protection to the person and

property of the subject population, and

faire
to

the policy of

Laissez

demands that the activities of the State shall be confined this limit and limit alone, namely, that the state shall do
and
out
their

nothing more than simply give protection to the person

property of the
their

people,

and leave the people

to

work

own

emancipatio.Ti, their

own

progress, to

work out

own

prohleras, industrial, educational

of

and

political,

themselves.
is

That was the policy

British

liberalism,
is

and why that

natural
in those

the natural policy, because I Bay> that

the

policy

under the conditions that

exist

in

England

days.

53

What

were those conditions ?

conflict

between the prerogative

The main condition was the of the Crown and the privileges
to

of the people.

The Crown wanted

of

appropriate to
as
it

itself

as

mnch

of the rights

Government
to

could appropriate,
of the

and those who wanted

rity ef the

expand the rights

people had

necessarily to fight the authority of the Crown, and the

autho-

Crown they knew would be so strengthened by the beneficient activities of the Crown among the people. It before 1832 there was free reduction in England, what would have been the condition of popular freedom in England ? The
Government
and not
in a*

in its

own

interest

would educate people in loyalty

If

democratic

spirit.

a talk of old age pension

in

England,

20 years back there was been it would have

in

fought outright by every Liberal simply because old age pension

then the hold of the

Statesman

the

country,

wonld incerease and streng-

Government upon the people, and the to strengthen objective of Liberalism in those days was not the hold of the people on the Government but to weaken that hold and, therefore, the activities of the Government had
;

to be restricted.

Therefore, their ideal

Wi\8 not to

make
to

for

good Government.

Their ideal was not to make

activities
in

Government
the
of
conflict

good but to confine the

of the

Government
of
this

narrowest possible limits, and

interests

view

between the Government and the people

in India

our policy ought to be the policy, the old Liberal policy of

laisses /aire, restrict
sibilities-

Government

to their

own primary

respon-

Let tha Government take care of the

person and
let

property of the people.

Let them do nothing more, and

everything else be done by the people by their

own

exertions
beneficent

independently of the

Government,

because every
increases

work that a despotic Governmbnt does,

that despotism upon the affections

the hold
if

of

and the

allegiance,

not

54
upon the
affections

and the
lies

allepfiance,

upon the
peculiar

acquiescence

of the people.
if

In that

the strength of

Governments and
acqniescenco
free-

a despotic Government has

general

had

its

of the

population of the countryi Liberalism,

politics
is

dom
that

and progressive
country
of

impossible of attainment

in

(Hear,

Hear.\

Therefore
insisting

our policy

is

policy

iaissez faire

and by
to its

upon
bound

this policy

by
to

restricting the

Government

narrowest possible limits

it is

the discbarge of those duties which

to

discharge,
activities

because
the

it

imposes taxes on
to

us,

by restricting the
functions

of

Government

the

primary
this

of

granting

protection to the people of

to develop the spirit

country,

we hope some day

people,

of self-sacrifice, the spirit of self-reliance,

the spirit of

self-determination in

the

and by

this

means we hope some day

to attain the ideal of Svoaraj.

With a few remarks from the

dispersed.

chair,

the gathering

5wara]

Its

Ways and Means.

np the thread
of

(Third Lecture.)

Mr, Chairman and

friends, Before I take

my

last evening's address, I desire

with your premission, Sir, to

say one word in regard to a statement, I was

accusation, that has been

going to say an
old friend the

made against me by my

Hindu.
It

has been said, that in interpreting Lord Minto's

it

latest

pronouncement and placing

on a

level

with the
I

pronounce-

ment

of

Lord Carzon,

have not been accurate,

have put an

inaccurate and misleading interpretation upon His Excellency's

words.

am
and

a
I

little

careful about these charges, I

am

used to
to

recognise,

have been trained from

my

youth

onward

respect differences of opinion, but I

that even our rankest

enemies,
it

may claim it, I think, Sir, mean of the Anglo-Indian

may
be, I

Press, have not as yet found

easy to bring any charge of this

I

kind against me.

to

Whatever
fullest

else

have never

tried

do except the

justice

to

my

political opponents.

Therefore, I

against
"

am compelled to take notice of this charge brought me by a very friendly critic who says thus
:

We must take
is

exception, however, to a statement

to

made by

Mr. Pal with reference

think

His Excellency Lord Minto, which we

an inaccourate, misleading statement which ought not,

in our opinion, to be left uncorrected."

Then the writer quotes

has been repeated

my

words.

What Lord Curzon

?

said

Lord Minto only two months back in

does Lord Minto say

hia

by Budget Speech. What

abolutely

He

says that

it is

necessary
of

that whatever rofoims uro iutroduced' by tho

QoYorumeut

56
India they must be initiated by that Government itself, and it would be a miachievous thing for the British Government in India
if

the idea got abroad that the Government of India had

of their

on conviction

own, that they initiated reforms under pres-

sure of public opinion here or under instructions from the people

and the Government in England, That The same thing has Lord Carz3n said.
initiative shall

is

what Lord Minto

It

says.

means that the conright of

British

trol of affairs, the direction of the administration, the

always be
here

with

the

people

and
It

their representatives

and not with

by

any

one

else.

means,
that

Sir,

an
are

open
not

decKrtion

the

present
^

Viceroy
never

they

amenable and

they

will

be
X

amenable
said,

to Indian opinion in these matters."

This

is

what

and the writer quotes from Lord Minto, the portion of the Budget Speech to which reference was made by me and after
quoting
it,

he says that

'*

no further explanation

is

required to

show that the meaning attributed by Mr. Pal to the words contained in Lord Minto's speech is entirely foreign to the language used." I will appeal to you. I have interpreted Lord Minto's
words according to the light that judge for yourself whether that
is in

me, and

shall presently

place the whole thing before you with a view

to enable

you

to

interpretation has

been inac-

curate or misleading or otherwise. These are Lord Minto's words.

" The Honourable Mr. Gokhale

future,"

tempts

me

to

fore-shadow the
it

and he goes on

to say,

"I have deemed

all-important

that the initiation of possible reforms should emanate from us. I

have

felt

that nothing would be

more

mischievous to

British

administration in India in the future

than a
of their

belief

that

its

Government had acted on no conviction

own butsimply
there has

in submission to agitation in this country

and

in accordance with
If

instructions conveyed to them from Home.

been
oppor*

misconceptions as to

this, I

hope

may

be

allowed this

57
tunity of correcting if."
not. I

Now,

put

it

to yon,
?

gentlemen, did
interpre-

almost quote the words of Lord Minto

1

The only
I

tation that

p^t upon these words

is

identifying the
I

meaning
right in

with the purpose of Lord Curzon, and

think

am

doing

so.

Lord Minto says that

it

would be a mischievous thing

pressure of

for the

Government
Its

of India in the future if the impression got

abroad that they undertook possible reforms under

agitation here.
distinctly

means

this.

put

it

to

you

if

this does

not

mean that the Government have got a conscience own. of their They will listen to that conscience, not to your voice. The Government have ideas of their own. They will govern
you according
to those ideas

and

not

under pressure
it

of agi.
it

tatioo in India or

England.

What

does

mean

Does

not

mean
body

that the control, the direction, the right of initiation shall

always rest with the

Government
if

of
is

India and not

the meaning,
I

with any
put
it

else (crits of yes), aud,

that

to

yon, was not that the meaning

also of

Lord

Curzon,

was not
in

that the meaning of Lord Curzon's memorable

declaration

which he said that the Government

tiDUBB, to be British,

of India, as

long as

it

con-

certain

offices

must

necessarily

be ocOffices

cupied by the British.

in

What

are those offices, please ?

which

is

vested the right of initiative, offices -which

initiate

control
offices
offices

the administration, offices which

reform, and
It is these

which

dictate the policy of the

Government.

which shall always continue to be in their hands, in the occupation of the British theirs is the controlling power, the power
;

of dictating policy.

These shall always

rest with the

Govern-

ment, the foreign Government, with the respresentatives of the

British people in India, with the

Government as
prerogative
of

it is

at present

constituted

and no part

of

this

the
I

foreign

Government

in India shall be given to

you (shame).

put

it

to

you, Sir, (pointing to

Mr. G. SuBramania Aiyar), you presided on

58
the laet occasioD (turning to the Chairman) you are the master
of

the meeting

to-day,

and

put

it

to

you

all,

gentlemen,

T^hether I mislead you (cries of no), whether I put an inaccurate

interpretation

upon Lord

Minto's utterances.
I

Not even
that the
is

with

regard to Lord Minto, would

tation

try to put an inaccurate interpre-

upon his sayings, for the simple reason,

Boycott the Hindu) no,

truth
to

itself is 80

ugly that no inaccurate interpretation

of
no,

needed

be

put. (cries

do not

boycott

always.

No, no, respect the Hindu, because you are a

a welUmeant thing.

Hindu.
It is

No,

it is

Do

not take oience at

journalists

it.

friendly criticism.
their

The thing

is this,

have to do
I

work

at electric speed (cry of Boycott the

if

Hindu)

regret
the

very

much
It

any disrespectful remark

is

passed

against

Hindu.

has been the Only paper that has contributed to the

(Cries of Swadesamitran),

making

of

Southern India.
is

my

dear

friends, Swadesamitran

the Hindu in the

ideal.

new

incarnation.

Thb swabaj
Last night,
times told
I

considered the ideal of Swaraj^ but

talk of the ideal.

am

often

why do you
it is

Swaraj

is

an excellent
is

thing hut

not within the range of practical politics. It

an

excellent academic subject, but not a

subject which need trouble

is

us very mueh so far as the actual work that we have to do

cerned*
I

conthis

do

not,

Mr. Chairman,

cannot

subscribe to

view, and for this simple reason, unless yon are sure as to

what

yon

want,

you cannot

adopt

now

the

necessary

means,

the instruments for securing

that which you

.

walking, but walking

is

not progi'ession
it

want. Tou are Walking may be away

from the goal as well as

to

may

be towards the goal and you ought

is

know what your destination

means the adoption

with a view to determine what

measures
theameliora-

your work and duty, what your direction must now be. Practical
politics

of practical

for

59
tionof the
polifcioal

condition of the people. But aulessyou have

always a clear conoeption of the altimate end, yoa ran the risk
of being carried

away by the

passions, the

temptations,

the

prejudices, the diffioaltiea,

goal.

the obstacles of the hoar, from yonr

Here

is,

for instance, a partioalar

wrong that has

to

be

remedied.

Take, for instance, the misappropriation of a cer-

Government the misappropriation of Famine Fund, the misappropriation in Bengal of the Road Cess Fund* When the Eload Cess was first introdnoed in Bengal, it was regarded by the people of the Province as a practical violation of the Permanent Settlement obtaining in that country. It was a cess imposed upon land, and according to the terms of the Parmanent Settlement, the Government
tain public fund by the

the

had given the undertaking that no further assessment

an impost on land, and the Government said
part of

would
not a

be 'imposed upon land and yet this Ro'id Cess was practically
nr>,
it

is

Land Revenue.
wells,

It is a special cess levi<>d for

a specific

purpose,

and acordingly they defined these purposes.

They

said that sinking

digging tanks, keeping and reptiriog

and constructing public roads, looking after village sanitation,

establishing a system of proper drainage in the villaj^e arras.

These are

all

the objects to wbioh this fund shall

to grant

be applied.
this

Laterly, however, they refused

any money ont of

Road Cess fund

ares of Bengal.

for the removal of

water scarcity in the rnral

They

said,

no,

we

will not give

money
it

for

sinking wells or digging tanks.

pnrposr*.

We

shall spend

on other

Here was

a distinct misappropriation of public

at once

funds, and you

may do

one thing.

You may

appeal to

the Government, you

may

memorialise to Government.

You

may
to

bring friendly pressure upon the Government with a view

to t^ike

induce them

to sinking
If

wells,

digging tanks and

this,

looking after vilHage sanitation.

yoa do

a partioalar

60
grievance will be removed.
If

the

Government sink

welle, dig
it

tanks, water scarcity will be partially removed, and so far as

is

removed the

lot of

the people will be easy.

It will

be some

relief to the people,

relief contribute

but the question

your
set

is,

will this

temporary
running

to

progress towards

a particular goal
is

upon which you have

to his school.

your heart.

school boy

He

is

feeling very thirsty.

He

has got only one

school.

minute's time during which he has to get into his

is

He
shall

feeling thirsty.
is

A man
I

offers

him

a cool-drink,
it

and says
and
I

here

a cocoanut tree.

am

going to the top of

give you a drink of a tender cocoa-nut. wait here.

If

the school-

boy waits here, he

will relieve

his thirst,
of the

no doubt.

He

will

find it very pleasant to

have a drink
he
will

tender cocoa-nut, but

by going

to enjoy a drink

miss his lesson hZ his school;

will he not P (cries of yes).

Similarly,

by seeking to relieve
application

the present distress, you

ting those forces
in

may

be missing an opportunity of crea-

the

community
able to

by the
attain
Sir,

of

which, ultimately you

maybe

i?u>ara/ or autolet

nomy.

If

you do not care

for Swaraj, yes.

the

parti-

tion be remov^ed, let

the cess be repealed,

the Legislative
local applications,

let

a few

more
are

seats be given to us in
palliatives.

Councils.

These
is

These are

and he

quack
essen-

doctor who,

when the

disease

is

a constitutional disease, wastes

it is

time by local application. In politics also, therefore,

tial that

you should know what

it is

that you desire to have. In

well

the politics of free countries, the ultimate principles are

established.

There the goal

is

kept

in view,

whatever party

comes

into power.

The

increase of the political power, the com-

is the One end towards which Liberals or conservatives both equaHy try to move and

mercial prosperity of the British nation

lead the country.

Therefore, the goal being fixed at that point

there being no chance of

miscohception

in the

public

misd

61
they are entitled to look after
details of

lUtle

thinpfs,

to

improve

the
local

the adminietrafion, to ty palliatives, to

make
Bat
of

applications for the

removal
Dot

of

local

maladies.

your
one

malady

is

not a local malady.

it is

It is

not the
of

removal
a few

cess or another cess,

the sejariogf
posts
there.

apptoint*

ments here or a few honorary

which you suffer
evil,
is

The
for

evil

nnder
to

fandamental, a radical and a constitutional

it is

and therefore

the more

necessary
this

you
not

keep

this constitutional, this fundamental, of the

radical

character

problem that faces you,

or that way.
I told

so that you

may

run

off

from the right course by the passing temptations of the hour,

this
is

way

you

yesterday

that when, there

a conflict between

the

Government and

the

people,

the

right policy to follow for those

who

care for popular

progress

and popular freedom

and follow the policy
of the

is

to insist

upon the Government, to adopt

to restrict the

of laissez faire,

operation

Gdvernment,

to restrict the activities of the

within the narrowest

possible limits.
redress,

Bat

Government when you seek

isolated
of the

this isolated individual

the

individual and
increase the hold
I

grievance, you do actually this.

You

Government upon the mind

for 25 years, if that is

of

the people.

should

rather

wish, Sir, that our people went

without good

drinking water
it

necessary, I

should think

far

more

desirable that, like the Israelites of old, the Indian people shall
pass through the desert, parched

up

desart,

for

2.5

years to-

gether drawing water at the end of the Prophet's rod

out

of

hard stone rather than, have wells

this foreign authority,
will captivate
conflict

sunk and

tanks

dug
of

by

who by

distributing
is

this water to

yoa
the

your heart.

What
it.

the real objective

between the educated community in this

country

and

the Government.
conflict,

What is

Sir,

what

is

the objective

of this

that has been going on for the last quarter of a century

62
between the people,
the
representatives
of the people, bet-

ween the educated

is

class, the

enlightened class in

India on the

one hand and the foreign bareaocracy on the other.

that objective ?

What
parties

What

is

the citadel which both the

?

are trying to capture and occupy

to

What is

that top of

the hold

which both the parties are trying to get np they can possibly do so P is it merely the
of certain laws P Is
it

the soonest

amendment
?

merely the removal of certain grievances

No.
is

It is

the heart, the mind of the people, of the masses that

the objeotivot

Lord Corzon saw

it,

and

all his

measures
in

were directed towards capturing the popular mind

India*

He organised his paafea'its to man in the street. He has

cultural

appeal to the imagination of the

inaugurated Rural reforms. Agrito

Banks and other things with a view

teeming masses; and the

captivate
sci

the

mind
is

of the

intense

upulouaness

with which he tried to do justice in cases of individual wrorgs,

the punishment of the 9th Lancers, his desire to see
British

justicia

maintained in this country.

All

these

things

were
to

directed towards one great end, and that end

was a secure

theraselves foreign bureaucracy for this alien administration in

this country,
if

not the allegiance,

at least

the passive, the

of the

generous acquiescence of the general

mass

population
citadel.

(hear, hear), and the battle must be waged around that

The Government will try to capture the mind of tbe masses and he is a foolish politician in India who allows the Govern* ment to capture the mind of the masses to the exclusion of his own influence, of his own countrymen (cheers). And what do you do if you make the adraiuistration easy ? What do yOn
do
if

you cover the

veil

of

the

British
it

administration

with

cotton and wool.

It
it

moves on and
less painful

grinds us small, but the

padded wool makes

to you.

That

is all.

Good
it is

Government

is

not only no substitate for self -govern meat,

an exceedingly evil thing when the authority of the State

rests in the

bands

of

an irresponsible power.
is

Of

all

kinds of

despotism, a

benevolent despotism

the worst,

because the
it is

benevolence makes people acquiesce in the dei>potism, and

therefore necessary that you and I should have a
of

clear

vision

what we want. Do you want good government, Sir, If you want good government you can have it. You will have it. Things will be made easy for you, but if you want self-govern-

ment under existing conditions

would be absolutely opposed
ment, because,
selves.

in

India,

good

government^,

to the

promotion of self-governtrouble
is

as I said last

night, our

with our-

Our trouble is with our own mind. Our trouble is with our owo sentiments. Our trouble is with our own wills, with our own inertia, and good government will help to continne
if it

'

does not increase the Maya.

Pleasures of

the

world

Maya on human beings, and it is therefore he who Wants to get tid of Maya is asked to cultivate vairugya, cultivate abscemiousuesa, cultivate disattacbment. Yuu talk of
increase the bold of
swaraj.

The knowledge
is

of

swaraj

is

absolutely

impossible

without a consciousness of the present pararashtta

ledge of self

The know-

absolutely impossible

unless the self comes in

contact and conflict

with

the

not-self.

So the knowledge of
is

Swaraj

is

absolutely impoEsible unless there

not & pararashtr a.

Para

is

directly

against the Swara.

it is

It is in the conflict bet-

ween

Swara and Para,

in the conflict between the self and

the not-self, in political affairs, with the conception of the real.

Self-Goveroment grows and keen has become the

conflict

bet-

ween the

self

and

the not-self.

In political matters as

strong

in proportion to this

keenness becomes

the desire of Swaraj.

Therefore, the conflict must be kept

helps to kill and not to keep up this

up and good government conflict between the self

of

and the

not-self, in the politica)

affairs

country consti-

64
tntedas India
is.

Therefore joa must have a clear conception of

what you want.

viveka,

Swaraj year

raj,

your Shastra, and the

is

first is,

as in Vedantic culture the first thing

nithaya vasthu viehara

not*self.

improve the
is

self

and not improve the

first

That

is,

discrimination

the very

thing

in

Vedantic culture, the

Dis-

very

first

thing in the culture of the ideal of the Swaraj.

crimination in political and civic matters between the national

self

and that which

is

not the national

self.

The

ideal oE

Swaraj has been revealed to us only recently, and, why, because for nearly a hundred years and more we never looked upon the
British

Government

in India

as a pararashtra,

as a foreign

Government.
this

When

the Congress was started we looked upon

Government as our government, only it was not so good as like it to be. Before that we regarded this Government as oar Government because we had been brought up

we should

under English

ideals,

brought up

in

English

traditions.

Not
our

only have our territories been conquered by England, but by

this English education even our mind,

our mental

ideals^

ethical ideals, our

spiritual aspirations, all these

had been got

fancied that

hold of by this foreign Government, this foreign culture, this

foreign civilisation.

