diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:03:34 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:03:34 -0700 |
| commit | 9a08ac25e2f2932f5f225e7d7c761554926f404d (patch) | |
| tree | 2a855cc09b02e09578fb3b21b86f27dae3296edc /35349-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '35349-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 35349-h/35349-h.htm | 2249 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35349-h/images/deco_bottom.jpg | bin | 0 -> 21302 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35349-h/images/deco_top.jpg | bin | 0 -> 21370 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35349-h/images/frontis.jpg | bin | 0 -> 95648 bytes |
4 files changed, 2249 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/35349-h/35349-h.htm b/35349-h/35349-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..960d9df --- /dev/null +++ b/35349-h/35349-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2249 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Freedom Through Disobedience, by C. R. (Chittaranjan) Das</title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + body {margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right; font-style: normal;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + .giant {font-size: 200%} + .huge {font-size: 150%} + .big {font-size: 125%} + + .poem {margin-left:15%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .verts {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;} + + .border {border-style: double; border-width: 7px; margin: auto; width: 500px;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Freedom Through Disobedience, by C. R. +(Chittaranjan) Das</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Freedom Through Disobedience</p> +<p>Author: C. R. (Chittaranjan) Das</p> +<p>Release Date: February 21, 2011 [eBook #35349]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREEDOM THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Bryan Ness<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/freedomthroughdi00dascuoft"> + http://www.archive.org/details/freedomthroughdi00dascuoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<div class="border"> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">Freedom<br />Through Disobedience</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">BY</p> +<p class="figcenter"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="" /></p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">C. R. Das</span><br /> +President of the 37th<br />Indian National Congress, Gaya, 1922.</p> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">ARKA PUBLISHING HOUSE,<br />George Town, MADRAS.</p></div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">Freedom<br />Through Disobedience</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">BY<br /> +<span class="big">C. R. DAS</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">ARKA PUBLISHING HOUSE,<br />GEORGE TOWN, MADRAS</p> +<p class="center">1922</p> +<p class="center"><i>IMPERIAL BOOK DEPOT</i>,<br />DELHI.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/deco_top.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">PRINTED AT THE MANORANJINI PRESS,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sowcarpet</span>, MADRAS.</p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/deco_bottom.jpg" alt="" /></div> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>FREEDOM THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE</h2> + +<p><i>The following is the full text of the Presidential Address of Desabhandhu +C. R. Das at the thirty-seventh session of the Indian National Congress +held at Gaya on 26th December 1922:—</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sisters and Brothers</span>,—</p> + +<p>As I stand before you to-day, a sense of overwhelming loss overtakes me, +and I can scarce give expression to what is uppermost in the minds of all +and everyone of us. After a memorable battle which he gave to the +Bureaucracy, Mahatma Gandhi has been seized and cast into prison; and we +shall not have his guidance in the proceedings of the Congress this year. +But there is inspiration for all of us in the last stand which he made in +the citadel of the enemy, in the last defiance which he hurled at the +agents of the Bureaucracy. To read a story equal in pathos, in dignity, +and in sublimity you have to go back over two thousand years, when Jesus +of Nazareth, “as one that perverted the people” stood to take his trial +before a foreign tribunal.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>“And Jesus stood before the Governor: and the Governor asked him saying, +Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayëst.</p> + +<p>“And when he has accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered +nothing.</p> + +<p>“Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness +against thee?</p> + +<p>“And he answered him too never a word; insomuch that the Governor +marvelled greatly.”</p> + +<p>Mahatma Gandhi took a different course. He admitted that he was guilty, +and he pointed out to the public Prosecutor, that his guilt was greater +than he, the Prosecutor, had alleged; but he maintained that if he had +offended against the law of Bureaucracy in so offending, he had obeyed the +law of God. If I may hazard a guess, the Judge who tried him and who +passed a sentence of imprisonment on him was filled with the same feeling +of marvel as Pontius Pilate had been.</p> + +<p>Great in taking decisions, great in executing them, Mahatma Gandhi was +incomparably great in the last stand which he made on behalf of his +country. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest men that the world has ever +seen. The world hath need of him and if he is mocked and jeered at by “the +people of importance,” the “people with a stake in the country”—Scribes +and Pharisees of the days of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> Christ he will be gratefully remembered now +and always by a nation which he led from victory to victory.