And because we found

self,

or

we

we found

in this

foreign

higher, our superior

Government until our better, our that which we ought to become to-

morrow which we are not to-day, simply because we looked upon this Government and their institutions in this light, there was no possibility of the growth of the conception of awaraj in our midst. In propoition as there grew a confiict first in the
political field,

then in the
field of

field of religion, in
all

the

field of

Social
life,

Reform, in the

economics,

over the national

in

proportion as there grew in the consciousness of the

people the piesence cf a conflict between ourselves and

Indian
those

who govern

the country, between ourselves

and

the British

65
people, in proportion a8 this conflict

grew

in that proportion

by

slow degrees grew

this ideal of Swaraj until the conflict

grew

almost unbearable.

The

fall revelation of

the ideal of Swaraj

came to us after the departure of Lord Carzon from this country and was proclaimed by Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji from the
chair of the Congress last year (cheers).
If this

be

so,

if

this

be a fact,

sir,

that applying the principles of psychology to the

if

c^msideration of our political problems,

we
also

find

that

it

is

necessary

that

we should

recognise
it

this
is

conflict

between

the

people and the

Government,
that will

necessary that

we should do nothing
for
us,

make

this

Government easy
if
it

because

if

the
it

Government

becomes easy,

becomes pleasant,

if

sense of separation from

it will

becomes good government, then our be gradually lost, and when the
all

sense of separation is lost Smrithi Brahaniaath Budhi nana, budhi

nasath franasyathi, &c.

You contemplate
for you,

the good

things
the

that this Government can do

you

meditate on

honours that the Government can shower on you, you meditate

on the high

offices

whcih the Government may give

you.

You
of the

may

get the High Court Judgeship here, a Membership

Legislative Council there, an Advocate-Generalship in another

part of the globe, a Legal Remembrancer in a

executive

third place,

an

membership

of the Council possibly again.

of all this

Now
to

you

think of
for thisi
this,

all this,

and thinking
of

you

feel

an attachment

and feeling an attachment

this

for this, to

you desire

have
your

and the feeling

desire

have

this, kills

consciousness

of separation

from

this.

And

therefore

good

Government, pleasant
temperat
first

Government, pleasurable associations

else,

with the Government, whatever

,

however moderate

or

may

be, they
is

can never make for Swaraj, because the

the perception of this, that there
ia

thing in Swaraj

an

oternal, a natural conflict

between the

self

and

the not^self in

66
poHiioal affairs in this country. It
tried to impress the ideal of
is for this

reason that 1 always

Swaraj upon

my countrymen, because
be possible for you
to in the light of that
?

once you have the ideal before you

it will

judge of the particular methods or measures

ideal'

Do you want
if it

an expansion of the Legislative Council

Let us see

will help

you for Swaraj.

Do you want

that a few

Indians shall sit as your representatives in the House of Commons?

Let us see

if

half-a-dozen, or a dozen, or two dozens or4'\ 50

members
Swaraj.

in the

House

of

GommoDS

representing the interests of

make or not make for aumber of Indians to be in the Let us see whether 50, Civil Service of the Government ? the Government our own. will make Civilians 60, 100, 200, or 3O0 At one time we thought, Sir, that this was the method. At one
India elected by the Indian leaders, will

Do you want

a larger

measure

time yte thought that by slow degrees by participating in a small in the work of the administration with the Government

of tho country, with the foreign rulers of the land,

we

shall not

only bo trained in discharging rightly and properly the duties of the administration, but we shall also gradually oust them, replace the

English agency by Indian agency.

What,

Sir, if

you replace the agency ? What about the principal ? He is the primary factor and we, bis agents. The whole Civil Service

might be Indian, but the

orders.

Civil Servants

have

to

carry

out

They cannot
dictated

policy
place,

is

They cannot dictate policy. The by those who stand above them; and you redirect.
said,

as I

have

the agency, but

if,

the agency

implies

presence of
l',000

an original, a principal, and

instead of 200, 300,

nation
uf

Englishmen being the agents

of the British

and
India'

the British Pailiamtut iu India for the

Government
thb
state of

you have 2,000 uativbs,

(No)
I

will that alter

things ?

oivilians.

know it will not. We have had a number of Indian Have thoy alteied, at any rote, the character, tho

67
nature, the tradition of Britiah

Governmeot

in

India ?
is

We

havejuat now in Beagal an Indian Civilian who

the

Senior

Member of the Board of Revenue. But one swallow does not make a eammer, and one Civilian, 100 or 1,000 civilians in the service of the British Government will not make that Government Indian.
'

There are
or white,

traditions, there

are law8,

there are

principles, there are policies

to which

every Civilian,
as long as

be

he

blank,
tions

brown

mast submit, and

these tradi-

have not been altered, as long as these principles have not

has not

been amended, as long as that policy

been

radically
will

changed, the supplanting of European by

not.

Indian agency
it

make for self-government in this country. I doubt much whether it would make for good Government

very

either.

Why
ments

Yon seem
in

to think

that a larger

number
it

of

appoint-

the Civil Service or in the

I

Subordinate

Service will

improve the administration.

for this

deny that

will be so,

and

it is

simple reason.

An Englishman, whatever
towards

else his

fault

is, is

trained in the free atmosphere of England.

An Bogand me,

li.shroan,
still

whatever may
this,

be his attitude

you

knows

he can stand upon his

own

rights.

He

never
of the

bends his

knees

unjustly, cringingly, after the

manner

sycophant even before the highest

becaus5e the Indian Civil Servant

oflBcial superior;

but can you

say the same of your Indian Civil Servants ? (No.)

And why

?,

knows there

is

no one behind

his
is

back to support him. The English Civil Servant knows there

behind his back the public Opinion of England, the freedom

of England, to stand

him
aay,
is."

in

good stead.
"

Our
a

Police

is

corrupt,

and they sometimes

Policeman
.

Oh

What

perfect

officer

the

in

India and see

London where
is it,

Transplant the London Policeman in

perfection

his

goes
is

and

what
of

is

the

reason ?

Why

the London Police

to

so

honest, so pains*

taking, so respectful

the iHghts

and

liberties

people

(>8

of

Loudou
feels

Bocauao he knows
of London.

that

he

is

the

servant

of the public

In India

every red turban knows

servant

and

that

he

is

not

yonr
it?

bat he

is

your
his

master.

And why does

is

he

feel

Becaase he receives

sannad not from yoar hands bat from the hands of the
rulers of the land. It
to

foreign

him that the Policeman

Servant
District

is

responsible
responsible
is

and not and not

to you.

It

is

to

to you.

It is to

him the Civil him that the

It is to
;

is

Magistrate

responsible and not to you.

responsible and not to

him that the Inspector

is

you

and therefore, the

and the Police

Inspector, the

Civilian, the District Magistrate

constable and

every oflBcerof the Government

naturally,
if

in fact looks to his

own

interest
that,

and

looking

to

his

own
will

interest
will in
is

he

sees

he can please the

if

officials,

his interest

bo best
the least

served,
suffer

and
in

he

displeases
interest.

you

he

not
there
the

his

own

Therefore,
of

such weakness,
liberties

inefficiency,

such
of

disregard
the people

rights,

and

the

privileges
this

in the

service of' the

if

Governthings
che.st

ment in number

country.

Therefore, I say,
officials

you

have a larger

of officials,

native

that

may make
It

easy for a few families, get a few more coffers into their

than otherwise, perhaps,

they

would

get.

might

make
large
I

things easy for a few individuals, but

it

for

the nation at

will not

improve their
of

lot.

It

is,

therefore, necessary,

say,

from whatever point

view you

look upon this question

you
of

will find that the consideration of

the

ideal,

the

creation

right conception, the creation of

strong convictions in

regaid

to the goal, is essentially necessary for the

right conduct and

It is of
said,
fitness

management
Sir, are

of

what you
for

call

practical
I

politics.

you

fit

Swaraj.

put

the

question

entirely out of

Court, because I

am

not going to
It
is

apply to

Anybody

else for

granting

me

Swaraj.

only

when yon

69
have
fco

make an

applicatioii

to

somebody

elae to

give yon a
fretting

certaio thing that yon have to prove your

it.

fitness for

When yon

have

to

make an

application
io

to the

Registrar
to

of the

High Conrt
to say
is

for

a clerkship Beicg

the

High Coart or
his

the Police Magistrate there for

some
given

office at

disposal,

yon have
clerkship

" Sir,

to

nnderstand
as a

that

a
for

vacant, I beg to apply myself

candidate

the aame."
tion,
I

And then yon have to say " as regards my qnalifica* have passed F.A. or B-A. examination of the Madras University" bnt I say that when yon want to open a shop with yonr own money, or the money left to yon by yonr father
or grandfather, do yon in any application say yon are qualified or not.

Why

not

Because yon do

it

yourself.
fitness

Therefore,
the

yon are not called upon to prove yoor

before yon do
ir

for

thing
to

before

anybody

else,

and those wbo ask n

prove on r fitnesp for Swaraj forget that

programme of petitions and prayers for that we do not ask, nay, not even the benign Goverometit of Britain in India, to grant us Swaraj. We do not pray to them for these things ;and I would say more, Sir, if the Government wonld say, were to come and tell me to-day take Stearaj I
'

we have abjured a good. They forget

'

'

thank you

for

the

gift',

but

I will

not have that which I cannot

acqnire by

my own

hand, (cries of

Bande
which

Mataram)
is

becanse
growth,
in

my

dear friends, in real growth,

is

organic

there

absolutely uo ruom for gift.

Evolution whether

the
out-

case of individuals or of nations admits of no gifts

side.

from

We must grow

from within, and

am

surprised to find,

Sir, that

those emineutly prudent and

talk of social reform

wise

gentlemen,
to 'us

who,

the
'

moment we

come up

and say

Ob,

social reform

must be a growth from

It

within',

when

we
it

talk of Swaraj they call us to prove our fitness

for

They take
If social

granted that we must get

from outside,

reform

70
is to be a growth from within, I accept it anreseivedty, There can be no reform, social or economic or political, that can begot from outside. You mast gradually acquire your rights

and
ter,

in the acquisition of

your right you develop your characforces

you equip yourself with these

and resonrces

which

and to use those rights properly when yon have got them. Lord Ripon's generous scheme of
to protect

will enable

you

Local Self-Government has been a failure, more or

say, out of regard for the tender susceptibilities

less, I

should

of our

Munifrom

cipal

Commissioners and Local

not succeeded, Sir ?
If

Board

Memberp,
it

And why
gift

has

it

Simply because

was a

we have grown into it, if we had acquired it by our own strength, if wo had organised our village lives ourselves, if we had organised our Municipal life ourselves, if we had organiFed our taluka life ourselves, why, Local SelfGovernment would take its stand upon self-determination,
self-exertion, self-recognition of the civic duties by the

the Government.

peoples

themselves.

Such a Local Self-Government

would not

be

mushroom growth, would

It will

not be like an orchid that has no root

on the ground but hangs on the tree of * foreign

not be like that.

government.
failure of

The

partial or

complete

the schemes of Local Self-Govern raent

inaugurated

by

Lord
to

Ripon proves
it is

my

contention that for the exercise of civic rights

that

essentially necessary

the people

should
in

desire

exercise those rightg, should

sition of these rights they

acquire them, and

the

acqui-

prove their fitness for the exercise of

these rights.
sion, to

It is foolish politics, excuse

me

for that

e.xpres-

demand a

priori reapon

and argument

for

proving the

Btness of the people for

Self-Government.
is
fit

No man

knows,
is

no one can say, that a nation

not.

for
in

Self-Government or
the
is

The proof

of the

pudding

is

eating thereof,
in

and

the proof of the Gtness of the

pe&ple

their

capacity to


71
achieve the
institution
'of

Self-Government

by their own

exertion, by their
their
(cries

own strength, by their own combination, by own determination and by their own saorifioe themselves
of

Bande Mataram)
because this
is so,

And
work

our programme

is

that

we
the

shall so

in the country, so

combine the

resources of
so develop
this

people,
instinets
shall

so organise the forces of the nation,

of freedom in the
shall in the

the

community, that by

means we
Then,

imperative

compel

the

submission to

our

will

of

any power that may set itself against us. what you talk of Swaraj, would it be a Hindu
?

they ask,
or a

Stearaj

Mahomedan Swaraj

What would
is this.

be the form of your Swaraj?

impossible for

My

reply here, again,

It is

any

man

to lay

down beforehand what the

heredity

particular form of a thing

that

is

passing through a process of evolution will be. Evolution

implies

capabilities

and the

and environment, certain original powersi possibilities in the organism that is being
on
its

evolved, and the action and reaction of these Cttpabilitics

environments, and as onr environments

also will necessarily be.
torio evolution of

will be,

so our form

It will depend upon what lines the his* modern India takes to determine what will be the particular form of the Hwaraj that will be established in this country. France started her revolution with the noble ideal of France raised the flag of equality, fraternity and humanity. democracy at the beginning of the Revolution, and i^o man held

morghigh than did Napolean Bonaparte, and yet in the course of a few months it was found out that Franco would not realise evtu her uwu euds thruugU ueltiug up a rt)uubiiu or deWhen all the royalties of mooratio form of Government Europe, when all the European Powers combined together to crush this rising republic of Franco, Franco had necessarily
that flag

n
to

develop

a dictatoi'ship,

had

necessarily

to

develop
to

an

abaolnte and military form of

Government with a view

meet

the exigeDcies of the sitaation created by the combiaation of the

France did not wish. It was of upon France by the circumstances of her case. Who knows what dire necessity may be imposed upon you and me by the circumstances of our case in the progress
necessity imposed
of the evolution of our political life in the
it not,

European Powers against her.

future.

We

know

but so far as our ideal

is

concerned, we need not hesitate

to

make

this declaration, that the

Swaraj of ours

is

not merely the

Hindu, not merely the Mahomedan, nor

Swaraj, but the

merely the Christian

Swaraj of every

Child of India,
be the

Hindu or
Swaraj of

Christian or

Mahomedan, the

Swaraj will
it.

the ludian yeople, not of any section of

The

ideal of

Swaraj that
It

has revealed
is

itself

to us is the

ideal of divine democracy.

the ideal of democracy, higher

materialistic,
I

than the fighting, the pushing, the

to say, the cruel
is

was going
There

democracy of
still
:

Europe and
are

America.

a higher message
is

men

gods
of

and
the

the equality of
original, the

Indian democracy

the equality

the divine

divine nature, the divine possibilities and

divine

destiny

of every individual being, be he Hindu, or

Mahomedan, Budgeneral training

dhist or Cbristiau.

It is

on account of this
past

of th:^ India people in the

Hindu or Mahomedan, it is on account of this spiritual emphasis of the Hindu character and the generality also of the Indian character that we have had the supreme privilege of seeing before
whether
they be
us the revuluUou of a democratic ideal,

superior to that which

has as yei been revealed to the general conciousuees of Euro-

pean humanity.

This
;

is it

our Swaraj.
will l)e

Our Swaraj

will not be
I,

Hindu or Mahomedan

an Indian Swaraj, You, and

73
the

meanest

of

men,

to

whatever

caste, to

whatever commu-

nity or denomination, the Indian

may

belong,
ra]

we
we

will

form an
to set
be.

organic element of the big

Swa whose
Bat, Sir,

desire

up and
oar

attain in this country.

though this may

we know not under what particular historical may have to reach and realise this constitutions we
ideal,

ideal.

If

it

be

so,

that

what

happened
ours
shall
is

in

France
a

ia

repeated in India also,

revolution,

I believe

be

peaceful

absolutely peaceful.

There

no

parallel in

the
India

history of a people inhabiting such

a vast continent as
as 300
millions

and counting such a large

far arcoFis the seas whoso

number
whole

and

more

governed by a handful of representatives by a small

population cannot

country

bear any

reasonablojproportion to the population of the country that they

govern.

History has not seen a nation of such a vast mass of

despotically

humanity being governed absolutely and

handfal of alien people, and therefore the
unique, unprecedented, history affords no

by

constitution

being
for

help to us

our
to

guidance.

It will not do,

my

dear friends, for

you simply

read history, you will have to make, to

of India yourself
;

and, therefore,
of

work out the history believe what has never

yet

happened in the history

history of India,
VIZ,

the world

may

happen, in the

that a popular revolutionary propaganda

may
But

attain its end absolutely by passive

still

means

and methods.

no man knoweth which way the force of circumstances

the Grace of

we know not, but if we are prompted by work out a peaceful revolution in India to ourselves what the future form of our Swaraj picture we can Sir Henry Cotton, no doubt, iu a It will be as will be. slightly different sense, because he is an Eoglishmau and not
will lead his feet, so

God

to

an Indian,

declared at the Bombay

,

Congress.

It

was a proof

phetic decliiratioo, viz

10

that the

future

Goverument

India

^4
will

be the United States of India.

All prophetic deolarations

are in their very nature unconscious.

No

declaration can be a
declaration,
of the

prophetic declaration unless

it is

an

unconscious

and

am

sure Sir

Henry "Cotton

was not conscious

Great Britain.
I told

iraplioation in that declaration,

theUnited States of India. But he

aegis of
is

made that declaration under the

night, as long as
it is

We may
you
last

leave the aegis for a while; the aegis

there,

there and

United States

of India will be a

divided nationality of India.

ideal
is

But whatever that may be our

the United States of India.

But the United States

of of

India will not be like the United States of America.

Some

our provinces themselv&s that are under British administration

now
in

will

be republican.

Those that are under Native Chiefs

will be constitutional monarchies.

We cannot
set it

set

up republics
difficul-

Mysore.

We
We

would not try to

up and create

ties in

our way.

We

cannot set up republics in the Nizam's

it

dominions.

would not try

and create

difficulties.

We

cannot set up republics in Baroda or Patiala.

the popular rights must be respected there;

These Native
otherwise they
is

States must remain as principalities, monarchical States, but

would not form States of the great Indian Union. And this I am trying our ideal. This is of course, a mere fancy.

to

consider the problem of historical possibilities and nothing else.

What
who
that

is

the possibility before the country,

I

and the considera-

tion of historical possibilities.

will say it
I

think there are lawyers here

falls

outside the

range of Section 124A: not

am

afraid of that Section (hear, bear) because I believe

that, as in

ancient India,

why

ancient only 100 years

in

back,

when we had the customs

permitted to ascend

of sali

our midst, no

woman was

the funeral pyre of her husband until she

has proved her capacity to be burnt without flinching, by burning

one

of her

fingers

in the presence of

her relatives,

ae

75
this teet

was necessaiy, the question

of the fear

ofpaioaod

bnrniag was a precondition for the woman ascending the pyre,) and 153. A A. of fear of Section 124. so the conquest
(cheers), is

an essential precondition of
to

the

man who would

in

step

forward

lead

the

life

of a publicist

India

under existing conditions.

08 are not many. There
India.

But, gentlemen, whatever that

may

be, the historical possibilities

is

that present themselves before

this possibility of

an United States of

But

if

there should
it,

be a conflict create
it

we do not

desire

it,

we do not expect
the forces of the

we

will not

(hear, hear); but

if

there should be a conflict and a most inevitable one,

between

people and the

will be.

forces of

Government, then

who knows what

Then, perhaps, we too

stage before

may have

to

pass through some

medium

we can reach the

ideal

of Swaraj because concentration of forces

would be necessary,
Therefore
It

and

in political life

democracy

is

not best suited.

we may that we
and
I

not directly reach the democratic ideal.

shall

have
it

to

work

it

out

may be throagh some medium stage,

an assurance to
reach our

refer to

for this simple reason to give

friends, because
if

my Mahomedan
democratic

we

fail to directly

ideal,

when
and

the

Mahomedan

or
if

equally share in the rights of self-government,

alise this ideal directly,
if

Hindu will we fail to re-

the necessities are imposed upon

us of concentrating

the

forces of the nation

dictatorship us they did in Prance,

see
in
I
if

then look about

and setting up a you and

of

there

is

any man

in India, or to
will

any possibility
this

any

one

Indifl,

being

found

undertake
not arise;

dictatorship.

hope

the

necepsity

but

if

the

necessity

arises there is a

dreamer

of
is

dreams
a

in the

near neighbourI

hood

of India

and

he

Mussalman.

think

Ameer
it

Habibulla

has

got his
of

head

on his shoulders

and he sees

farther than

many

our leaders- seem to do.