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">“LAW AND ORDER”</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, the time is a critical one and it is important to seize upon +the real issue which divides the people from the Bureaucracy and its +Indian allies. During the period of repression which began about this time +last year, it was this issue which pressed itself on our attention. This +policy of repression was supported and in some cases instigated by the +Moderate Leaders who are in the Executive Government. I do not charge +those who supported the Government with dishonesty or want of patriotism. +I say they were led away by the battle cry of Law and Order. And it is +because I believe that there is a fundamental confusion of thought behind +this attitude of mind that I propose to discuss this plea of Law and +Order. “Law and Order” has indeed been the last refuge of Bureaucracies +all over the world.</p> + +<p>It has been gravely asserted not only by the Bureaucracy but also by its +apologists, the Moderate Party, that a settled Government is the first +necessity of any people and that the subject has no right to present his +grievances except in a constitutional way, by which I understand in some +way recognised by the constitution. If you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> cannot actively co-operate in +the maintenance of “the law of the land” they say, “it is your duty as a +responsible citizen to obey it passively. Non-resistance is the least that +the Government is entitled to expect from you.”</p> + +<p>This is the whole political philosophy of the Bureaucracy—the maintenance +of law and order on the part of the Government, and an attitude of passive +obedience and non-resistance on the part of the subject. But was not that +the political philosophy of every English King from William the Conqueror +to James II? And was not that the political philosophy of the Romanoffs, +the Hohenzollerns and of the Bourbons? And yet freedom has come, where it +has come, by disobedience of the very laws which were proclaimed in the +name of law and order. Where the Government is arbitrary and despotic and +the fundamental rights of the people are not recognised, it is idle to +talk of law and order.</p> + +<p>The doctrine has apparently made its way to this country from England. I +shall, therefore, refer to English history to find out the truth about +this doctrine. That history has recorded that most of the despots in +England who exercised arbitrary sway over the people proposed to act for +the good of the people and for the maintenance of law and order. English +absolutism from the Normans down to the Stuarts tried to put itself on a +constitutional<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> basis through the process of this very law and order. The +pathetic speech delivered by Charles I. just before his execution puts the +whole doctrine in a nutshell. “For the people,” he said, “truly I desire +their liberty and freedom as much as anybody whatsoever, but I must tell +you that their liberty and freedom consist in having Government, those +laws by which their lives and their goods may be their own. It is not +their having a share in the Government, that is nothing appertaining to +them. A subject and a sovereign are clear different things.” The doctrine +of law and order could not be stated with more admirable clearness. But +though the English kings acted constitutionally in the sense that their +acts were in accordance with the letter of law and were covered by +precedents, the subjects always claimed that they were free to assert +their fundamental rights and to wrest them from the king by force or +insurrections. The doctrine of law and order received a rude shock when +King John was obliged to put his signature to the Magna Charta on the 15th +of June, 1215. The 61st clause of the Charter is important for our purpose +securing as it did to the subject the liberty of rebellion as a means for +enforcing the due observance of the Charter by the Crown. Adams, a +celebrated writer of English Constitutional History, says that the +conditional right to rebel is as much at the foundation of the English +Constitution to-day as it was in 1215. But though the doctrine of law<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> and +order had received a rude shock it did not altogether die; for in the +intervening period the Crown claimed and asserted the right to raise +money, not only by indirect taxes but also by forced loans and +benevolences; and frequently exercised large legislative functions not +only by applying what are known as suspending and dispensing powers but +also by issuing proclamations. The Crown claimed, as Hallam says, “not +only a kind of supplemental right of legislation to perfect and carry out +what the spirit of existing laws might require but also a paramount +supremacy, called sometimes the king’s absolute or sovereign power which +sanctioned commands beyond the legal prerogative, for the sake of public +safety whenever the Council might judge that to be in hazard.” By the time +of the Stuarts the powers claimed by the Crown were recognised by the +courts of law as well founded, and, to quote the words of Adams, “the +forms of law became the engines for the perpetration of judicial murders.” +It is necessary to remember that it was the process of law and order that +helped to consolidate the powers of the Crown; for it was again and again +laid down by the Court of Exchequer that the power of taxation was vested +in the Crown, where it was “for the general benefit of the people.” As +Adams says, “the Stuarts asserted a legal justification for everything +done by them,” and, “on the whole, history was with the king.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>But how did the Commons meet this assertion of law and order? They were +strict non-co-operators both within and outside the Parliament. Within the +Parliament they again and again refused to vote supplies unless their +grievances were redressed. The King retorted by raising Customs duties on +his own initiative and the courts of law supported him. The Commons passed +a resolution to the effect that persons paying them “should be reputed +betrayers of the liberties of England and enemies to the same.” There was +little doubt that revolution was on the land; and King Charles finding +himself in difficulty gave his Royal Assent to the Bill of Rights on the +17th of June 1626. The Bill of Rights constitutes a triumph for N. C. O’s; +for it was by their refusal to have any part or share in the +administration of the country that the Commons compelled the King to +acknowledge their Rights. The events that followed between 1629 and 1640 +made the history of England. In spite of the Bill of Rights the King +continued to raise customs duties and Elliot and his friends were put on +their trial. They refused to plead and the result was disastrous for the +arbitrary power of the King. The King levied ship money on the nation. The +chief constables of various places replied that the sherrifs had no +authority to assess or tax any man without the consent of the Parliament. +On the refusal on the part of the people to pay the taxes, their cattle +was destrained and no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> purchaser could be found for them. The King took +the opinion of the Exchequer Court on the question “when the good and the +safety of the kingdom is concerned and the whole kingdom is in danger.” +Mark how the formula has been copied verbatim in the Government of India +Act. “May not the king command all the subjects of his kingdom, to provide +and furnish such a number of ships with men, victuals and munitions and +for such time as he shall think fit for the defence and safeguard of the +Kingdom from such peril”—again the formula “and by law compel the doing +thereof in case of refusal any refractoriness? And whether in such case is +not the King the sole judge, both of the danger and when and how the same +is to be prevented?” The Judges answered in the affirmative and maintained +the answer in the celebrated case which Hampden brought before them.</p> + +<p>I desire to emphasise one point and that is that throughout the long and +bitter struggle between the Stuarts and Parliament, the Stuarts acted for +the maintenance of Law and Order, and there is no doubt that both law and +history were on their side. On the eve of the Civil War, the question that +divided the parties was this: could the Crown, in the maintenance of Law +and Order, claim the passive obedience of the subject or was there any +power of resistance in the subject, though that resistance might result in +disorder and in breaches of law? The adherents of the Parliament stood +for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> power and the majesty of the people, the authority and independence +of Parliament, individual liberty, the right to resist and the right to +compel abdication and deposition of the Crown, in a word, they stood by +them against the coercive power of the State. The adherence of the Crown +stood for indefeasible rights—a right to claim passive obedience and +secure non-resistance on the part of the subject through the process of +Law and Order; in a word, they stood for State coercion and compulsory +co-operation against individual liability.</p> + +<p>The issue was decided in favour of Parliament but as it must happen in +every war of arms, the victory for individual liberty was only temporary. +Though the result of Civil War was disastrous from the point of view of +individual liberty, and though it required another revolution—this time, +a non-violent revolution—to put individual liberty on a sure foundation +“the knowledge that the subject had sat in rude judgment on their King, +man to man, speeded the slow emancipation of the mind from the shackles of +custom and ancient reverence.”</p> + +<p>The Revolution of 1688—a bloodless revolution—secured for England that +Rule of Law which is the only sure foundation for the maintenance of Law +and Order. It completed the work which the Long Parliament had begun and +which the execution of Charles I. had interrupted. But how was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> the +peaceful revolution of 1688 brought about? By defiance of authority and by +rigid adherence to the principle that it is the inalienable right of the +subject to resist the exercise by the executive of wide, arbitrary or +discretionary powers of constraint.</p> + +<p>The principle for which the revolution of 1688 stood was triumphantly +vindicated in the celebrated case of Dr. Sacheverell. In the course of a +sermon which he had preached, he gave expression to the following +sentiment. “The grand security of our Government and the very pillar upon +which it stands is founded upon the steady belief of the subjects’ +obligation to an absolute and unconditional obedience to the supreme power +in all things lawful and the utter illegality of resistance on any +pretence whatsoever.” This is the doctrine of passive obedience and +non-resistance the doctrine of law and order, which is proclaimed to-day +by every bureaucrat in the country, foreign or domestic and which is +supposed to be the last word on the subjects’ duty and Government’s +rights. But mark how they solved the problem in England in 1710. The +Commons impeached Dr. Sacheverell giving expression to a view so +destructive of individual liberty and the Lords by a majority of votes +found him guilty. The speeches delivered in the course of the trial are +interesting. I desire to quote a few sentences from some of those +speeches. Sir Joseph Jekyll in the course of his speech said,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> “that as +the Law is the only measure of the Princes’ authority and the peoples’ +subjection, so the law derives its being and efficacy from common consent; +and to place it on any other foundation than common consent is to take +away the obligation.” This notion of common consent puts both prince and +people under, to observe the laws.