And

is

76
not merely out of love for the ADglo-Indian
life

that he pro-

poses to pay a domiciliary visit next year to India (Hear, hear

and laughter).
as

He seems

to be a politician

of the first water

was proved

by his declaration

that the

Hindus aud the

and amity

Mussalmans
for so

in India having lived together in peace

many

centuries, they ought to live in the

thefie

same peace and

be of
historical

amity now. (Hear, hear). Sut

are vain imaginings. Let us

not indulge in these fancies even though they

imagination.

The
is

fact really

is,

my
If

dear friends, ih%t

the

condition of India

such that we hope to attain our Swaraj by

the most peaceful methods possible.

those methods, I can only say that
dried plan
of our
I

you ask me what

are

cannot give you a cut and

work.

No man

can do
his

so.

He who

saya

that he can give a cut and

dry plan of

in politics, especially in politics of

work and methods the kind in which we are enwith

all

gaged at the present time

1 will say

in India,

respect to that man,

to a

he has not applied himself properly

considera-

tion of the actual

Politico, Sir, is a

problem

before

himself,

and

bis conntry.

game
fool is

of chess.

national politics.
also;

It is a

and what a

It is a game of chess in intergame of chess in national politics he who sitting down to play a game of

chess with a powerful and acute and

foresee aud foretell every

farsigbted opponent can

move

that he

makes without know-

ing the move of the other party.

mined by their move;

for their

if

Our move shall be deterthey put forward a Pawn and make room
have
to

Knight we
it

shall

put

forward our

Bishop

and make

impossible to the Knight to come

and occupy the

be, so

must our know what their move will be tomorrow, we cannot say what our move may be to-morrow. So far in Bengal we have been engaged these two years and more in a very beautif ql game of chess. The partition measure was
place of the

Pawn.

Just as their

move

will

move

be,

and as we do not

77
the
first

move

fif

the

Government
kill,

(Langhter).
be

It

was

prompted by the desire to

to

nay, the king cannot

killed,

oheokmate the growing

politioal

power

of the Bengali

people.
all

First of all

we prayed,

vre

petiHoned, we

protested, but

to

no parpose.

And when we saw

that the Government

will

not
of

listen to oar prayers

we pot forward our small

proposal
at us.

boycott.

(Laughter and cheers).

Tbey laughed
it

They
it

had never known the Bengalis

mination and therefore
they

to possess the

strength and deter-

thought
;

was

mere gas

will easily evaporate (laughter)

it is

like the explosion of

let

the

sodawater bottle which will harm nobody. Only yoa

out the

gas confined in the bottle, but within two months they began to scratch their head. On the lucky day, the 4th day of the IJasara Festival and the last day of the Darga Paja, on that day
it

had been the custom

in

Calcutta for the

Marwaris

to

enter

into forward contracts with the agents of

Manchester at

Cal-

cutta to the extent of

many

lakhs of rupees, but on the

for

lucky

day
ter

in

1905 October, not a single for ward contract

(Cries of Vande Mataram).
serious

Manches-

goods was made.

That proved
;

that the situation was more

than

gaseous

and the

Government began to consider ways and maans to meet this serious situation. They saw that the strength of boycott lay very
largely in our
cheers).

young College-going population. (Hear, hear and They saw that it was these young men who by that
i.s

persuasive eloquence which

the

greatest

strength of

well-

regulated youth, they saw that oar young

men by

the strength

of their natural persuasive eloquencecompelled people to desist

from buying foreign goods.

The

story has been told

that on

one occasion a high class Bengali lady was going in her

coach
scent of

and pair

to

Whitoaway Laidlaw's shop.

to get out of

The boys got

the affair and they went and placed themselves before the coach

and they were asked

the way

they joined

their

78
handa and
said,

"Mother, yoa are like our mother.

We

your sons. Do not go to Whiteaway Laidlaw." She said

" No,
if

are like

No

Coachman

clear the road."

to

Then they

said, "

Madam,

you are determined

go and boy foreign things of Whiteaway

crashed under the wheel
shall allow

Laidlaw, we are determined to be

of

your carriage (laughter and cheers) before we

carriage to pass near the door of

the

Whiteaway Laidlaw."

What

woman, what mother coald resist such an appeal and the lady asked her coachman to drive her back home, (Cheers). This is
the general method that oar
this boycott.

young men adopted

for

helping

This was the sort of picketting in which they enfor

gaged themselves

farthering this boycott.

the time
;

The Government
age and the
to
in-

saw

it

the leaders had not

their

firmities of the

age woald

not allow

them

do

picketting

work

of this kind,

and the Government saw that

(Shame).

these

young

men

contributed to the strength of the boycott and the Carlyle

circular

was moved
work;

oaf.

In that circular

it

was made

penal for school and

in picketting

College-going
it

yonngmen

to

be engaged

was made penal

political

for school

and College
;

young men

to take

part in

demonstrations
in schools

it

was

made penal
even

for

young people reading

Vande Mafaram,
threatening

and

Colleges

to cry out

(Shame).

The Government
expulsion

thought that by

our boys with

from
to

College and University, they would bring their leaders

their knees (Cries of Never),

down

The

Carlyle circular

was pablishpublic Rasa),

ed in the Statesman on a Sunday morning.

On
we

Tuesday, within
called a

60 hours
meeting

of tho publication of the circular,

in Calcutta.

At that meeting the President,

Mr

of the Calcutta Bar, declared in reply

to the Carlyle

circular,

that

we would have

a National Uuiversity of our own.

(Hear,

hear and cheers). The Carlyle circular was their littlePawn and

wo

placed before

it

the

Knight

of

National University.

They

n
Raogpur tbe boya were fined, thfl whole ecbool was fined. The boys refused to submit to ibis puoishmenf, and the gunrdiaus of the boys supported them in this matter (hear, hear). And within a week or so of the infiicactually panisbed oar boye.

In

tion of these

punishments and the consequent expulsion of boys

from the Rangpur School, tho National school was established

The Government next saw^that Garlyle circulars would not do. They brought out tbe Goorkha sticks (cries of shame), the Gurkha clubs, excuse me. (Gries of shame). Do not cry shame. They are doing exactly what is needed in their
in

Rangpur.

interest.

Give them credit for common humanity. The Goorkha

out, the Bariaal outrage

club was brought

earlier outrage.

Why,

Sir ? people

seem

was committed, the to have understood

the inwardness of that policy.

it.
I

Many

people opposed Fuller for

never opposed him for the simple reason that he was not

responsible for what took place in East Bengal under his regime.

In Barisal, what happened

Barisal

had taken

to

boycott

more earnestly than any other

Dacca's property.

district in Bengal.

In the town
of

of Barisal there is an European, the

Manager

His name

is

Meyers.

bleached Manchester cloth, a piece of

the bazaar.

of the Nawab He wanted a piece mull. He sent his boy

belati

of
to

No man would

sell

a piece of
te

cloth in

the

bazaar of Barisal.
tendent of Police.

Meyers appealed

the District
to the

Superin-

He

sent his Constable

bazaar to get

a piece of mull, foreign mull, for Mr. Meyers. The shopkeepers

refused to sell foreign mull.
to the District Magistrate.
letter to

The D. S. P. reported the matter The District Magistrate wrote a Aswini Kumar Datta and the letter was something

like this.
it

He

said, '

My

dear Aswini

Kumar
man
will

Datta,

"What
in

id

that Mr, Meyers cannot get a piece of foreign cloth

the

Barisal bazaar ? I

am

told

that no

sell

piece of

foreign mull without a permit from yon.

Will you kindly give

80
a permit to the bearer for a piece of foreign mall for the use of

Mr. Meyerp." He ^ave a permit be3au3e Meyers was aDEoglish*

man and Meyers had

prestige of British

his

mall, but what

in

became,

sir,

of

the
that

authority

Barisal.
grei^ter

That

proved
in the

Aswani Kuraar Datta had become a

power

eye of

bis people than the representatives of

King Edward

himself.

The

situation

was

serious, exceedingly serious.

If there

be any

landod proprietor here, he will

understand the

seriousness of
is

the situation in Barisal so far as the

Government
if

concerned,
in his
tries to
is

becnuse every landed proprietor knows that

village

one

man

becomes more powerful than

iu order to

his

own agent he

check him,

prove before

all

the villagers that he

man

So Government had to prove it to Barisal that Aswani Kumar Datta and those leaders who bad worked were men
of straw.

of straw.

Wbeti

this thing

happened, Fuller was

before also.
things.
I

in

East Bengal.

He bud some bad

Sunday and was
torn

experience

associated with one of these

happened to be Fuller went to Dacca on

met with great trouble and beating of

tom

by

less

than 500 men.

Tbe students

left

the city and went

ou picnic 3 miles distant from

the town with a

view to avoid

welcoming the Lieutenant-Governor.

Monday,

happened

to

go

to

But the next day, on Dacca from Mymensingh, and

found 5,00C
it

whan

arrived at the station,

men gathered

there

to receive

me (cries

of

Vande Mataram);

showed the
to

spirit of the

people, the determination of the people of East Bengal, to

give
that

greater recognition to their

own men than

a Governor

when he had received intimation of the state of things inBarisali he took down train to Agra. Lord Carzon was in Agra then and they put
Sew Fuller
their hoada together

had been forced upon their heads.

and dictated the policy that Fuller carried

to Barisal,

out later on.

It

was from Agra that the telegram

Assam

calling

up the Gurkha Military Police

was sent to and at

81
Barisal

when Pallor went he

invited

Aswani Kumar Dutt

to his

board the steamer and there insulted the whole lot of them What is the meaning .of it. The (Cries of Bharae).No, no.

meaning

of

it

was

this.

Si B.

Fuller had to prove

it

to the

people of Bengal that the

man

on

whom

they

depended,

the

man on whom

they looked forward to

was a straw

before the

breath of the goveminj? power.

That was what he

let loose

wanted

to

show^ and why were the

people.

Gurkhas

updn

inoffensive

[Shame] No, no. It was clear it was a declaration to the people, it was a demonstration to the people of Barisal of their utter helplessness to protect themselves ai^ainst the wrath
of the

Government.

Every Gurkha outrage was a challenge

goods, because
Call
whit

to

the people of Barisal to call upon their leaders to protect them.

It

meant this. You boycotted British Kumar Dutta wanted you to do so.
protect you from the outrage.

him

and

lot

Aswani him

Now,

was the
to

meaning

of

what was done

in Barisal,

and what did we

do; wo gradually

worked; we lay low for a while. These things had

life

be adopted in

and for a while wo didJie low.

But after a while what did

thought to
of

happen.

The Government
by the

had

demoralise
sticks.

the

Barisal people

applicatioa

Gurkha

The
at

nation refused to be demoralised.

(Elear, hear).

And then

same game. They tried to prove the utter helplessness of the whole leaders of Bengal and what happened. They foand that there was a strength in the people, the existence of which had never been dreamt of by them. We did not heat them; Ice did not mean to do them any harm, but I think there is proof of a greater
strength in desisting to reply to an

Barisal during the conference they played the

unjust outrage

sometimes

than in replying to that outrage.

were boateo
easy to
11

is

not always easy^

To beat a man when yoti But sometimes I think it is

beaten
instead of

allow

yourselves

to

be

beating

82
bim back, aud it happeued in Barisal. When the police applied upon the boys, not a man moved, every man kept to his place. I was coming back, because this outrage was started after some of us had gone a few paces ahead. Surendratheir sticks

nath Bannerji led the procession, (laughter

and cheers).
half

We
road
of

were moving out

the Police

in three

files

deep

leaving

the

absolutely free for the general

;

traffic.

This was the

it

object

this

was the object with which

procession

is

required that

people carrying or conducting a

thoroughfares, should

through

crowded
with, and
street

demand

a license from the

authorities so

that the traffic in the streets

may

not be interfered

though we did not take cut a

free for ordinary traffic.

license,

we kept

half the

quiet military order

But that was our that was our offencet

offence

walking in
who were

But they did not

touch

us.

The

instructions were not to touch those,

less as leaders of the people.

regarded more or

The iostruct^n

was evidently

to beat those

whose names

were not ~known to

the country, so that by leaving the leaders scot free and beating
the following crowd, a sentiment would be created
friends and relations against these leaders.

among

the

That was the game Aud an assault was started when we that they were playing. had gone a few paces a head. When we beard, we turned our I was going back; when I came near the culvert leading back. from the Rajah Bahadur Haveli, I saw the processionists standPolice
of a

ing shoulder to shoulder in made a charge before

the middle of the

culvert..

The
others

my

eyes.

stick fell on the head

culvert.

man.
not,

would
head

but three

He fell down flat npon men one man

the

The

stepped forward to hold the

of the

his feet,

man who had fallen down, another man got and the third man got hold of his loins and

hold of
carried

him away, and the gap that was inade was immediately closed. There was no cowardice, there was not the least desire to avoid

83
There was a bravery, a courage like the hidden powers of a volcano, and the Government was taken abacb. They thought that the sight of the stick would disperse a
being beaten.

Bat when a Bengalee crowd allowed itself to be beaten in this way without moving an inch, they thought Are there must be sometl^ing bebind the Bengalee nation.
Bengalee crowd.
they

manufacturing

arms

and ammunition
;

somewhere

but every some foolinb official asked one saw that there had grown up in the Bengalees a determination which it would not be easy to acquire, After'tht Barisal incident we showed the strength of our determination We openly declared that we would not suffer these to suffer.

That

was

what

outrages any
advertised.
I

more.

In

Mymensingh a public meeting was

was there then.

On

the day the meeting was to

be held, the leader of the Mymensingh Bar sent for the Police
Inspector to
the Bar

Library and tcld him we are having a

If

public meeting to-day.

you come there as a respectable

so.

citi-

zen you are welcome

arrest any of us,

to

do

If

you come with warrants

to

no resistance will be offered to you or even

if

without a warrant

you peacefully and lawfully come

if

to

arrest any of us, not the least resistance will be offered in the

discharge of your public duty; but

you come in the name of

law with your regulation

broken on both
sides.

stick to

break our heads, heads will be

We

had our meeting, and Babu Ananth

Bandn Saho
peated what

presided, and in his speech from the chair he re.

I

have said before the whole assembly.

We

did

They had proscribed the cry They had by a circular prohibiBengal. in Mataram of Bande out Bande it illegal cry Mataram in public to ted and made
the same thing here and there.
streets.

What

did our people do, and mostly young people. It

to

was

illegal

and punishable

cry in a

street.

All right

When

a Policeman or a European officer passed by the street

84
yoanpf people wonld

jump out By
all

of the street, cross the drain

come

to private

ground and cry out Bande

this
in

Matarant.

and That

was absolutely
prestige of the
people.
I

legal.

means we brought down the

Bengal in the estimation of the
tell

Government

have recited

these things simply to

you that

our moves at every step had to be determined by

of the

the'

moves
that

Government.
io

have told

all

these series of things

happened

Bengal during the past year simply with a view

to prove that the

game

game move

of chess and our

in which we are engaged jnst now is a moves are always determined by what

the Government make?,

it is

but a

game

of chess

is

played

with 32 figures, and

placed within the limits of 64 squares.

will

The game

of politics in

which we are engaged

Therefore, although

have td be

played by 300 millions of figures and more, and the squares are
almost infinite
ble to figure
in

number.

it

may

be possi-

before yourself

every possible niove that your

Pawn may make, you can do range within 64i squares. You
ties are

when the possibilities cannot do it when the possibiliso only

almost

infinite.

Therefore, dear friends, Our methods,

our ways and means shall always be determined by the

thods,

me1

by the ways and means adopted by those who are playand

political
I

ing against ua in this great national

game.
it

cannot give yon a cut and dry piogramme.

height of folly in any

deem
to

the
pro-

man
1

to

demand a cut and dry

I

gramme

in a matter of this kind.

have presented

you the

ideal in general terms.

have spoken to you of the

possibili-

ties of the future historic

development of India.

have indi-

cated to you briefly the nature of the

game

that the Govern-

ment is playing, and

that

have also given you some idea of the way

we

are

playing our
I

own

part of the

game

as against our

opponents.

cannot give yon a clearer idea of our ways

and

means, but there are one or two general questions that

may

85

we

11

be discQBBf d, and

if

you aek me

to fiiate in general

terms

what are the methods, whut are the means, what are the instrnments by which you hope to further this ideal of Swaraj in this country, my reply shall be that these meauH and methods are included nnder what is known in political science as methods
of passive resistance.
active resistance.

Passive resistance

is

not the antonym of

is

There can be no resistance which

not an

active

resistance.
is

Even the determination

is

to allow a

man

to

beat you

something of the activity of the will power in you.

not the act of something.
It

There can be no resistance which

What

then does passive resistance mean.

is

means not
that

resisis

tance that

not active resistance, bat

resistance
is

not

aggressive resistance.

Passive resistance

not non-active

but

non-aggressive resistance.
stand within
country.

We

stand upon our own rights,

We
as

the limits of the law that

shall

we have
1

still

in the

We

respect that

law, as

said yesterday,

long as that law shall respect our primary rights

stitute

which conthat

the authority

of

every

Government,

whether

Government be a despotic Government or a constitutional Government can which no Government, but rights can destroy. As Government create, and which, therefore, no
long
as

the

laws

of

this

Government

respect

our
pri-

primary rights

of life or person, property

and other similar

mary

rights, so long
;

we propose

to keep ourselves within the

bonnds of law

and passive resistance means resistance offered by a people from within the limits of such law. That is in general terms our method. The broad application of this

method
cial

of passive resistance has brought out

in India.

two

or three

spe-

movements
It is

One movement

is

the boycott move-

The other movement is the movement of National Education, and the third movement is the movement for the organisation of our
ment.

a movement of passive

resistance.

86
up from our village life, and by these education and Swadeshi includNational three means, Boycott,
public
life,

building

it

ed in the boycott, and by the organisation of the. forces and the

resources of the people and by setting up a schemo of practical

self-governmenf running parallel to the officialised institutions

of self-government in the country to
find

a school of

civic

duties for the people

by

this

means we hope, God

trouble,

willing, to

achieve our end without any serious

serious diecomfor&s to those
us.

without any

who

are placed in authority

above

These

are,

broadly speaking, our methods.

The question
as a political

of Boycott both as an economic

movement and
for

movement,

it

will not

be possible

me
I

to

consider at

the

close of an address

which has extended,

Neither can
I
I

believe,

already to

more than two hours.

of

consider

to-night

the

question of National education, nor do

desire at the fag

end

my

address to-night to
it

tell

you what we are doing and

to

how
of

we

are doing

with a view

organise

the

public

life

Bengal, with a view to set up a system of real self-government

independent

of the

Grovernnjent

institutions,

of

local
I

self-

government

in the country.

These things, God willing,

shall

consider on another occasion.

t7

Boycott-

(FODRTH LlCTCRf.)
Mr. Chairman and Friends.
I referred in

On Fridaj
the

night in closing
of

my

address on the ways and means for the attainment

general terras to

Swaraj
as
that,

movement known

of passive resistance, and I tried to explain

as briefly as I conld,

it briefly

what passive resistance meant. It means this. I will repeat again. It means that we shall keep ourselves within
nation
the

the bounds of law in asserting the will of the

the great political

against

wrong

why

political

against
another

great

wrong economically,
inflicts.

politically,

morally and even

over

spiritnally

that the domination of one

people

nniversally
resistance
in the
it

In carrying out a

programme
to

of passive

shoold be our endeavour always

keep ourselves
to us

right,

and

to place those

who may
is
it is

be opposed

at

every step,

in the

wrong.

That

a thing which will

always have to be

borne in mind, and

this characteristic of the

movement

in

Bengal that has sown consternation into the councils of the mighty. Our boys, oar youngman, our old men, they have
always scrupulously been on the offensive.
kept themselveswithin the bounds
of

law.

They have always The Courts of law

not

may have condemned them,

by considerations
sometimes
in

but they are

always
public
in

guided
policy
India,

of

law.

Considerations of

every country and not

very rarely

control the verdict of our public

Courts.

No
in the

conviction,

no

promotion has been a notorious principle

of Criminal justice

administration

by the subordinate Judiciary in more than

India
;

one

Province

in

and that being so

it is

not at all

surprising that the Courts of law should

acts of oor people here and there as

have declared certain

beyond
the

trespasBing

limits of law,

for alleged breach of the law, but

and they may have sent some of our men to jail these judgments in many
of evidence
public.
in

cases

if

they are published along with the records

will not cirry conviction to an impartial

So,

sir,

all

through our campaign of passive been our earnest endeavour to keep ourselves within the limits of law, and by this self-restraint by this very regard in our
resistance

Bengal

it

has

determination to oppose

the despotic
for the

will of

the

present

Government, by this verj regard

laws oi that Governpowerlesp.

ment we have
This
is

to a very

large extent

made them
to

a matter which

you are always

bear in mind in

An Anglocarrying on a programme of passive resistance. as are party new of the methods Indian characterised the
explained to you by

me

as unconstitational.

wish the writer-

had either read or nndei stood what I had said on this point in my previous address. I have never either through the
columns
of

my

paper,

New

India

or

from the public platforni

says that
will

advocated as yet any form of lawlessness, and yet this honest

journalist (cries of

shame and boycott

not

it)

have

nothing to do with constitutional agitation in

as
I

India, because

said, India is

constitutional

Government (Hear,
been in the
past.

hear).

But

there are laws even in India, and I hold that our

as
it

agitation should continue to be

has

Our

agitation should continue tc be in

the future

lawful

so

far as the laws of the

Government

did not violate

I

the primary
Sir,

rights of

man
in a

(Hear, hear and cheers).

definite declaration

know

not,

what

more

clear

and

could possibly be
if,

made by
I

any one

matter of this kind, and

repeated to mislead
hear)
;

after this declaration,

the charge

is

our moderate friends,

the

care
to
it

not for others (Hear,

if

charge

is

repeated

mislead our moderate friends that Ave advocate

will

lawlessness,

be done no longer through ignorance or misconception, bnt

through deliberate
cries of shame).

dishonesty.
thee,

(Laughter

and

cheers and

Keep

my

dear friends, keep yonrselves

in the right always,
I

within the right, and by being

yourself

put those who oppose you in the wrong, and

cially,

say

this espe-

because

it

has been said here and

there that there has

grown up something like an oifensive spirit in the people of Madras in consequence of my utterances fno, no, not at all).
I

do not ask you

to sacrifice

under any condition your

to

national
deter-

self-respect.

But I do ask you

cultivate

strength,

mination, fixity of purpose,

cultivate self-respect

and

when you
is

have no

strength,

(Hear, hear). There

self-restraint
of

unless

there
is

be

strength.

The

self-restraint
It
is

the
It It

weak
is

an

unreal

something.
It
is

not

virtue.

no

self-restraint.
let

cowardice pure

and
this

simple.
point.

is

selfishness,

there

-be

no mistake on

We

mnsfc cultivate Btrengtb, and

apply the break

to

when we are strong, we must our strength. Keep it within the bounds of
remember this, when it furthers
Nationality
not

law, of decorum, of ordinary humanity, because,

that patriotism

is

good, eicellent, divine, only

the

ends

of

universal
is

aumanity

(Certainly),

divorced from humanity

of strength

a source of weakness and evil and

and good. Europe has committed a mistake. It has been committing this mistake for many hundreds of years past- Europeans talk of humanity, but their humanity is not humanity,but wbite-manity (Laughter and cheers); and what is nee-

ded for you and

me

is

not to respect white-manity but to respect

humanity, not

to

ask for brown-manity but to ask for humanity

itself

which includes within

white, brown, black and yellow all

the races of the world.

we

shall

therefore
I said,

In our campaign of passive resistance keep always these two things in view

just as

respect for the law, provided the law respect

the primary rights of the individual and regard for the

12

claims

do
Dot of &Dy particalar section of the

bumaa

race,

nay not
climate.

even This

oar own section, but regard for the claims of the whole
cace, irrespective of

human

the creed and

colour and

movement
ment

of passive resistance

includes, as

it is,

the most pro*

minent and the correct feature or instrument, the boycott move(hear, hear).

The boycott movement

movement.

hold

is

an organic
the

part of the real Swadeshi

We

were asked by

Viceroy to cultivate honest

stood by honest

Swadeshism, and Lord Minto under"

non-political swadeshism.

Swadeshim

He nn
arts

derstood by

it

the movement. for the promotion of the

and

industries of the nation, consistently with the open door in trade

and commerce.
limits of

the free trade policy.

is

Swadeshism
advice
of

is Swadeshism within the That is one thing, and honest Swadeshism without any political reference or

Honest Swadeshism

motive behind

it.

We

should have been glad,

if

sir,

to follow the

such an august personage

he

could

altogether
world,

separate not only in India, but in any

part of the
politics.

the

economic sphere of the people from their

Honest Swade-

shism
from

is

political

said to be economic Swadeshism, but every tiro in economy knows that there can be no economics divorced

politics,

economics and politics are organically

related to

one another, and India cannot consider the two apart, separated

from and unconnected with

shism

one

another.

may
it

be possible in a free country.

Economic SwadeNot only in a free

country,
its

may

be possible in a country that has fully developed

It

manufacturing industries.
itself

may

be possible in a country

and has made considerable progress in the manufacture of commodities. Economic Swadeshism may be possible, for instance, in self-governing England which has developed manufacturing indubtrios to bo largo an extent. But
which governs
the nation that comes low in the
nation that has at
its

field of

world

competition, a
re-

command almost

endless natural

91
Boaixjoe,

a nation that

is

capable of prodaciog

almost

infinite

has not the means and p. quantities of raw materials, bat that commoditiesfrom all these raw pliances of working out finished when it is under the specially materials, for such a nation, nation, a manucommercial nation.-a

domination of another regulates the fiscal policy of faoturing nation which controls and anfrequeatly of the rulers, the the people in the interest not such a nation economanufacuringcountry (cries of shame).- for has someEngland impossibility. mic Swadeshism is an utter anp India, in indigenous industry thing to do with the decay of a or something something, was it merely. Sir, an economic
that
political

economic something.

Did she not impose

earlier to

restrictions

upon our own industries in the Company's rule with a view

industries (cries of yes)?

days of the East India

And
a

and further her own when our industries, though

help

those

days

could

to

very

large
in

extent

fairly

matters, certam with compete (p.ty\ is it power political of application were strangled by the ask us now. to cultivate honest

English industries

fair, I

Swadeshism.mere economic Swade. Swadeshism. non-political Why, even now. are they cultivating the shism (cries of no, no) If free from economic reference ? honest fiscal policy absolutely UB forasking justification be some they had done it there should But what is this 5 per cent, economics. from to divorce politics yarn that have been imposed on the excise duty on the coarse that honest economics? Is product of the Bombay mills' do this, mast repeal this least at must The Government of India with decency consistently can it before 5 per cent, excise duty There are, I politics. our economics from ask us to divorce our te separate us advise our own men who believe even in our midst tell you must (cries of no, no, laughter). I
econom'io8from politics
If

ask (most unfair), to

one thing.

you allow any foreign matter

to enter into your

92
baud evwD
cotti it will
it

that matter be such au ezcelleot maiior as bojin its

do DO good. Keep boycott

advise us to
it is
if

own

place.

Bat there
swade-

are our
politics,

own people who

politics,

divorce

economics from

and they say that

necessary to separate

shism from
of

because

we do

so,

we

shall be able to

secnrethe support to this Swedeshi movement of large numbers

people

who

are in the

Government

service or

who otherwise

are afraid of doinganything,

tenance; and with a view to

which the Government do notcoun* secure the support by these means,

swadjeshism
to

practioally of the whole nation on behalf of the

ment
niee

t^>ey

ank as to keep politics and

Swadeshi moveapart from

one another.

The argument seems

country

the psychology of the situatioo.

my mind to fail to reoogNo Government servant

preference
is

needs be afraid of using

products in

to

foreign imports (hear, hear;.

No Government

servant

preven-

ted or can be precluded from bujinp shares in Industrial

panies except under

certain

circumstances, from

setting

Comup

shops and stores

in different places.
it

So

far as

non- political

swadeshism

is

concerned,

can only promote the production of

indigenous articles by organising Joint

Stock

Companies, by
indi-

opening shops and stores, and by encouraging the use of

genous products in preference to foreign imports.

all

And
is

this is

that

was done under existing

Servants

condition.

This

the utmost the

that Government

can

possibly

do

to

furthej-

cause of economic swadeshism (hear, hear). But what about the

general population in tbe country. Economic Swadeshism before

Swaraj aims at a stimulating production; increasing the quantity of

native products, improving the quality of our industries

and by larger production and better quality, honest Swadeshism helps gradually to push foreign imports out of the Indian
market.
yon, Sir,

That
is

is

the portion of honest

a wedeshism.

put

it

to

this

a practical plan of Industrial development in

98
India under her peculiar position
?

(No, no).

Can yon promote

with foreign im-

the prodaotion of manofactating articles,

raanufactoriog com>

moditieB, io the faoe of the killing competition

ports. It is all well to say,

layout your money, bring out hidden

of crores it wap, according to Lord There is a good deal of hidden capital,

treasnres,

(how nsany hundreds

just

Gurzon,

now

forget).

unused capital lying

US to bring
it

idle in India,

and Lord

Cuizon advised
fair

out and to start machines to open factories, and by

means

of these factories,

by a natural process through

com*

petition drive the foreign imports out of our makets. This is the

recipe of those

who

claim to be eminently practical

if

politicians.

Well, tbe hidden capital of India,

it

there be such a thing, will

come out
else,

at the bidding of the National

Congress or of any

body

any more than the people

will give

up Government

service at onr bidding ?

to be impracticable, because I believe they will

They declared our boycott propaganda not give up

I consider, Sir, that their

Government programme
honest

service at our bidding.

is

practical

programme,
economic
the
will

tbe

non-political
all

purely

swadeahi.

programme > But

of
I

ask

it in

seriousness,
its

hidden Capital of India

of

come out
spirit of

of

cover

at

the

bidding

my

moderate

friends, while at their bidding

has not risen in the [country a

Commercial co-operation.

Can you
of

start

factories

of

the type of the dimensions and capacity of those the

of

products
?

which are driving the products

factories
all

your own hand-loom

Can you open

or

like those of Manchester,

Newcastle
Industry,
beneficial,
to

Birmingham,
if

centres
it

of

manufacturing

and

you can,
it

would

be

proper,

would

it

be

would

be coridacive

to the highest

good of the nation

set

up an imitation

of England,
of

Germany, and America,

commodities

huge-fac-

tories for the production

been to England and A.merioa, those

? Those who have who know something of

94
the economic problenoB of the European
countriefi,

those

who

know something of the results of these large know it that in Europe and America, humanity
lessly sacrificed at

factories, they
is

being ruth-

every centre of manufacturing industry, for

the production of commodity (hear, bear).

Are you

to

follow

the same ruinous course and sacrifice Indian humanity for the

Japan has taken many things ? from Europe but one thing Japan has refused to take from Europe; that is the European Factory system (hear, bear). The
production of comraodi^^y
strength of the nation
lies in

the moral stamina of the people.

But

factories will kill

that moral stamina.

Huge

factories

concentrate population at

particular centres, bring

people

away from
family.

their homes, detach

them from

their friends

and
be at

Starting of big factories

may

or

may

not be able to
it

solve the economic problem, but even

if

they do,

will

irreparable
if

risk to the moral, spiritual life

is

of the nation

and

your moral stamina

destroyed,
if

if

the spiritual ideals, the

manhood
for

of the nation,

these are killed,

life.

what

will

remain

yon

to fight the battle of

Oar

industrial ideal should

not be the ideal of England or America, our industrial methods

should not be the

method that has been followed, and not

followed with complete success, either by England or America,

because in every Western country this industrialism has creat-

ed complex problems of capital and

of the nation are sitting

labour, economic

and you

moral before which the wisest statesmen, the greatest thinkers

down almost
in this

in despair;
?

and

will

create the

same problems

country also

As

in every

other matter so in this matter of our industrial

development,

we

will

have

to follow the lead of her

own

genius^ follow the

course indicated by her

ration

own

past historic fallacy,

draw

inspi-

and strength
all

for guidance

from her own past

experience

and above

keep before oar mind's, eye, constantly this great

d5
iac^
viz,

that as

man

liveth not bj bread aloDe, bo nations

also

do not live and prosper merely by the prodactioa of market*

able commodity.

What
of

then
is

is

the problem of economic

flooded

sv7a<

desbism

Your market
a
large

being
these

by

foreign

imports
be
will

and

the cheapness
to

foreign

imports has already

operation
killing
will

killed

extent

(and the
is

finished
finally

within
kill

few

years),

and
of

the

indigenous
to

arts

and from

indastries
this

the

country.
tion
is

How

save yourself

killing

condiIf

the problem
state of

even

of
if

economic

swadesbism.

yoa had a
people,
if

yoar own,

yoa

were a

self-governing

the government so worked entirely and absolately in

the interests of the people, then this government

would have
as

imposed protective
teued to
world.
'

tariff

upon such foreign imports

is

threa>

kill

native industries. This

done

in

every part of the

America has protected and by protecting has develop-

ed her arts

and

industries.

a protective

tariff.

Germany has been thriving under Australia and Canada though parts of the
not

British Empire, element of the British race, they too have

accepted the doctrine of free trade from the mother country as

the guiding principle in her-economic advancement.

But

she,

by means
not do

of a

protective tariff

prevents the intrcdaction of

territoriest

cheap foreign imports within her

it,

India alone can-

because India
in

is

not governed by herself, nor govern-

ed in her interest and

her interst alone.

What

then can

we

do

We

can do

one thing, we can organize a consumer's

In economics there
is
is

league.
is

It is this.

production and there

consumption.

The production

useless

without consump-

tion, it is

consumption that regulates production and oousumpto the

is

iiou

and production are urganically related one

other.

Production with a view to control foreign markets

impossible in India; but

absolutely

we can by regulating

the consamption

d6

have some sort of protection to our indigenous arts and indastries and the regolation of uonsamption is the economio principle that underlies the boycott movement. I am bold enough to say and
doubly declare
Boycott
is

this

boycott to be a great
it is

economic

theory.

protection,

the

imposition of protective tariffs

(Hear, hear) upon the people themstlves not upon the foreign

imports

indirectly upon

the foreign imports also

and

if

proto

tection be declared as of

economic value, you are

welcome

declare boycott also to be of economic value.

Bat no economist,

no economist outside Manchester has ever declared protection to be a wrongr

There are consumer's leagues in Western countries. 1 happened to be present when I was iu New York at a meeting of a Consumer's league there 7 years back. The object of that
league was to use the word boycott which meant the boycotting of the produce of certain firms who sweated their labourers.

America there are certain capitalists and combination of who do not treat their labourers properly, fairly and well. They sweat their labourers, they make them reduce to
In
capitalists

the position almost of slaves: and the motal sense of the

nity rising

commu-

up

in

arms against

this

sweating labourers by the proa Consumer's league.

ducers of commodities.organized

itself into

Those who joined

this league took

a pledge that they would not

under any circumstances buy or use articles produced by such and such a firm who sweated their labourers. There is the
boycott, the

boycott of those

who

did not

deal fairly

with

their operatives
lea(;ue is either

and

have not as yet heard that a Consumer's

folly or a great

an economio

moral

evil.

Ther^

the Consumer's leagues are organised in the interests of the

oppressed

labouring population.

Here our boycott, our Con*

97
samer's league has been organised in the iufcerests of the econo*

mio
of

protectioa,

economic

advancement
cannot

and

the

salvation

Government to prevent the import of cheap artioles into oar market that kill by an anfair competition oar own iadastries> Bat we can do one thing in the coantry. By oar own determination, we can
the whole nation.

We

compel

the

refase to bay foreign articles, and by

articles,

refnsing to bay

foreign
thi^

we can

indirectly
It is

protect oar

own
If

interests by

boycott movement.

an uphill work.

we had a
foreign
is

State, a

single law passed by the Lcgislatnre woald have compelled

you

and

me to buy

country-made things,

because

things
econo-

ooald not be had cheaper.

But though protection

mically ao excellent weapon for saving weak industries from

rainoas competition from foreign iadastiies, boycott has got this

advantage
bat
it

Boycott not only helps to protect native industries,

helps to develop the

;

manhood
it

of the nation, the spirit of

self-sacrifice in the people

strengthens the will of the people

and enables them

ultimate good.

to

eacriQce

immediate good
is

in

view

of the

Therefore though boycott

it

absolutely justified

on economic grounds,

has a greater claim upon oar attention,

in

and oar allegiance on account of the moral issues involved

it.

Yon ask

as to give preference to indigenous arts, indigenous

commodities.
articles

Do

not bay foreign articles, bay your country

made
go
in

when -you can get them.

it

When you

cannot get

it,

for foreign things also. I

I

want a piece

of mull, things

Swadeshi.
of

mast have
from

by

all

means from one of your mills or one

if

your

native stores.

Bat
shop

you cannot have you

like.

it,

buy the foreign

is

thing

any

that

This

striking at

the very

root of the whole

movement,

because in these moveof

ment's that depend for their success

apoa the determination

the people there

Nvhich

is

such a thing as NUhta, faithfalness, devotion,

must be oaltivated and without which the determination

98
of the people cannot stand.
I

pledge

myself, (no) non-boycott

g^entlemen pledge themselves.

I desire to
is

be abstemious, not to
is it

drink intoxicating drinks. That

an excellent desire,
to cultivate
it.

not ?

And

every one of you will ask

me

Do

not drink

anything but pure water or soda

thiog, do not drink wine.
if

Brahmin
feel
it

soda.

Drink any

he

is

But you ask me, if a friend offers and offended do not mind taking a sip; if you are present at a
and
If
if

table with a European,

you

hurt,

do

not

mind
of will

taking a glass of sherry.

because you will say,
to

you say this

may be

a good thing,

why,

you have not the strength

put a stop to drinking

European.

You

are

when yon are not in the table of a a weak man, and you ought to be wise
temptation you

and

in

the

presence of
Therefore

ought to

rise

above

temptation.

why do you

din yourself,

why do you

put such unreasonable restrictions upon yourself, that you will

never drink a
result ?
lines in

drop of wine. Now what will be the actual Has Temperance propoganda proceeded along these any part of the world ? Has ieetotalism furnished in
even a small dose of that which

any part of the world reform on such humanitarian and tolerant

lines.

(No, no). Touch not

intoxicates the brain, that has been the injunction

of

everywhere
these tem-

temperance reform, and why simply

because

all

perance reforms can only proceed

upon the determination

and
this determination
if

of the people to avoid ther strong drinks

can be kept up by
a

a rigid

law of exclusion and

once you allow

abstainer,

mau

to

drink and yet

call himself

up a

total

you

open the floodgate of temptation, and

poAver, the strength of determination,

you destory the

by which
you

motive

hope to

carry out your

programme of reform. Therefore in Boycott also, tho psychological law must be applied; boycott must be absolute,
all

not of
it

goods, that
;

is

impossible

but within certain limits

must b

absolute

because with an absolute boycott,

you

99
oannot keep up the strong
determiDation of the
is

people,
is

you

cannot keep up the Nishia of the race. That

what

essential;

we have not boycotted everything foreign, we do not propose to do so either. They, who say, bo misunderstand and misinterpret oa* But if we had a state.of our own wewonld haveimposedprotectiv
tariff

against such imports only

;

as threatened to

kill

oar indi*

genous industries not upon

all,

nay, not even the picke'ltedpro-

poses to live isolated from the rest of the world.

We have
willing, to
still,

oar
be

natural resources to develop.