</p> + +<p>“My Lords, as the doctrine of unlimited non-resistance was impliedly +renounced by the whole nation in the resolution, so diverse Acts of +Parliament afterwards passed expressing their renunciation, ... and, +therefore I shall only say that it can never be supposed that the laws +were made to set up a despotic power to destroy themselves and to warrant +subversion of a constitution of a Government which they were designed to +establish and defend.” Mr. Walpole put the whole argument in a nutshell +when he said, “the doctrine of unlimited, unconditional passive obedience +was first invented to support arbitrary and despotic power and was never +promoted or countenanced by any Government that had not designs sometime +or other of making use of it.” The argument against the doctrine of Law +and Order could not be put more clearly or forcibly, for his argument +comes to this: “that the doctrine is not an honest one if law and order is +the process by which absolution consolidates its powers and strengthens +its hand.” I will make one more quotation and that is from the speech of +Major-Gen. Stanhope. “As to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> doctrine itself of absolute +non-resistance, it should seem needless to prove by argument that it is +inconsistent with the law of reason, with the law of Nature and with the +practice of all ages and countries.... And indeed one may appeal to the +practice of all Churches and of all states and of all nations in the +world, how they behaved themselves when they found their civil and +religious constitutions invaded and oppressed by tyranny.”</p> + +<p>This then is the history of the freedom movement in England. The +conclusion is irresistible that it is not by acquiescence in the doctrine +of Law and Order that the English people have obtained the recognition of +their fundamental rights. It follows from the survey that I have made +firstly that no regulation is law unless it is based on the consent of the +people; secondly where such consent is wanting the people are under no +obligation to obey; thirdly, where such laws are not only not based on the +consent of the people but profess to attack their fundamental rights the +subjects are entitled to compel their withdrawal by force or +insurrections; fourthly, that Law and Order is and has always been a plea +for absolutism and lastly there can be neither law nor order before the +real reign of Law begins.</p> + +<p>I have dealt with the question at some length as the question is a vital +one and there are many Moderates who still think that it is the duty of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +every loyal subject to assist the Government in the maintenance of Law and +Order. The personal liberty of every Indian to-day depends to a great +extent on the exercise by persons in authority of wide, arbitrary or +discretionary powers. Where such powers are allowed the rule of law is +denied. To find out the extent to which this exploded doctrine of Law and +Order influences the minds of sober and learned men we have only to read +the report of the Committee appointed to examine the repressive laws. You +will find in the report neither the vision of the patriot nor the wisdom +of the statesman; but you will find an excessive worship of that much +advertised but much misunderstood phrase “Law and Order.” “Why is +Regulation III of 1818 to be amended and kept on the Statute Book?” +Because for the protection of the frontiers of India and the fulfilment of +the responsibility of the Government of India in relation to Indian States +there must be some enactment to arm the executive with powers to restrict +the movements and activities of certain persons, who though not coming +within the scope of any criminal law have to be put under some measure of +restraint. Why are the Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act 1908 and the +Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act 1911 to be retained on the Statute +Book? For the preservation of law and order? They little think these +learned gentlemen responsible for the report that these Statutes, giving +as they do to the Executive wide, arbitrary and discretionary powers of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +constraint, constitute a state of things wherein it is the duty of every +individual to resist and to defy the tyranny of such lawless laws. These +Statutes in themselves constitute a breach of law and order, for, law and +order is the result of the rule of law; and where you deny the existence +of the rule of law, you cannot turn round and say it is your duty as +law-abiding citizens to obey the law.</p> + +<p>We have had abundance of this law and order during the last few years of +our National History. The last affront delivered to the nation, was the +promulgation of an executive order under the authority of the Criminal Law +Amendment Act making the legitimate work of Congress Volunteers illegal +and criminal. This was supported by our Moderate friends on the ground +that it is the duty of the law-abiding subject to support the maintenance +of law and order. The doctrine, as I said before, has travelled all the +way from the shores of England. But may I ask—is there one argument +advanced to-day by the Bureaucracy and its friends which was not advanced +with equal clearness by the Stuarts? When the Stuarts arrogated to +themselves a discretionary power of committing to prison all persons who +were on any account obnoxious to the Court, they made the excuse that the +power was necessary for the safety of the nation. And the power was +resisted in England, not because it was never exercised for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> the safety of +the nation, but because the existence of the power was inconsistent with +the existence, at the same time of individual liberty. When the Stuarts +claimed the right to legislate by proclamation and by the wide exercise of +suspending and dispensing powers they did so on the express ground that +such legislation was necessary for public safety. That right was denied by +the English nation, not because such legislation was not necessary for +public safety