We

propose,

God

not only an agricultural, bat a manufacturing nation

and

we want
to of

to enter

upon

fair

terms into competition

with the

other races in the markets of the world, and because

we

desire

do

we must keep also our door open for the introduction foreign made articles, because exports and imports are
BO,

organically related one to the other.

If

you want

io send

your

men

to foreign countries

produce to

you mast leave the door open for foreign enter your own country and your own market. If we

had a State Organisation of our own, what we would have done is this, we would have taken a survey of our industries, we would
have considered whatindustrieshave a chance of gaining entrance into the markets of the world, what induBtries in India had a
large future before them,

what raw materials we have

avail-

able, raw materials within the reach of the labouring population

within reach of being carried to the world of our

to

own markets,
to

our own ports, by this means we would have

is

determine

what thing

that

we can produce or what

are those things that

to con-

we can produce

best and cheapest,

and we would have

centrate our attention upon those things and exclude only**those

things from our markets that showed a tendency to destroy the

chances of the protection of these native industries, not of others

that would be the right thing.

No Goveirnment

imposes

all-

ronnd

tariff unless

it

be for purely

fiscal reasons,

BometimeB

100
ander exceptional oiroumstiaDces, every coantry may have to be
taxed, bat taxation there
is

not for the purpose of

protection

but for purely fiscal reasons, because Government want money to carry on the administration, to pay for the debts of the war

and
view

for such other

reasons and

articles indiscriminately.
to replenish its

therefore it must tax on all They may possibly be taxed with a lean exchequer. That is a reason, bat

tariff is

not imposed by any nation

It is

upon every kind

competition
country.

of foreign
to

imports.
enter

imposed only on those articles that are likely

into a

dangerous
articles

and ruinous
in tho

with

th

indigenous
so, if

produced

That

being

we had a state of our own we would have Bated, we would have taken into consideration our capabilities and we would have guided t)ur
tariff in

discrimiindustrial

protective

the light of the cnpabilities of onrnative industries. But, a government and

therefore in our

we have not
must be a

boycott

we

cannot altogether adopt that

little

scientific

method, here the method

is this.

rough and ready, and what we have done

We have

taken up three or four artiolcE just for the present that

appear to be affected by these foreign imports.

the textile fabric.

We

have taken
yarn or
foreign

We

produce cotton in this conutry, and

this cotton goes out to

textile fabrics
'

England and comes back

first

as

now, our

boycott
is

is

the boycott of
is

clothing,

and here the boycott

abiolute, there

no exception.
is

We

have boycotted foreign

salt.

Here also the boycott

sugar...

absolute.

We
is

have boycotted foreign

Here

also

the

boycott

absolute.
if

We

have boycotted enamelled

articles

that are killing,

bell-metal

they have not already killed, our brass

and

industries.

These are the four things that we have

boycotted, foreign cloth, foreign salt, foreign sugar

and foreign
the
of

enamelled
boycott
is

articles,

and

in

regard to these four-things

is

absolnte,

In regard to others the boycott

not

101

an abiolateokataoter.
it ia

praotioabie,

The general truth in faot is, so far h9 support home indaatries and give preference
if

to

home products even

is

they are dearer than foreign

imports.

That

the general principle of boycott,

laid

bat in

its

application
as
I

wo have
indicated

special

stress upon

3 or 4

things,

have

them already,
wares,

namelled

cloth, salt, sugar and vis, npon and partly also upon glass wares and generally

npon

ail articles of

luxury.

This

is

the extent of oar boycott

article.

W^e never proposed to boycott

every

We

do

not

propose to boycott English books, we do not propose

leientific instruments.

to boycott

We do not propose to boycott machinery. We do not propose to boycott arms and ammunition (laughter.) W shall want them. We shall get them. We shall strengthen
our material
life

with the help of

not be said
or

all
if

these.

Wherefrom

shall

get them.

Tjet it

we

are boycotters

why

nee

Railways or tramcars,
electric fans

why
No,

read English books or nse

Sir,

and

electric light.
will not be

we cannot go back *o
rational

barbarism.

That

helpful

to

growth bat
that by

we

shall

buy foreign goods always with an eye

to this

aiing foreign goods We do not injure the possibilities of the

production of those goods in our

own

country.

That,

is

what

must be done, and in regard to three or four things the boy"

cott

mast be abaolute.
textile

any forign

fabric

Undef no ciccumstances nhall we use Under no ciroomstaDces shall we

but

take a pinch of foreign sugar or a pinch of salt;

we

shall

bay instruments and other things wherever we can

get^ themis

As regards books, in the domain of knowledge sach as we have in the domain of commodities.
is

there

no trade

All knowl edge

divine; the sciences, the philosophies, the arts of

not European.

Europe are They are aU God divine and every man who
the general
race

has a miixi partakes in

life of

mental and intellectual

all

the whole of the

hnmau

because

minds are ne

102
and that mind
is

tbo mind of

Ood.

Evoiy oue who has the

sense of the beautifol in

every artiole of arts,

it is of

him has a right, a native right upon upon everything that is beautifal beoanse
beauty
is

God

divine and all

is

one.

In the domain of

learning, there

no distinction of
Sicence
is

race,

and coloar and clime.

all

Knowledge
is

is

one.

one.

Art in the higher domains

a natural right to
or grown.

one.

And

every child of

God has

those

things wherever they

may be formed

No, we do
is

not mean to avoid these things.

boycott movement.
aspect of boycott.

This, then, gentlemen,

our

But the question

Industrially,
this

arises about the political

is

what boycott means.

weapon
It
is is

But
that

it is

also a
It is

political

weapon, a

political

in this

sense.
is

a weapon of passive resistance.

a weapon

capable of retaliating the [iniquity that

If

inflicted

upon

us by the domination of another people.

the English were

merely our

political rulers as the

Moghuls were, as the Pathans

different.

were before the Moghuls, the case would have been

But unfortunately the British Goveraraent in India from the days of the Company has been like the mythical mermaids half trader and b%lf ruler. That ruler we m%y obey, but when theruler enters the arena of trade he must submit to ordinary
law
life.

of

pushing aud elbowing that

is

common
as

to the

commercial

And yet

one misfortune
its

is

that the

present Government

in this country uses

authority

a Government for the Let

it

protection of its interests as a trader.

I

not be said

that

am

misconstruing and misinterpreting the benign purpose of

I

the Government.
that authority
ia

have
leps

my authority

for this

statement, and

no

than the late Viceroy of Indiai

declared,

Lord

Gurzon himself,

speaking to certain miners,

Your
in

work

lies in exploitation.

My

work. lies

in

administration and

exploitation and administration are parts of the

same duty
It

the Government of India.'

What

does

it

mean?

means

m
that the authority of the administration
is

to

he applied for
placed

helping exploitation and the resoarces that exploitation

in the

hands of the exploiter, the Charobers of Commerce, are to

be utilised for the purposes of administration.

The Govern-

ment Uouse extends

of

its

hands across the streets

of

to the

Chamber

Commerce takes it by one hand and stretches the other hand to the Government House, and between the two they manage to exploit for administratioa

Commerce and

the

Chamber

and administer for exploitation

rity ever existed in this

and yet

in the face

of such

a significant declaration from one than

whom

no greater autho-

country for making such a declaration,

yet even in the face of such a distinct declaration from the head
of the

Governmeot
in

of India,

we

are

asked,

Sir,

to

divorce

politics

from economics and economics from

Eastern Bengal ? That was, as I have

politics.

What has
of

happened

We
said,

declared a boycott

British goods.

economically the organito

sation of Consumer's league.

We

are asked not

boy British
in
Is
itself

goodsi

Is it not within the rights of

every citizen to indace his

fellow citizen to do
is

or not to do

something

which
illegal?

not illegal.

Is not to

bay foreign goods

Is
it

not
use
for

to use Manchester cloth illegal ?

illegal
P
,

not

to

foreign salt or not to taste foreign

sugar

Is it illegal

man
?

to

persuade his neighbour not to use

?

it

iNo, no).

What

do we do
does

Any
is

thing more than what the temperance preacher

That

picketting.
in

Why

Not only
fairs.

in

temperance; you
not
illegal

do picketting work

our temple

It is

for

the Christian Padre to stand in the front of a temple in fairs

and

call

names and try

to lower the religions ideals of

the

country
I

in the estimation of the people.

That

is

picketting,

dare say.

The Padre says

'

don't go

and

worship these

gods.'

Is it not picketting ?

not far from the door of

The temperance preacher stands the grog shop, and he commences to

\6i
preach against the use of liqaors.
Is

He
not

asks people not to drink.

that not picketting

sells liquor ?

Does

it

inflict

injury on the poor

man who
ting
is

and yet vybo ever heard that this picket-

condemned as criminal.

Bat people were barrassed and

prosecuted, handed
trate

down by

the Pjlioe, held up before the Magis-

and sent to

jail

simply because they asked their fellow men,

neighbours, their
friends,

there countrymen, their

villagers to desist
articles.

their

co-

from
is

supporting
to

foreign
fact

industries

and and
of

Bat

it

due

this

administrntion
the

exploitation arc parts of the

India.

sam duty

in

Government

There
the river

is

a very large and important mart on the banks of

is

Magna which

really the

Ganges

in Eastern

Bengal

and a
salt

little

over a year ago one

to that mart.
flat.

fiat

loaded

with

Liverpool

was sent

The

coolies of that

mart refused

to unload the

The

flat

was sent by Turner Morrison

Calcutta, and what happened ? Possibly Turner Morrison

& Co., & Co.,

would
of

when they beard

touch
it.

that no

cooly

in

Bhara

Bazaar

their
is

salt

must
the

have
1

informed the

authority
fact

That

my

inference.
in

do not know the

of

but the
the

fact

was

that

Course

three

or

four days

Sub- Divisional Magistrate of Kasargung within whose jurisdiction

Bhara Bazaar

is

located
of the
it

came
"

to

that Bazaar and

called for the

chief officer

zemindar

who owns
unload the
said,

that

Ba/saaraud asked him what

was.

What

is

i^ Sir, that these

flat."

coolies refused to touch foreign salt

and

will not

Ue
be
'

said, "

What

can
for

I
it,

do."

That Magistrate

"You must

responsible

You

call the coolies.'

yon must be working for it." He said, The coolies were brought The Magis*
salt

trate asked,
flat to

"Why

do yon refuse to carry foreign

from the

tho godown." They said,

"We ar

not to do so " 'Ordered

105
by whom," asked the Magistrate.
caste priest

shall be put out of caate."

we touch it The Magistrate was non-plnssed. He could not catch the Manager and Turner Morrison & Co,
and
if

"By our Biradhari, by our our hookha will be stopped, we

had

to send a consit^nmeut of coolies

from Calcutta

to

unload

the salt at Bhara Bazaar.

nection
ig

But the

significant fact in this con-

the anxiety of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to help

of the foreign salt at

the unloading

Bhara

Bazaar.

Was
no.)

it

a part of his duty to see that Turner Marrison

?

Why? & Co.

of no,
to

did not suffer demurrage

Was

ho paid for

it

(cries

This same Sub-Divisional Magistrate had

local inquiry into

no time
It

go and make a
she went

a most pitiable case.

was

the case of a young girl of 14

who had been one night when

a

out of her hut

decoyed by

number
them.

of

Mahowas

medan

gundas.
in a

After a week she was found in

jungle,

a wretched

condition

thrown away
It

by

She

brought. The case was instituted.

human outrage oa
shame).
are

that

Hindu
to

girl

was a case of rape, inand the Sub-Divisional

and administration
of India?

Magistrate had no time

go and make a local inquiry (cry of

exploitation
in the

Does
of

it

not prove

parts

the

same duty

Government

Let those of our friends who ask us to separate politics from

boycott, politics from Swadesism, let

them work out thesepara=

in the policy of the

tion of administration from exploitation

Government
exploitation,

of India (hear, heai;). Let the

Government

of India

refuse to utilise the powers of administration for purpose of

and then we may justly be asked by the

officials

and by our Moderate friends to work out a divorce between politics and pure Swadesism* The fact is, my dear friends
that this Swadesism or boycott
is

not a mere economic moveis

ment.

No

economic movement

purely economic.
in

Politics

and ecoDomica are indissolubly bound up together

every

106
country, so
it is

in ludia.

There are special reasons wbicb

have

already placed before you

wby

it is

impossible to work out a

divorce between politics and economics, politics and indostriea

in India.

Swadesism
this boycott is

must

associate

itself

with politics and

it

when Swadesism
cott,
is

associates itself with politicE>,

becomes boyIt

and

a movement of passive resistance.

a movement of the determination of the people not only to

save the industries of the nation but also to create those forces
in the

community which by passive methods work

of Swaraj.

out

the

problem
goods.

Boycott in Bengal

is

not boycott of foreign

salt.

In

it is

included other than textile fabrics, sugar,

oflBces to

We have
to the

boycotted honorary

some
to

extent.

In

East

Bengal not a single popular man offered

stand for election

is

New

they will

coming when boycott Municipalities and District Boards also. The

Legislative Council and the time

moaning of this boycott is this. It desires to reduce the Government to Sbylock's pound of flesh rule. You have political
autbority over us.
titled to all taxes.

We recognise We shall pay

We

that authority.

You

are en-

them but nothing more than

is

the taxes.
done.

We shall

pay municipal rates but there our work

to look to the

You shall have

sweeping and the cleanshall have to carry on the

ing of the streets.

shall

pay the taxes but nothing more

than the payment of the taxes.

administration yourself.

You

strange contradiction in

A local Anglo-Indian my speech the other

paper finds a
night

when

said that we are people governing the country, and yet we have no share in the Government of the country; and he could

not understand the subtlety of the oriental intellectt

not understand that

He could
true.

both the things

might be
govern

AVe

1 might govern and yet we might not wonder if he understands the mystery of the Trinity. There The Chinese could re threo Gods and yet the three are one.

(laughter).

107
not understand this arithmetic that one and one and one
three,

make

what Indian ever said that this doctrine of Trinity was a foolish doctrine ? There is transcendental
Yefc

they say,

truth

in this doctrine of Trinity

we have our ov/n Vedantic

conception of the Trinity.

We

understand these things, bat

How is it that we govern and The how is easily explained. We govern the country and yet we do not know that we govern the country. Maya, Mai/a means this, want of knowledge; the removal of Maya creates no new factor. It simply gives a new meaning to the old factor, and it is the want of this meaning in the factor that we govern the country that makes the difference
the Mail could not understand. yet

we do

not

govern

between Swaraj and Pararaj and

this boycott

in

this

boycott and by

we propose
It is

to create in the people consciousness

of the Pararaj on the one

hand and the desire

for

Swaraj on
the

the other.

by the assertion of the determination of

to kill the

people against the despotism of the Government within absolutely legal

bounds that we can hope

is

Maya

that

has

overcome us and that

shall reduce the

the end of the boycott

to the

politically.

We

Government

^hey

say,

said that

Can yon boycott all we would ? Whoever

*

pound by the flesh rule. Government oflSces.' Who ever

said that there would be found

not a single Indian to serve the Government or the European

community here?

But what

vf

can do

is this.

We

can make

the Government impossible, without entirely making it imposWe did it in East Bible, for them to find people to serve them.

Bengal.

Lord Minto admits

it.

In his letter to Sir

Bampin

fylde Fuller in reply to his resignation letter,

what does he

say

He said

that an organised attempt was being

made

Bast Bengal to make the administration impossible and yon

havedone well

to resign.

Lord Mintorecognised the

possibility of

the people by an organised attempt to

make

the administratiop

108
impossible.

The admimsiratioD may be made impossible

ways.
It
is

iu ^a

variety

of

not

actually

that
it.

every
It is

Deputy
not
to

Magistrate should

say

won't serve in

that

when
up

one

man

resigns no
that.

body will
if

be

found
this

take
in the

his place.

Not

But

you create
will

spirit

country the Government service

gradually imbibe

this
office

spirit and they will occasionally strike work, and a whole

might

go'^into strike.
it

That does

not pot an

end

to in

the

ad-

ministration, but

creates endless complications

the work

of the administration

and

if

these complications are

created in

every part of the country, the administration wonld have been

brought to a dead*lock andjt has

sible

still

made

it

none the less impos-

and the primary thing

to

is

prestige oi the government,

and the
legal

boycott strikes at the root of that prestige. This determination

of the people

assert

themselves

within

absolutely

bounds against the despotic authority of the Government takes

away naught from that

illusory thing

autliority,

bat

that
is

Magic,

that

which

fchey call prestige

itself
is

which

more powerful,
to

more potent than the authority

by means
people to
of boycott.

and we propose
folly.

do

this,

Boycott

not a great

There are
Professor

whom

the words of the

it

Englishmen

are as good aa

gospel truth and for their benefit

Seeley, the aathor of the

may be
of

said that

Expansion

England, himself

con-

became practically of one mind not to help our administration we wonld have This is what Professor to quit the country at once (cheers }^
fessed
it

that) if at

any time the Indian people

Seeley said and boycott means an attempt to unite the determination of the people of India with a view to the
application of

that determination upon .the Government of the country to cure

their despotic character,

and

in this

hatred.
British,

We

do not hate.

Sir, the foreigner,

we are not moved by any we do not hate the

pay not even the Governmant.

We

want

to

be

indiffer-

100
eut to

them
*;o

That
1

is all

(laughter
there
is

and cheers),
such a thing aa

benevolently

indifEereut

them, and
think there

if

benevolent

despotism
difference.

miy be such

a thinf; as benevolent in-

We

desire to turn our faces

it

away from the Govern-

We desire to people. ment House, torn is concernto Government appeal stop oar month so far as the petition or ed and to opeii out month with a new appeal, a new application to our own countrymen, to our own people, to the
to the huts of the

masses of our own people.

ethics

This

is

the psychology, this

is

the

and

this

is

the spiritual significance of the boycott move-

ment
plete.

boycott of all

Government

offices

"will

not be

com-

No body

says

it w'li

be complete,

But we

can do one

thing.
to
it,

The Government Service has extraneous valne attached a value which ia more than the actual money that a
receives from the

Government servant
oases of
to the extent of

Government.
to secure

There

ai^e

men with an income

of R". 1,00. a year giving security

Rs 10,000 with a view

This

the post of a

Treasurer on Re. 80 a month.

treasurers for his

man

himself can keep two

Wiints
to

own

cutcheri

and yet he

become a
the

tresurerina OoUectorate, simply for the sake of

social position that goes with the
kill

its prestige,

Government
it

service.

"We can
its

that at any rate.

We can
if

induce Government sarvice to

lower, not

money value (laughter)

we

can't reduce

that no

man
ment

shall serve the

social opinion

Government, but whoever serves

Govern-

may

one day bring him down to the poeition

of a Vratya

who

is

not a

Brahman

bni;

through the ceremony of Upnnayanam,

hood.

was havingjailed to pass falls short of Brahmanservice to

of In-

We can

reduce every Indian in Government

the position of a
dian citizenship.
of

man who

has fallen

off

from the dignity

We can do

something more by the application

those to

our

social

opinion, drive

Government

service

who do

not find any other opening for earning a

livelihood,

110
reduce

them

to

what

is

kuowu
is

ia

oar

smritbi

as
tinaes

apadharma.
of

Certain

thiogs

are probited,
to

but

id

famine

when

the alternative

eat the

prohibited
food.

food or death, the Shasira permits the use of prohibited

apadharma and when the alternative before the man is death or Government service we shall allow him the latter.
IB

That

We

can redaoe

in this

in this country

and

if

way the value of the Government service we do it, it will be as good as boycott,
go there are those driven by
not encourage any

because people
necessity.

who

will

extreme
to

Social

opinion will
service.

man

go

and Heek Government

honors, because he
tadar.
is

No man
we do
it

shall

receive

nocial

a hakim or a munsiff or a
if

hnzur
it

sheris-

These we can do and

as I said,

will be

practically as
it is

good as boycott.

so

in

some parts of
if

There was a time, and even now the country, a man would not sell
There was a
time,

shoes or leather goods

he was a Brahman

and

still it

obtuins in

some

parts,

when no
Yet
it

Brahman
is

or

Kshatriya would earn by selling

that a

shoes.

conceivable

man might

be reduced to the extreme necessity of opening

liveli-

a shop for the sale of leather goods and he will earn his

hood thereby, but he

will fall in the estimation

of his country

and countrymen. Similarly we may reduce the Government service to something that is not very desirable, and by these

means we may make the administration impossible, because if we are able to create such a public opinion in our society^ then the temptations of continuing in the Government service, even when the conditions of the service require men to
sacriBce
their

conscience

or

self-respect,
i

will

have
service,

no
only

etfect.

Now,
the

man
the

cannot

give the

his

for

money,
is

honor

of

position,

the

estimation in which he
conaoience with
ftll

held by his people and he pockets his

the insalts he receives

from his

superior*,

Ml
becaase be knows there
is

he receives from the people.

his conscience

ample compensation in the Salam that The Deputy Magistrate pockets

the iusalts
that he receives from
to

and pocket

all

the

official,

because these things are

of office

known

nobody
is

else

but

when he goes oat

he receives salams and he

called

Ayah

by every one. Therefore he pockets

that nobody else will
office

know

it.

this when he comes to know Bat when be goes oat of the for sacrificing his
office will

nobody salams him then the temptation

conscience, then the self-respect for keeping his

be
diffi-

reduced to a

minimum and
;

the

fact of it will be

endless

culties in maintaining the discipline of the

Thiii is

Government

offices*

what

it

will

come

to

and

this is absolutely

lawful^

because there

is

no law that compels him to prostrate

himself

No law can compel him to give a chair to a m*n who comes to his house, he may give it to an
before the feet of the Hakim.

ordinary shop keeper, he

may

refuse that honor to the

Deputy
daughter
marriage
because
within

Magistrate or a Subordinate Judge.

in

marriage to a poor beggar he

with
the

He may give bis may refuse any

Magistrate,
absolutely

alliance
it is

son

of

a
his

Deputy
rights,

absolutely

within

legal

bounds. Keeping ourselves

well hope to

within the

bounds of

law
diffi*

we may
cult
if

make

the

administration
is

somewhat

not impossible and that

passive
in

resistance.

Passive

resistance is recognised as legitimate

England.

It is legiti-

mate

in theory

even

in

India and

if it is

made

illegal

by

new

legislation these laws will

infringe on the primary

rights of

personal freedom and will tread on dangerous grounds. Therefore, it

seems to me,

Sir, that

by

means

of

this

boycott,

we

work thai will have to be done That Swaraj. is negative work. Positive for the attainmet of it may create a determination work will have to be don aud
shall be able to negative the
in the

people to attain

Stmra].

It

may

create the strength of

112
tbe people to sacrifice their interest, immediate interest for the

good

of the country.

Boycott may do

all

these

things, but

without positive training no aelf-Government will

boycotter. It
life,

come

to the

will have through the organizition of our village

organization of our

talukas and districts.

Let our pro-

gramme

include the setting

up

of a
to,

machinery, for popular but independent of the

hear).
to

administration and running parallel

existing administration of the
is

Government (Hear,
of

It

not

illegal for

the people
their

any
to

village

combine
tank
for

their
their

labour

or

money and
for

dig

own use

or

sink a well

their

own
?

use

or

to

construct a road that will take them from their village to the

ordinary District Beard roads.

Is it

unlawful

No.
for

Ts it

un-

lawful to combine for these purposes, to combine

of medical
relief,

purposes

to

combine

for

purposes

of

educational

advancement, of industrial advancement,

to tax

themselves

subject to a central organisation with a view to

in
local limits, to
it is

work out withI

will say

remove their own wants unlawful, and yet we propose

daresay no one

to start a practical

scheme of self-Government running parallel to the District Boards and Municipalities and even the Provincial Government ^Cheers). We are doing it, we have done it partly in

some districts in Bengal. We are organizing our Arbitration Committees in our villages. Is it unlawful, Sir, for the people to refuse to go to Courts and be heavily taxed for seeking justice al their hands and for their civil complaints being
heard by
claimp.

men
Is
it

of their

own choosing who

No.

will

adjudicate their

unl'iwful P

We

are

organizing these
is

arbitration committees and

when our organization

by
us,

complete

the

Law

Courts will be relieved considerably of their presvnt

pressure.

Our medical men appointed

the principle of taxation

by the funds

collected on

by the people themselves,

113
will distribute

medical

relief.

Oar minor Public works

labour
of

will

be

eiccuied by the Co-operative

the

villagers,

because

we cannot always command

easier to

the co-operation in moneyi

in

Bat
hope

it is

combine

to

work out Co-operative labour

Co-operative labour

Indian villages and by means of this

to

we

Public Works Department parallel to Works Department of the District Boards and Municipalities and we propose also our own police, our own volunteers who will not usurp the functions of the Police in the matter of criminal investigation, but who will help the protection of person and property of the people. Can yoi^ prevent half a dozen younc^ men properly trained properly absolutely guided, who keep themselves within the law, but who go about every night in the streets of a village keeping

run our own

the Public

watch and ward over the property

the connivance of the Police?

of the villagers

and prevent

burglaries and other things which are often times done with

These are things which we proconclusively,

pose to do and once

we
we

are able to organize the country in this

shall prove

way, then

think,

we

shall offer

a practical demonstration to our opponents and to our friendly

critics

who always crow on

the want of capacity in the people

shall offer conclusive 'proof to all

for self-Government.

We

these people for the capacity of

the Indian population to orga-

nize their forces with a view to administer their forces

selves faithfully in few things. shall then he

them-

In the providence of

God we
is

made

the rulers over

is

many

things.

This

our

programme.

This, Sir,

the method by which

wo hope gradu-

ally to strengthen the manhood of the nation, to cf-eate in the community the determination to work out their own salvation themselves and to give them the training in the art of civic life, co-operative work for public good, in the art of self-gov-

ornroent.
IS

We

hope to do

it

by

these

means and we purpose

114
to supplement, strengthen, the hoycott

by means of a system

of national

education which will undertake to train up the

a way as will enable them to earn an independent living, independent of the Government service or those professions which are under the
people, the youth of the nation in such

control of the foreign

education

itself
I

will

Government. The subject of national demand a separate and exhaustive treatthat qwetion np some day next

ment.

So

propese to take
cheers).

week (Load

Contribution of Islam to Indian Nationality.

(PfFTH Lecture.)

Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Coantrymen,

thankful to the

am

eiocerely

Yoaog Men's Mahomedan

ABSOciation (hear,

hear) for this opportunity that they

have given me of speak-

ing npon^a subject which concerns most vitally the future well-

being of this great country.

of the

(Hear, hear).
I will

We hear often -times

not to-night enter
I

Hindu-Mahomedan problem.
\ia

apon a consideration
try to trace

of the nature of this problem.

will not

history either.

This

much

may be permitted
go
farther,

to say that in the days of

my

youth, not

to in

before

we had no Hindu-Mahomedan pr<?^em

we could

any part of Indiu,

not agree;

our religions were different, oar social customs did

not eat and drink with one another;

but both the

Hindus and the Mahomedans fully respected the conscientious scruples of the two communities (hear, hear) and differences
due
to religious considerations or social
illfeeling

customs did not create

so as
half

any

between Hindu and Mahomedan neighbours.

Bengal,
I

Speaking

of

memory
century

goes,
of

and

I
life,

may say am going

we never

that,

far

my
a

close

upon
in

eirthly

had
any

our

villages

or in our towns until very recently

unpleasantness bet-

ween the two communities. (Hear hear). In my own village we had a Mahomedan neighbour, a Mahomedan Zemindar.

We

had many Mahomedan friends, but

was referring to a
;

Mahomedan Zemindar who was our

village relations I

neighbour

and

in

our

remember that

used to call him

my chasha

or uncle as his son used to call

nncle (Hear, hear, and cheers.)

in

my

family we used to

may lather as his chasha or On the occasion of any marriage invite this Mahomedan Zemindar

116
family

and tbey

used

to

make

presents
hear).

to the bride

and
in

bridegroom on those occasiotis

(.hear,

In village
of

life

Bengal

in the olden times there

was a great deal

exchange

cf social amenities

which

is

falling into disuse

and decay owing

to the ingress of
festive occasions
flsh

modern

civilization.

On

marriage and other

we rarely bought
fish

fish in

Bengal

we rarely bought
my

we

do take
our own

from the bazaar.

We had

tanks whence we could draw our

occasions in
his fish

own

fish

and on those festive

house the Mahomedan Zemindar would place

pond at our disposal and we would do the same when

there was any festival in his house.

festivals,

During the Mahomedan

and, strange to

on the occasion of yedda and other festivals we used

to send presents to this say, on the occasion of

Mahomedan Zemindar
Durga Poja
in

my

father's

house we

invited them. It

is

not they would send us any present but they

would accept our invitation

country

and come and

In

exchange

social

amenities apart from the religious worship.

it

my

part of the
there

was a custom

in the

days of

my youth when

was any death

in a family

and there was a Sradka ceremony to

relations

be performed, friends aud

from distant parts

of the

country used to send special contributions.

people making them and receiving them.
the regulated
fee, eo to say,

These contributions

were regulated by the relative position and respectability of the

With regard
is

to

some

was Rs.

4.

That

in the case of a

Sradha

in

a family, they would send Rs. 4 and a piece of cloth

and

in

the case of Sradha in their families

my

parents would

send Rs. 4 and a piece of cloth in return.

lated fee

In others the regu;

was Rs.

2,

with some Re.

1,

with some half a rupee

family

and this relation existed between

bouring Zemindar family.
their family

my

and

this neigh-

When
in

there was any mourning in

we used

to

send them this money and this present

and when there was any Sradha

our family, they usedHo do the

117
Bame.
gal
'25

This, Sir, was the relation that existed even in East Ben. and 30 years ago, 15 years ago, 10 years ago between the

Hindus and Mabomedana of that Province. About this time last 1 was in Comilla and 1 was invited by a dozen respectable Mahomedaos of that town to address a pnblic meeting specially
year

organized by them over which a Mahoniedan Zemindar of the

own

presided
I

and on the day when

little

this

meeting was adverti.

sed, as

was taking a

rest

in the afternoon, I received a

surprise visit from the shian of that

who was my father's^eighbour,

Mahomedan Zemindar family who had married in Comilla

and by marriage was connected with one of the highest Maho-

medan families in that district. I had left ray village almost when 1 was in ray teens. My connection with ray village had practically ceased for quarter of a centary and \ did not know that this young man belonged to a family, which was one of
the familifcH that stood in friendly relations with

my

family;
;

know that this yoangman wafched my movements I did not know that he would care to know me and I was surprised to find him coming to see me at a time that was significant, at a time when some attempts were being made in Comilla itself to influence the aristocracy among the Mahomedan population to keep themselves away from the Hindu movements. This visit was significant; it had no political reference. It
did not

was significant as
existed between

the evidence

of the

old

friendship

that

my

family

and

this

respectable

Mahome-

dan family

in

my

village.

(Hear, hear.)

This was the state of

I

things quarter of a century ago.

This was, as

said, true of
I

many

parts of Bengal 10 year ago.

This was true almost

was

going to say 5 years' back.

It is therefore that I

say, Sir, that

;

we haye not known really any Hindu Mahomedan problem yet it must be said that since diiference have commenced to arise between the two communities due to whatever causes it may be,

118
it 18

ueceesary that those

of

who wish

well of the

two communities

and

the coantrj

at large should put their heads together,

(Laughter and cheers) and devise some means by which thin

estrangement may at once be put a stop to; (hear, bear) for let us remember this, that, though the M ahomedans came to India
originally

from

another

land

and

were

Originally
its

alien

conquerorp, they have lived in the country

among

people for

nearly more th^n thousand years

now (hear, hear) and they have become part and parcel of the great Indian nation. (Hear hear\ And they followed the example tlftt the Hindus themselves had set, because this country at one time did not
to the

belong

Hindus

either.

They came from another country, con-

quered the aboriginal races, established and spread their civilization

and culture and became in process of time the inhabitants,

of this country.

So the Mahomedans

also

coming from another

few centurie^

country to conquer those that had come before them, gradually

established their rule over

them and

in course of a

tbey became organically a part of

originally conquered and

the nation, which they had

come

to live

Indian nation
a
of

id

not a Hindu nation.

is

Mihomedaa
they

nation either, nor

among. (Cheers.) The The Indian nation is not the Indian nation composed
There are others, Christiana indeed of the Indian
in

Hindus and Mahomedans

form a
large

alone.

and

proportion

Nationality.
great' in
Pdrsees.''

There are others thoagh smaller wealth and considerably advanced

(Cheers
)

number, but

in culture

the

There are also the followers of Gouthama

all

Budhaand

these different cultures,

these different

communi-

ties constitute

thencTv Indian nation,

of Swaraj,

(Laughter and Cheers).

I

When
Indian

was talking
Nationality
I

when
I

talked of India and

did

not,

beg to

assure yon, talk

either of the

Hindu

or of the

But

I talked of all those,

Mahomedan, Budhists or Parsees who belong to this land who, where-

119

.c:
ever they

may

live,

have their

life-desire to

of that life within these shores,

spend the evenin g who eara money elsewhere bat

desire to contribnte their earning to the econocaic advaaoeoient

of this nation (hear, hear of the world with

and

cheers),

who gather

the

wisdom
East

a view

to replenish the calture of the

It \& this
It
is

is

the oivilisatiou of

this land.

land which to them

this

dearer tha.

all lands.

(Clieers)

land
it

which has
is

borne on

its

lap their forefathers and this land

wherein

they hope and pray that their children, and their children

may
in

grow and develop and be happy and

every department of

wise,

and advance

haman caltare frora generation to generation (Ctieerrt.) The Hinda Mahomedau problem to whatever caase or causes it may be due desires therefore our most serious consideration. And I believent, Sir, that this problem can be
best solved

by an understanding on the part of the Hindus ef the excellence of Islamic culture and Islamic civilisation and
by similar appreciation on the part of

my Mabomedan
(Hear, hear).

friends

of

Hindu culture and Hindu

civilisation.

The problem,
munities.

if

any problem exists at

all,

exists as I

said

the other night, not

among the lower orders The conflict is amon^ the higher

and
if

of the
classes

two comwherever
alone
are

there

is

this conflict,
to

the higher

cliiflses

who
to
if

able to study,

understand, to appreciate and

honor

the

universal elements of their respective cultures,

classes will apply themselves, the

the

higher
Isla-

Hindu

to the

study of

mic culture and

the study of

and the educated Mabomedan to Hindu culture and civilisation, 1 believe it will
civilisation,
to respect

be impoesible for either of tbem not

one another, and

where the

classes are trained

and led

to respect

one another,

then the masses

who

ar already living in amity will

grow

in

Community

of interest,

mutual

respect

and friendship mor^

120
and more. (Hear, bear.)
I
Ifc

is

for this reason, gentlemen,

that

want

to

draw your attention

ju3t for a few

briefly to the contributions

that,

momenta and very have been made by islam to

life,

to the

general progress

of Indian

since

fslam became
first

political factor in this country.

(Hear, bearj. In the

of

place

you, Geotlemen,
ideals,

who

are

Hindus are proud

ideals

your

religions

and

there are

two

that
of

stand

out above the

rest in the

whole religious culture

ideal of

Hinduism.

These two
ideal of

ideals are the

Yoga

or concentration

and the

Viraigya or renunciation and disattacbment.

that, as

But do you know

]

Yoga,

you bad your Yogies and your Viragies, the ideal of and Viragya flourished as much among the founders,
the teachers,

among

among

the saints and sages of Islam, as

it

flourished,

and as

it is to

be found

and teachers, and saints and seers?

among yonr own You know of

prophets
the great

Viraigya of King Janaka who, though king of kings, never felt that any attachment to the earthly things. But do you know
the world has not as yet

known

of an

example

of absolute

die-

attachment, grander, nobler, diviner than that which was

set

by the

founder, the prophet of Islam.

first

(Cheers.)

When

he

He, the died what did he leave ? Empire, he, who bad fought many

founder of Islamic

battles,

conquered

many

peoples and received, according to the custom, his share of the

booty in

many

wars, what did he leave

torn

mat and an
the
first

earthen chetty.

These were

all

the earthly effects of

prophet, Emperor of Islam,

Akbar.)

The
had

story

is

Mahomed himself. (Cries of Allaho recited of Mahomed and his daughter,

Ali one

and
gold

his

son-in-low

AH.

day became victorious

he got a
to

in

a
of

battle a.id

his part of the booty,

large

number

coins.

Mahomed bad nothing

to feed

eat that day.

But,

thinking

that his son-in-law

having received a
his friends,

'large booty

wo'ild be able

him and

Mahomed with

bis

t21
disciples

went
at

to

Ali's

house and
wife

he

called out

to Ali.

All

was not
was

home bat

his

Hazath, Mahomed's daughter

there.

asked his daughter

alone or are there

She answered to the call of her father. Mahomed to come oat. She said, "Father, are yon
others with you?

He

said
? T

"yes I have got

have no decent
Then,
he

my

friendn."
to

cannot come out.

Why

garments
said,

appear before anyone except yourself.

we
is

have
Ali ?

come

to

have

a good

dinner at your bouse.

Where

She said "Ali has not returned."

'

'But give us

then a good dinner.'

to drink this day.'

Father,

my

little

baby had not had milk

'What, your baby had no milk to drink; how

the lady replied
:

came

it

to

be

'

And

'What AUi received as

Is this

his booty, be distributed on the spot to the fakirs.'

not

an example of Viraigya

You

talk of

Yoga,

of

concentration
in the
is

but do you know that there was

Samadhi even

Maho->

medau
Ali.

prophetn),

SaintH, and Seers.

in

This incident

related of

was wounded wounded him entered his

Ali

the battle

and the spear that

it
it.

flesh just

underneath his kneo and

to

was 80 painful that be would not allow any body

His disciple oame to

touch

Mahomed and
it.

said,

"We
Ali,

are in a

fix,

broken spear has got into the thigh of

allow us to touch
said,

but Ali will not

Mahomed

we to bring it out? Then "Do not do anything now. When the time of prayer comee, ac^d when Ali sits down to pray, draw it oat and he will not feel it." And when the time of prayer oame, and Ali Hat down to pray, the spear was drawn away by force, out
are
of his flesh,

How

and he did not

feel that it

was drawn.
I

(Cries of

AUabo Akbar.)
is this.

Talking of Yoga and Samadhi,

am

remindit

ed of another anecdote concerning the

Hazrath himself and

You know that

his beloved wife

if

often times happened that

Ayesha and it when Mahomed was in the comforgetfal

of the

was

pany

of

Ayesha, talking to her completely

10

122
whole world, engaged ia mutual conversation, when there was
a flow of heart

and a

feast of soul between

husband and wife, at

that

moment
to

if

the Muzzin's call to prayer

could not recognise

call

went out, Muhomed Ayesha who was sitting before him. The

prayer at once took the soul of

Mahomed

to his

God
wife

and he became absolutely forgetful

ings including the presence of
herself.
If

of all his earthly surround-

his
if

beloved and

beautiful
if

you read the Khoran,

if

you read the Aziza,

lives'of

you

read the traditions of Islam,

saints,

you read the

all

Mahcmedan
ritual

you

will find

underneath

this

divergence of
is

and ceremonial and dogma and custom, there

devotion to

the spirit of

God, there
;

is
is

the

spirit

of

concentration

and

meditation to God

there

the spirit of disattachmeut as

in

much

in Islam, as is found in

Hinduism or

any other

r^Aigion.

(Hear, hear.)

But

it is

not merely the general unit between the

highest religious ideal of Islam and the highest ideals of piety

of the

Hindus, upon which our mutual appreciation and underIslam as an Empire as a governing

standing must be based.

power as a
general

political

anthority has

made

contributicns to the

life of

India,

which

is

political power.

We

seem

to

made perhaps by any think that the idea of Empire in

not as yet

new idea imported from the West, but long before the British raised up the Standard of Empire in India the Mogals had done it. The process of Indian unification though
India
is

it

has received considerable impetus from the" present British

administration did not start with the establishment of this

administration-

The

process of Indian uniffication had

the

commeu*
Indian

ced with the establishment of

general

authority of the
idea
of

Mogals

all

over

Indian
it

Continent.

The

Nationalipm though

has been considerably

developed by the

contribution of European thought and culture did not originate

wi'h the establishqient

of

Priiish

Rule.

It

grew

with

the

123
growth and expansion of the Mogal Empire (hear, hear.)
growth of an

The

Empire

alvviys everywhere

helps

the growth of

national anioos and aader the proper ideal of

grow more rapidly than they are able

to

Empire, nations grow within isolated

Kingdoms and small

I

principalities.

am,

Sir,

an imperialist, an imperialist of an imperialist,

sort.

bat

it. roast

be an Empire of a right

It

mast be an empire
eqaal liberty and
will be

where

all

the component parts shall enjoy

It

eqaal freedom.
of the people or,
least

mast be an empire which

people
themselves,

an empire

if it

be an empire of any particular dynasty at

there
shall

among

the

ran

practical
;

equality

and practical rights equal rights and equal

freedom hear, hear) and thought here were differences recognised by

Mahomedan administration

in certain

matters between the

of the

Hindufi, between
of Delhi

tbenon-Mahomedans sabjects
I

Emperors

and elsewhere, those differences

political

make

bold to say,
less

were not

differences

but

they

were more or

exclusively religious differences.

Under the Muhamadans, the Pattans and the Moghnifl, had the Hindus not a right of using arms ? Were the Hindus deprived of that right ? Under the

Moghnls, the

Mahomedans
Court.

could

not claim

the prirelege of

being tried by a special Court while the Hindus had to be tried

by

another

Under

the

Moghuls

the

Muhamadan
I said,

prisoner did not live in storied building while the

lived in the |first floor.

Hindu prisoner

There were distinctions but as

they were religious distinctions and the idea of equality befoie

law, the fundamental idea in the growth of
nationalities

was

received

first of all

from our Mabomedan friends.

we,

Before the

advent of the

Mahomedans
civil rights

Hindus, had no rights apart

our status.
Before the

from that

which was determined by

Muliamadans our

and even our criminal rights were

124
all

determind by our caste

is

itself

by the status of the individaa!.

life

That

decidedly, Sir, a lower stage in the growth of civic

a lower stage in the

evolntion of jurisprndence

aud

it

is

the

Muhamadaos who gave ns

apart

a right, a political right in

of,

India
of

from

and

independent

our

stataa as
lies

members

particalar castes and communities.

of democracy, there lies

There

the foundation
life,

the foundation of real national

there

lies

the

foundation of trae civic equality and this foun-

dation was laid by the

Muhamadans.

Our

law, the

Hindu law
Village

received material contributions from the

Muhamadan law and

fiscal

administration,
limitation to a

our

fiscal

system grew out of our old

extent into a general
fiscal

more or

lees

system

under the Muhamadans and the

especially so far
as the land
it

system of the

Muhamadans

revenues are concerned, has not

been improved and

said

if

has at

all

been improved by the advanced

civilised administration of

Great Britain.

great deal

is

now

and then by ignorant

from which the
Sir.

men even among my own people

Aurangzeb upon
free.

about

Jezia, the

tax that was imposed by

Hindus and
the
Jezia
is

Mahoraedans were

But

have a suspicion,

If

am wrong, you
It

will correct

me

that

really a

war

tax.

was a tax levied upon those

who
of

did not belong to Islam but

It

who were
because

subject to the rule

of

Islam.

was a tax levied upon subjects

Islam,

not follow
Islamic

the rules of

brotherhood, every

subject of

Islam who did member of th the Islamic common

every
in

wealth
Islam,

had

to

render

military

service

the
to to

wars

of

but those

who
not
lieu

did

not belong

the

Islamic
this

common wealth
every
Islam,

could

be

compelled
military

render

military service and in

of this

service

which

member
those

of

Islam had to render to the commonwealth of

did

who

not not

belong to Islam
to

but who were

of

subject t& this

common wealth had

pay

this special tax

125
Jezia.

was not therefore a special tax that was the Hindus by the Mahomedan rulers of India, but
It

levied
it

upon
not be

was a tax

levied upon every one

called

who did

not i-ender and

who oould
Now,

upon

to render peisonal military service for the execution

of religious

wars of

Islam.

(Hear, hear).

Sir, briefly

speaking, in

politics, in

administration, those have

been the

contributions of Islam to the general growth of Indian National

life
;

but far more valuable have been the contributions of Islam

to the social

and religious

life of

India.

AH

our great reforms

in the sixteenth

and fifteenth centuries were really the product

Islam upon

of the influence of

Hindu thought.
deal of his
traditiont

Nanak owed
ideals to

his

monotheism and a
culture and

good

religious

Islamic
't

Islamic

In the

scripture of

Sheikhs you will

the

find quotation

from the Vedas the Upanishads,

life

Puranas, standing side by side with citations from the

sages,

and teachings of the Mahomedan Bsints and

ShiekParid and others.
ced
?

men
to
I

like

The movement
of

of

Mahomedan
calture.

influen-

Even the movement

with

Kabir owed something

our

contact

Mahomedan

thought
of

and

am
who

not aware,
lived

Sir, of the

Bhaghavatars

Southern

India

r
t

who were contemporaries of Nanak in Punjab, of Kabir in Upper India, of Ohaitanya in Bengal and of Thukaram on the Bombay side. Bat we know there was a great spiritual upheaval four or five
and
flourished 400 or 500

years back

years back in India,

the upheaval that

tried to raise

socially

and morally the lowest classes of the

heaval thnt
declared

Indian community, an up

more or

less

openly a

war against the

virtue the

system of oaste, an upheaval

that souGjht to raise in

spiritual excellence and character the lowest Pariah to the position

of the saint

and the

seer and

this

upheaval

which

on

the

political side

again contributed to the effort at nation-building

of Sivaji in the

Maharatta country, of

Gurugovind,

in

the

12S
Punjab, of Prataparudra in Bengal.
religions,

All this political, spiritual,

to the

and

social
of

upheaval were due

Islam

influence

of the
life,

ideal

and culture

upon Hindu
ideals (cheers)
;

thought, Hindu

Hindu

culture and
it

Hindu

and keeping

all this

in view, is

at all surprising

that

we who

have oome

now

under other influences seek to combine our forces and resources

and try

to

work out a

larger, a deeper, a wider union

between
in the

the different Indian cornmunities than had been

past.

known
up

The Indian nation which we

in the past

desire

to build

in this

country will differ

from other natiors

in the

world.

Nations

grew

by the accretion of small

tribes, tribal organiza-

tions that were

more or

less in their fluid state

coming together
of
is

under the

stress'of political

circumstances, formed themselves

in India the

into larger

nations.

But,

problem
it

nation
as
it

building stands on a

different p'ane.

In India

not
is

it

were

of old in other countries

and even in this country

not

with a few fluid tribal organizations that met together

stress of

under

common

political

circumstances and are trying to form

themselves into a compact nation. No. In India, not fluid tribal

organisations batdeveloped culturesfuUy developed communities

with a past history of their own, with a special characteristic of

their own, with religions of their own, with traditions
of their

own, such nations,

cultures have

grown up nations,

who have developed

day and the
will

oome together

in India in the present

nation that will have to be built

up

in India,

therefore,

have to be built up by the union|of

fully developed cultures, fully

developed nationalities and not by the union

tribal organisations

as of old, of flaid

and when fully developed, nationalities come and commence to

live one

together in
civic

one territory,
life<

common
of

and commercial

The

nation

that must

grow out
of

that must be a federated nation, and a nation that will respect,

and recognise the individuality of the* different parts

it|

the

r
127
nation that will present to the world a federated humanity, tbo
of

miniature

ideal

of

dream

of the poet, the

hope of the

man

God.

When

the great world cultures meet

is

together they
in

Bhall

them for the general uplifting and advancement of humanity, when each culture will receive from other cultures that which it lacks initself
contribute that which
best

and highest

and

will

contribute to those cultures things that

it

has developin
;

ed specially in itself and which they

>

may

be lacking

that

is

the problem of nation

future Indian

buiraing

in India.

nation will not be a nation that will profess one religion.

The future Indian The

that will
will

nation will
the

not be

nation
nation

accept

'

one

social

code,

future Indian

not

be

nation that will submit itself to one particular set of

or ethical
discipline.

spiritual

We
;

cannot obl'terate the past,

nor

neither

can the Hindu cease to be a Hindu,

oease to be a ASahomedan
for

can the
to

Mahomedan
to be
;

the

Hindu

cease

a
for
to

Hindu
the
i

is

to forego his claims to the to cease to be

service of
is

humanity

Mnhamadan

Muhamadan

similarly

forego his claims to render his

own

service touniversal humanity.

The Hindu must continue to be a Hindu, must grow as a Hindu own line, following his own historic evolution towards his own ideal. The Mahomedan must continue to be a Maho. raedan, must develop Islamic feeling, traditions of Islamic history and Islamic culture and the Christian shall continue to
along his

be Christian following the line of Christian civilisation, Christian culture

,

and Christian

tiadition.

continue to be aParsee, grow in his

but
all

The Paisee similarly shall own special life and culture

these shall contribute their best and their highest to the

life of

common

the nation and shall exchange one with another

that they

the best and the highest

have

in

them.

(Cheers}.

128
That being our
ideal of nationality
if it

is

almost foolish for any-

one to thiuk that

the Indian
;

people grow into a nation the

the Indian people grow into a
it

minority shall go to the wall

nation
it

if

will not
it

be a Hinda nation nor

be a Christian
nation.

will be a

Mahomedan
it

nation nor will

No,

Sir,

will be a

federated nation.
is

We

have had our own

hiatory
I

history,

our

position

nniqae in the world, onr

in

has been
read khis

aniqne in the
history

world and

God's Providence, as

and

as

I read the position,

our destiny will be a unique destiny

among

the nations of the woild.

We

shall

work out

in

India the proin

blem
this

of the federation of the liaman<'l'ace.

And
to

working out

problem the Hindu, the Mahomedan and the Ctiristian shall

their highest

make
first

and best contribution

the

common culture,
to

of the Indian nation

and then through the Indian nation

the

common culture of the wider, the universal life of humanity. And in this work my young Mahomedan friends you must join
the'

Hindus and the Hindus must

join

you

because

let

as

re-

member jtbis that our interests have beenindissolifHbly bound up together by GodYon belong to this land, our weal is your
weal, onr
ill is

your

ill

weakness,

your

weakness

(Hear hear); our weakness is your and in is weakness our

in

our strength, you shall grow strong and

shall

your strength, we
combination and

grow strong (cheers and

i

in

our mutual

strength

we shall be

able to Bolve the most complex problems of

politics far

Indian

civiliz ition

and Indian

more

easily

and with
enemies

the least disturbance to the present

desire us or wish us to do.

order

than

our

(Prolonged cheers and load shouts

I

Vande Mataram.)

"National Education."
(Sixth Lecture.)

Mr. Pal continuing his address on the above subject on

Thursday evening

last,

said

that

The next question is, 'Is the education that we received, we have been receiving for the last 50 years and more,
is

the education that has been established in this country by the

present alien Government,

that education conducted

along

National
those

lines?'

(Cries of no, do.)

No!

Why

not,

because

who
it

control

and

direct this education are not

lines.

competent
if

to direct

it

along our National

(Cheers.)

Even

they
it.

desire

they

have not the adequate kuowledge for doing

of being superior orientalists

Toey may

translate our ancient scriptures

and they may win

by translating a

the reputation

chapter of the Raraayana or one or two Sutras of the Vedanta,

but a study of Sanskrit
of the

grammar

or translation of a few
of the

sutras
entitle

Vedanta or a few chapters

Nyayi does not

race,

a foreigner to get into the spirit of the consciousness of our and as foreigners hiving a different cist of mind, having
having had a different training, the traditions, Government and those whom that foreign Government
its

different

foreign

imports from

own country

are

utterly unfit

to guide

and

oontrol education in India along National lines.

more intimately of India than did the late MuUer, and yet when an Indian reads the voluminous works of Max Muller what does he find. He finds there that at every
step the great orientalist has translated the
failed to
tion of

No man knew Profe.-isor Max

convey the meaning.

17

When

first

words but has read his translaI

Dharmapada, the great Buddhist

ecripture,

read

it

ISO
corapariog
it

with the original; and even without any intimate

vf ith

acquaintance

Pali, a

man who knows

are found
I

a little of Sanskri^
in

and Prakratj, as these

took

Prakratis

Sanskrit

may

help understand Pali scriptures.

I

Max Mulier

for help,

was reading Dharroapada and and what did I find ? On the very first

in Dharmapada which isa significant word describing the discipline of Buddhism. There is nsed this word Nirudha Veerya 1 needed no translation to understand
;

page Ifonnd there one word

means, holding of the Veerya, Sutra Dharma, Brahma Charya. These are all common things in our country. Nirw
what
it

dha Veerya.

looked

in

to

Max

Mulier.

What

did

find ?

He

means strong, Sandow is a strong man, but can the qualification of Nirudha Veerya be applied to Sandow. Now, this is just the sort of insight that we find into our literature,
says
it

our thought, our

life,

our habits, our custom, our

scholars.

culture

and

our civilisation iu the oriental

And

if

Max
of

Mulier

could go no further in Nirudha Veerya than Sandow's strength,

bow can you expect a raw graduate

ripe graduate fiom Oxford or

or for

the matter

thai,

Cambridge coming out

along Indian

to

India
lines.

and directing Indian education

No,
it

National

of

The present Government stands incapacitated, because directing is Government the education a foreign And what is the sort of the people along National linen.
Sir.
all

education that you have been receiving

these years.

It

has

had precious
of your

little

reference to your

own

life,

to the actualities

An attempt
little

own National history, not even had it any reference. is being made now only recently. It had very

reference even to your physical surroundings.

Yon would
speci*
ail.

learn Botany by British specimens

and not by Indian

if it

mens. Indian Botany

iiven

is

of recent

growth,

has grown at

now

in

your books you learn words, but tbe things that

absolutely

these words signify are more or less

absent
1

your actual

Iif<?

and environments.

In the days when

from was a

131

boy
all

we read many

excellent

thioge.

The

smell

of

hay

is

gweet.

And

every

Indian
the

boy
of

wonders hay be

why

should,

of

things

on earth,
is,

smell

sweet.

He

does

not
it,

know what hay

he said

and the teacher,

at least

my

teacher did

it was straw, and when going through a straw December or January, I have tried to smell the roots of dried straw to see what sweetness there was in it. Gradually the revelation came to me (laughter) that the sweetness was

field in

not to be found by

human

nose,

but the Britisher

naturally
(

being re-

presented by John Bull,

race of Bulls,

must

have

I read, as some perception of sweetness in straw. some of you must have read also, of the swallow, my fourteen generations upward have never seen and I believe my 14 generations down shall never see swallow unless they go to England

Laughter.)

like

me.

And

yet

have learnt

swallow, swallow, swallow to

it

swallow the wbole witbont getting any idea whether

big thing or a small
black,

was a
or
colour

thing, whether
its

it

was

white,

brown
its

and what was

formation and what

was

Sometimes they give us pictures of swallow and othef things

but what physiologist
students from
is

there

who

teaches

physiology

to

his
io

physiological charts.

They are

helpful

certain extent as p'qemonics, with a view to revive the

of things that

memory
yar8 has

have not been seen

in their

original actualities.
all these

The education that you have been receiving

been shallow and because of this
tion has been verbal education,
fact,
it

namely, that this

reference to

educa*
things

had no
our

but

words.

It

helped

to

develop
it

memory but never

to

our sense or our understanding as

the result
is

onght

have done.

And

not only we have suffered in

intellectual life, but

we have
life

suffered in our ethical, our artistic

as well.

Our

character has

even in tubs but in orchids,

and our spiritual grown on foreign tubs, not our manhood has been hung up on

182
tho voranda having oo roots in
the aotnalifcios
of

our

natioti

aod oar

we have grown like orchids orchids grown on the veranda of European Government. That is what oar education had been and the greatest pity of it is thi?, that it has divorced onr minds
life in

the past traditions of oar race,

our heart, oar spirit oar character,

and oor manhood

to

from

our National

life.

We

have been taught

botanise the oak,

to botanise the elm, to botanise the beech to

the neglect of our

banyan,

our

of the flora

mango groves, our chanpaka tree, to the neglect of onr own coan try. We have been taught to
beauties of

investigate into the habits and customs of foreign animals and

birds and this teaohiag has blinded our eyes to the the ornithological
in the

kingdom

in India.

Onr

birds

that resound

morning
form
fields,

in

mango groves with

part of our
fields,

their

thousand nctec,
life.

do not
covered

any

intellectual

The grass

tho paddy

the

mango groves,
all

the flowering

chanpakas, asoka, the flowering vaknia,

these things do not

in

awaken
lectual

in us

any

intellectual,

do not create

us

any

intel-

quickening or

emotional movement, because

lived apart

from our
actnalitiea

childhood onwards
of our
life.

we have

from these

Open an English
text books are not

text book and what do yon find there? Those meant for you, they were made for European,
in

EngliBh boys and they described the surroundings

of

the midst

which the English boy

lives

and grows and therefore from

his infancy

onwards every English boy is placed in vital contact with his own surroundings, with his social surroundings, with
National life. Why, on account of this outlandish educayon are divorced from your actual surroundings and your

his
tion,

actual

National

life.

Partriotism has suffered in India in the

past on accoant of this divorce between education and National

133
iu

life.

There has been paiiiotism

India

oiasses of a type, I admit.

In the days

of

amoog the edacated my yonth we also

dreamt

divine dreams in re^jard to the

glory of our coantry.

We

sang also then National songs, bat this partriotism of 25

years

ago

was a

airy,

fairy

somethiog,

absolutely

an*
this

related to the reality of oar life

is

and snrroandings

and
in

due, this starvation of the patriotic sentiment

India,

this

weakening

of civic aspiration in the people, this

depen-

dence upon the alien bureaucracy for the attainment of personal ambition or National advancement
these

all this is

due entirely

to the

outlandish, the rootless education that

all

we have been receiving

have
to

years.
to be

Since sometime past open attempts

commenced
lar

made by

the

Government

impart a particu-

kind of education in this country, an education that creates

loyalty

hot-house

among

the

people of the land.

(Cries of

shame).

Lord

Curzon

started

University

and educational

reform with a view to the cultivation of loyalty to the present

Government in India. Bishop Weldon, when the University reform was under discussion in India, writing to the London Tinten distinctly declared, and Bishop Weldon ought to know^^
what was
iu

the mind of bis old classmate, the Viceroy of India

educational

in those days, that

reforms were

needed for

the

cultivation of loyal sentiments

Lee Warner's bible

among the people of the country. has been made a text book, specifically for
is

these purposes and the recent circulars indicate what

the trend
us.

and tendency

of the officialised

system of education

among

This education was introduced by] the English Government more

than 50 years ago, specifically for their
education

own

benefit.

Eoglisb
far

was
is

not

introduced

haphazard.

So
a

aH

Bengal
cation and

concerned,
arose between

we
th3

know

that

great

controversy

supporters of

English edu-

the

advocates of oriental learning before English

134
Schools and Colleges were opened.
the introdaotion
of Eoglieh

Among

those

who advocated

Macaalay.

and western education was Lord There were others opposed to him who wanted to
reintroduce

introdace the old, to

the old, oriebtal system

of

education. Their idea was to teach us

as

said once with a view to

Ghatathwa and Patathwa perpetuate our Dasathwa through

to

Ghatathwa and Patathwa and Qnce you devote yourself Ghatakasa and Patakasa the political Akasa would be free
all

of

disturbances.

The

orientalists

wanted

to

confine

our

intellect

and our mental

activities to ancient logamatris.

They

wanted

to

keep the light of modern education and science away

educated in

and why, becanse they were afraid lest the Western Bcien<^. educated in Western literature, brought up in Western history, might
from
this country

Indian

people,

gradually

demand

to quote

Lord

Dnfferin
to

" to ride in those

the
free

chariot of the sun " might

political

be led

demand

institutions that

are

the most glorions

in reply to these

heritage of
forces de-

Western nations.
clared that
it

And Macauky
Western

would be a glorions day

for

England

if

the people

of India, educated in

science,

brought up in Western

history and literature,

for themselves iu

demanded those

free political institutions

their country

which

exist in the

land of

their rulers.

(Cheers.)

And

this declaration of

was only an argument used against

Sir, as

his opponents.

Lord Macanlay It was not,

I read

it,

declaration of original policy, should this

thing happen then we shall enjoy the supreme satisfaction of

having raised a
National
glory,

fallen

nation to such

not

that

we

desire

it

and snch an object of happen, bot if the ta

the
consolation,

contingency should happen as your orientalists say, then this

will

be

our,

consoUtion.

The

consloation,
of

twice
is

will

be

the

uplifting

fallen

nation.

That

what Lord

Maoaulay'e words meant and the policy that

135
guided Lord

Maoaolay was
in

this.

He saw

that

fcbe

British

Goverument
potic
to

ladia was a despotic Government and no desexist in

Goverument can

any coantry unless

it is

able

secure the

support of the people of that

its

country.

Even

Russian despotism depends for

that
it

continuance upon the support

has been receiving from ibe royal duties and from those

wbo

are dependent on tbe royal duties in Russia.

is called,

The despo*

tism of tbe unspeakable Turk, as be

of the Sultan of
It is

the hidden Turk,

Turkey, that

is

alao an unmitigated despotism.

supported by the Pasha.

The power
it

of tbe priest

and tbe

power
in anfl

of the aristocracy stand as a

of the Sultan of

Turkey protecting

bulwark around the throne from all insults from withof political history
it is

from without.
a citadel

Every student

knows

that no despotism can exist anywhere unless

able to create

about

itself

of interest,

popular interest, in tbe perpethe

tuation of

its

own authority and

itself as

English

Government

in

Tndia having established

ty in

tbe supreme political authori-

the

country, looked
It looked

citadel.

about for the creation of such a about and saw tbe native princes but they
is

wereunthinkableas a support of British rule which

to

established

the loss of

their

own power.
castes.

They

loolied

upon the

middle

classes, the real aristocracy of tbe country, the

Brahman

and tbe other higher

They had been

to

some extent

greatest suSurers under tbe preceding administrations and the

saw in this middle class the possibilities of a bulwark that might be raised round itself for its own protection. English education was imparted with a view iu create Ihid bulwark. It had tu be imparted, because the Goverument of
British

policy

such a large people could not be conducted by importing alien

officers

from their

island

home.
it

Native agency had

to

be

employed.

It was essential that

should be employed and au

agenoy bad to be created, because tbe Govern meut that t^89

1S6
foreigners established in this country was their own Government and not tlie Government of the people themselvsa. The system was tbeit own. English oducation had to be imparted, imparted with a view to raise up a class of men who would bo able to serve the Government, that was one object. It had to

be imparted,

secondly,

to create a class of

men whose

interests

interests of the would be indieeolubly Government, which would receive their living from the hands of the Government as Government servants, who would receive

bound up with the

interest would be

honour and distinction from the Government, whose temporal bound up indissolubly with the Government,
that,
if

and more than

these people are trained in European

history in English literature not only their temporal interests but their intellectual, their moral, their ethical ideal, nay even
their
civic
ideal,

may

be bound with the perpetuation of the

Policy

foreign anthoiity in this country.

demanded that you

and
English
of

should

be

educated

in

Western
the

science

literature,

and

for

a
its

long time

Government

India

looked upon yon as

recently,

greatest help and

support. Until
say,

very
the

before a quarter of a century even, I might

Government in India looked upon the educated classes as those who would interpret their wishes to the people and stand between the people and the Government gaining theallegiance of the people for the Government and gaining the good offices of the
That was the ideal even of British India 25 years ago. The creation of an educated etatesineii in aristocracy so to say in India was thus of the Government But gradually ;^ou refused to discharge the in this country. functions which they wanted you to discharge, you claimed

Government

or the people.

more than they thought you would even claim from them. Lord DuSerin said that you wanted to lide in the chariot of be sun and then gradually when yon became restive, when yoa

187

became discontented, when you began, instead

strengthen the authority of the Governmeat, to

of

helping

to
eelf

place

your

07er the head of the people and set up a permanent opposition to

that Q-overnmcnt, the educational policy bad to be changed, and
it

was changed. At

first

gradually, at

first

secretly,

at

first

insidiously and then, as ynur opposition

the policy of the Government also

in the last University Act,

became violent and open became violent and open until

some extent,
in the

we

find the culmination of that policy

whose object
of depth of

is,

has been,

to curtail to

name
aud

learning,

an

extensive

cultivation of
I

European
told

literature

and European art by our people.

speak open

have been

I believe it is true, but, I

to correction, that

Burke had

been tabooed by the Calcutta University, the old books would be tabooed more aud more, and in place of Burke yon have Lee
biblp. (Laughter.) The time therefore has come when in the interests of the intellectual life of the nation, nay, more than that, in tke interest of the preservation of the nation

Warner's

itself,

yon and

should take up the charge of educating people

incur own hands, so that we may direct the mind of the nation,
the will of the nation, the heart of the nation,

the

energy

of

the nation with a view to the realisation of the destiny of

nation.

the
start

In the system of education that

we propose

to

in this country, liberal

and

scientific culture will

be combined

with technical education.

In the system of education that

of

we

have formulated already in the National Council

in

Education
liberal

Bengal we have sought to combine

training.
in

scientific

and

education with technical

Whatever
apart

else

might be
eet

done in other countries,

wholly technics
acientiSo

India

it

well be suicidal to

up
and
tbe
I

independently

or

from

liberal

training.

We
Man

are

essentially Sir, an

intellectual

race and

we cannot
18

sacrifice

the

intellectual life
ftlone.

for

earning of bread.

liveth not by bread

No, as

Ids
said the other uigbt, neither do nations live by bread alone

National destiny could not

factories or

be

realised

by setting

and up soap
of

cotton mills.

Indeed, even in the

interest

the
is

economic

life of

the nation, liberal and

scientific

education

essential, because

what

is

technical education?

Technical
to

education

is

that education

which

helps a

man
of

produce

marketable commodities by the application

gence on
the

trained intelli*

knowledge

of the material that

'to

he possessesof
is

Ju the application of trained intelligence

the knowledge

material for the production of marketable commodity, that

technical education, the intelligence must be trained for technical

education

and intelligence can only be trained by a

liberal

training, by a liberal culture,

and knowledge of material must

;

and know* be gained for the purpose of tf chnical education by gained scientific only be education, can material of ledge
because
it is

the science which gives you a knowledge of material,

and technical
intelligence to

education being the

application

of

trained

knowledge

of

material

for the

production of

marketable commodity,

it is

impossible to divorce this education

culture. Therefore in our system of National education we had combined as compulsory standards, liberal and the lower school in branches

from general, liberal and

scientific

scientific

education with technical training up to 12 years of age.

Up
he

to the class
is

which an ordinary boy may get toby the time

12 years,
is

we

teach no technical

arts.

It

is

the period

which

devoted to the cultivation of the

natural intelligence

of the boy, of the

f'tandiug, to the
of his senses

development

of

his

powers

of

nnder-

development
of the

of bis eye

and hand, the training

and

imparting of ordinary knowledge of

^

material for the training of the senses. From the 13th to 14th, two years this trained, intelligence develops this knowledge
ui materially

advauping and we teach him to apply

this intelli-

189
gence to the knowledge of material that he gains during
these

two periods by a 8pecifi3 Fcientific culture for the pi eduction of some marketable commodity and this goes on advancing
from step to step.
by

For instance,

let

us represent the degree

of;

intelligence that a boy receives, attains

a, let

when be
of

is

14 years old,

us represent the knowledge of material that an average

in

bay
in

gets

the

class

where
by

boy
fc
;

14

may
to

get
6

to

our

ocrilege^

or

school
c.

applied

will

produce the commodity

let

In the next year his intelligecce grows

us indicate the growth of this in'olligence by a

of
1.

raieedtothe

power
of
1

His knowledge

of experience as b raised to the

power

and the commodity that he produces also c raised to the

of
1.

power

In the next year

it

will

be a raised to the power

of 2, b raised to the

power
c

of 2,

and a corresponding improve-

ment

in

the commodity,

raised to power of 2 and in this

way

we

go up to the end of our school career

is

and

if

the school

career

finished,

when

the

young man goes

to the

National

College there are three branches.

One

is

the general liberal branch

whererin he
All

is

taught language,
are

history,
in

philosophy, arts.

these

things

taught

one

branch.
is

There

is

a
is

middle
a third

branch wherein
br.'vnch

pure

science

taught. Th^re
studies are

wherein higher

technical

en*

couraged and held for the production of higher kinds of materials

and commodities.
rich
literary or

Those who have not

to earn a living, sons of

men, men with independence, they may go

humanitarian studies.
themselves

in

for

pure
rioh,

Those who, though not

desire to devote themselves to literary

work may go in
to

to that

and devote
the arts.
rians,
artis's.

exclusively

the

cultivation
others,

of

In this department
poets,

we

shall train

up

histo-

philosophers,

journalists,

painters,

scnlptors,

Then

in the

middle branch of ^acier.ce pure, oor aim

of

shall be to

produce men

Ecience

v^ho wLall

devote them

140
selves to original scientific
inveetigation, roer the of

type of

Jagadees Chandra Bhose, or Prabhulla Chandra Blioee, and in the tkird branch there will be men who will apply the principles
of science as attained

by the retteaiches of the

scientific

students

and savants
propose to Bengal.

for the production of ordinary

commodity. This Sir

briefly is the sketch of the

system of National education that we

National
Schools

impart in our
one in

and

Colleges in
in

We

have already a number of schoolsj one

Dacca^ two in the
District,

Rungpup,
and a endowed

one in
District,

Dinajpur,

Mymensingh

two

in

Comilla

one

in

Jalpaigiri

school

and

college in

Calcutta.

The income from

I

funds of the National Council of which

be a

have the honour to

member

is

just

now

Rs. 60,000.

It is

not a large

National

University, but

we

hope, in course of time as

able to prove by results the saperiority of the

sum for a we are education that we

our

seek to impart to our youths, funds will befortlooming.

have got now 2,500 different colleges and schools.

We

to 3,000 students reading in

(Cheers.)

It is

not a large

num-

ber and yet we are not disheartened because

we

are working

against great odds. This present system of education, officialised

education, has created a hankering in the people for the Govern-

end the so called learned professions and the education that we offer can hold out no temptations in those lines.

ment

service

(Hear, hear and cheers.)

Our

certificates of

degrees will not

(Cheers.) I

help any one to get into the Government service.

shall be sorry, Sir,
if

at

any time

it is

regarded as a passport of

Government
(cheers).

service until the

Government bocomes our own

We may

teach law,

we have

uot started

acy legal
to plead

faculty as yet, but our legal degrees will not entitle

one

before these foreign

Law

Courts (Cheers.)

We

are working

against great odds, but

students.

still

we are thankful

for these 3,000

first

There were not as many when they

started

Ul
English edocatlon in this coantry and
I

believe, Sir, that in

proportiou as the repressive metisurej oJ the present

Govern-

ment advances and persecation is started against the student population and an attempt is made to stifle their new-born love
for the motherland (cheers)
,

in proportion

as

this

is

done, in

proportion as an alternative that the officialised institations will

place before the people, becomes this, either to serve the mother

land (cheers) or to attain a livelihood by following the service

f

f the foreign

Government
I

in proportion as

this is

done,

in

that proportion,

believe, with the help of

God, the enthusiasm

for National education will increase (shouts of Vande

Mataram)

and both guardians and boys, as they are doing

in

iu

Bengal, will

every part of India consider

it

their sacred duty to give their

go-by to the
'

officialised educational icstitations

and the chances

Government and tuke to National education (cheers) and this njucb, lean assDre you, my dear friends, that whoever will come to our schools and
of earning a livelihood by slaving under
,-

this

colleges will have a greater chance

of earning a decent liveliofficialised

hood than what

(Cheers.)

is

offered

by the present
I

University.

How many

of those,

say,

who

are sent to school

by

their parents with a view to pass their examinations,

and pass,

ing their examinations, to get into some honourable post under

the Government,
their goal ?
six at the
.

how many, what percentage of those do attain (A voice 5 per cent.) Yes. Out of every 100, five or
(cries of

utmost

yes, yes).

noniber

fall off

at the

matriculation and they cannot go further; a

the F. A. and they cannot go to the B.A.;
off at

number fall off at again a number fall

it is

the law degree and

they [cannot pass and

just like

the

Mahaprayana

of thePandavasand ultimately the Yudhisktira

reaches the position of a Deputy Magistrate.

That

is

what be-

comes and the boy that

tbftt

falls

upon the way, the young man

falls off at

the Matric, at the F.A., the

young man that

is

l42
of the B.A., what are they worth ? (A voice Rs. 7-8-0 another Rs. lOJ (Langhter and cheers). In Madras a B.A,, as I understand, earns on an average Rs. 15 or Bs. 20 a month (cries of shame and not even that.) 1 am glad to learn that it is trae, becaase if yon realise that truth of it the temptation to follow this

expelled from the gate

What

can they earn

might have been and what we can offer for you in our education, yon must have seen from this brief sketch that I have given you, all prizei,
TJni versify will not be so strong as it otherwise

no blanks.
body.

(Cheers.)
to

Ours

will not

be merely an

examining
it is

We

some extent are an examining body, but

If

due to
teach*

an example set by the University.

we

are left

to ourselves,

we would not be an examining

ingbody
(hear, hear)
;

body, bat
I

we would be a

and gradually

hope that these Univer-

sities rather filled to their

utmost capacity by the son of Tahsil

dars and Deputy Magistrates and other

(laughter and cheers) the general
gether.

Government servants
it

population leaving
it

alto-

When
to in the

that day comes, as I hope

will be,

we

shall be

able

also

considerably

system

National University.

modify our present examination But, as I said, our system

;

ofBers all prizes

and no blanks

because the boy that leaves our

is

National Schools at the age of I4

good

for

doing something,
blackhis

perhaps he can turn out some work as a carpenter, as a

smith, as a goldsmith, as a weaver, something he can

turn

we take care to teach every boy that which he is best fitted to learn, we teach every boy something, be he the son of a Zemindar or a peasant. Compnisory technical education in must have if (hear, hear) he the school department
to
;

hand

not for earning bread, at least as a part of the general liberal

culturo, bacause

making of things is regarded now by moderate Pedagogues in America and other places as part of the liberal education of every boy. Therefore whoever goes out of school

143
will have learnt something from us by

thing say 15 to 20,

consolation, the

if

he cannot earn more,

which he can earn somebat will have the

sapreme

satisfaction of feeling that he is a free

If

man and independent man.

faction of dining

he cannot provide himself and

his family with luzarioas food he will at least have the satis-

upon bis

rice

and rasam or charu, bat

that

consist-

tently with the preservation

of his self-respect.

(Hear, hear

and cheers)

Thif), then, is

the sort of edacation

we have
is

schemed
this.

in

oar National University

;

This

is

the ideal of the

realisation of the National destiny

and my

last

word to you

Unless yon accept this

it

ideal of National education and

not only accept

intellectually bat unless

you make a strong

for tuition in

realisation, the rich to lay Out thtsir

money, those who have not

these the
best

money
schools

to place their

boys and their youths

to
this

and the general public

is

offer

that they
itj

can towards the furtherance of

the time
its

object, auless
spirit will
fail

you do
to

come when
because
introduced

all this

new

attain

purpose

of
in

the
the

repressive

measures

that
of

are being

Educational Department
of

India by that
circular, I

Government, (Cries

shame.)

The

recent

do not know what

I say that

effect it will

have upon the cons-

c*euce and consciousness of thepeople in Madras. (Cries of It will

have.)

Need

henceforth
it

it

will not be possible not

only forourflcboul boys, but

for our teachers

will be difficult, if not impossible

in

and professors and the educated community

general to participate in the present National apheavah

Sir,

Why,

why

should politics be iaSooeti from our University and our

schools.

Do

they do

it

in

England

(Cries of no, no.) Is politics

condemned even
sities

in the public schools of

England;

in

the Univer-

do they not discuss patriotic and academical problems, but

actually deal with the burning political questions of the day. In

the Oxford and

Cambridge unions they discnss

politics

and

in

the

144
BchoolH they brinpf up boy brigades, do fchey not sing the Natiooal

Anthem

in the public schools in

England, Rule Britannia roles

is it

the waves, Britain shall never be plaves,

school in England, and
of
if

tabooed in any public

say that the singing

not,

how can you

Bande Mataram

is

not consistent with the advancement of real

culture and education

of

among

the people of this country, (Shouts

in

Bande Mataram.) The Principal of a College

Madras,

it

is

reported, wanted, to

amend the

objects

ofYoung Men's Associasenti

to

tion which declared that the cultivation of the patriotic

ment was its end and aim and he wanted

amend

it.

Cultivatioi

of the patriotic sentiment consistently with loyalty to the prese.

Government, would it be impossible, would it be thought of c would it be dreamt in any part of England. (Cries of no, no) Patriotism in an absolute virtue and if it is to be limited by at consideration it is to be limited by a consideration of universal humanity and by no other consideration patriotic sentiment must
be cultivated consistently with the cultivation of love for universal humanity* That is whatone can understand. Therefore, it seems
to me. Sir, that this

new

circular and the

all

repressive measures
will either kill

that are

presaged in this circular,

these

National education, not in every Province, but in some^ Provinces.

(Cries of " not in Madras".)
1

thank you

but
it

it

will, I

Hope,

it

will not be able to kill it; on the contrary

this circular of the

seems

to

me

th'

Government

of India well help the

I

National

education

(cheers) and

growth c hope and trust the ne

patriotism and public spirit of Madras (shouts of Bande Matara

will give a practical reply to this circular by organising

now

at once a National College and School

here.

(Shootsof

Ba.

Mataram.)

If this is done,
it is

you will solve the problem of edncat'

ou-

in India such as

not as yet been solved by the British

trolled Universities and officialised agencies of public iustro

in this country.

(Loud shouts of Bande Mataram and prolo^

pheers.)

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the hair

Mr.
It

Romesh
is

Chunder

Dewan Bahadur
Rotv Avl.:
'^^^
i

R. Raghuti

M.A.,C i.E:

efficacious
effiect

and

sweet-scented and has a cooling

brain.

*'^^^'

Jabakusum Taila cools *^"''^* headache, and

S.

on the

P'-easant to use.
| !

Mr. D. E.
I

Wacha:
in testifying

Dr.
M.D..
L.E.P.,

V.

Ramasawmi
CM.,
Oculi-^^,

lyen

have pleasure
excellence

M.B.,

L.R.C.P.

to

&

Jabakusum Taila, which possesses good cooling qualities and contributes, not a little, to a rich growth oi
t!.e

of

Mv^
keep the
^

Government:

Very pleasant and eyes cool.

to

hair.

The

Hon.

Gopal
.

Kiisljna
-

A. K. Yagnanaravana Iyer, Chemist, Mysore Governmer,

!
^

Gokhale, C.I.E.:-

It

is

the most
oil

agreeable

Jabakusum Taila
refreshing.

is

cooling and

fumed
growth

and

promotes

of the hair.

To

cool the over-worked brain, to help concentration, to streng

the intellectual power, to cheer the spirit,

and

for

removing
is

bald!

prematurely tupning grey and falling off of hair, there

our
celestial toilet

nothing eqi

perfume, Jabakusum Taila.

Ever housed where

gets possession.

Chief Agents,

aANE5H &

Co

MADRAS.

PLEASE

DO NOT REMOVE
FROM
THIS

CARDS OR

SLIPS

POCKET

UNIVERSITY

OF TORONTO

LIBRARY

DS 479
.1

Pal, Bipin Chandra Speeches of Bepin Chandra

Pal

P35A57