but because such right could not co-exist with the +fundamental right of the nation to legislate for itself. Is the power of +the Governor-General to certify that the passage of a Bill is essential +for safety or tranquility or interest of British India, any different from +the power claimed by the Stuarts? There is indeed a striking resemblance +between the power conferred on the Governor-General and the Governors of +the provinces and the powers claimed by the Tudors and the Stuarts. When +the Stuarts claimed the right to raise revenue on their own initiative, +they disclaimed any intention to exercise such right except “when the good +and safety of the kingdom in general is concerned and the whole kingdom is +in danger.” That right was resisted in England, not because the revenues +raised by them were not necessary for the good and safety of the kingdom, +but because that right was inconsistent with the fundamental right of the +people to pay such taxes only as were determined by the representatives of +the people for the people.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> Is the power conferred on the Governor to +certify that the expenditure provided for by a particular demand not +assented to by the legislature is essential to the discharge of his +responsibility for the subjects, any different from the power claimed by +the Stuarts? It should be patent to everybody that we do not live under +any history of England as proclaimed that it is idle to talk of the +maintenance of law and order when large discretionary powers of constraint +are vested in the executive. The manhood of England triumphantly resisted +the pretensions of “Law and Order.” If there is manhood in India to-day, +India will successfully resist the same pretensions, advanced by the +Indian Bureaucracy.</p> + +<p>I have quoted from English History at length, because the argument +furnished by that history appeals to people who are frightened by popular +movement into raising the cry of “law and order.” Follow the lines laid +down in that History. For myself, I oppose the pretensions of “law and +order” not on historical precedent, but on the ground that it is the +inalienable right of every individual and of every nation to stand on +truth and to offer a stubborn resistance to the promulgation of lawless +laws. There was a law in the time of Christ which forbade the people from +eating on the Sabbath, but allowed the priests to profane Sabbath. And how +Christs dealt with the law is narrated in the New Testament.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>“At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn; and his +disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ear of corn and to eat.</p> + +<p>“But when the Pharisses saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples +do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day.</p> + +<p>“But he said unto them, have we not read what David did, when he was an +hungered and they that were with him;</p> + +<p>“How he entered into the House of God and did eat the shew bread, which +was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but +only for the priests?</p> + +<p>“Or have we not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests +in the temple profaned the Sabbath and are blameless?”</p> + +<p>The truth is that law and order is for man, and not man for law and order. +The development of nationality is a sacred task and anything which impedes +that task is an obstacle which the very force and power of nationality +must overcome. If therefore you interpose a doctrine to impede the task +why, the doctrine must go. If you have recourse to law and order to +establish and defend the rule of law, then your law and order is entitled +to claim the respect of all law-abiding citizens, but, as soon as you have +recourse to it not to establish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> and defend the rule of law, but to +destroy and attack it, there is no longer any obligation on us to respect +it, for a Higher Law, the virtual law, the Law of God compels to offer our +stubborn resistance to it. When I find something put forward in the sacred +name of law and order that it is deliberately intended to hinder the +growth, the development, and the self-realization of the nation, I have no +hesitation whatever in proclaiming that such law and order is an outrage +on man and an insult to God.</p> + +<p>But though our Moderate friends are often deluded by the battle cry of law +and order, I rejoice when I hear that cry. It means that the Bureaucracy +is in danger and that the Bureaucracy has realised its danger. It is not +without reason that the false issue is raised and the fact a false issue +has been raised fills me with hope and courage. I ask my countrymen to be +patient and to press the charge. Freedom has already advanced when the +alarm of law and order is sounded; that is the history of Bureaucracies +all over the world.</p> + +<p>In the meantime it is our duty to keep our ideal steadfast. We must not +forget that we are on the eve of great changes, that world forces are +working all around us and that the battle of freedom has yet to be won.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">NATIONALISM: THE IDEAL</p> + +<p>What is the ideal which we must set before us? The first and foremost is +the ideal of nationalism. Now what is Nationalism? It is, I conceive, a +process through which a nation expresses itself and finds itself, not in +isolation from other nations but, as part of a great scheme by which, in +seeking its own expression and therefore its own identity, it materially +assists the self-expression and self-realization of other nations as well. +Diversity is as real as Unity. And in order that the unity of the world +may be established it is essential that each nationality should proceed on +its own lines and find fulfilment in self-expression and self-realisation. +The Nationality of which I am speaking must not be confused with the +conception of nationality as it exists in Europe to-day. Nationalism in +Europe is an aggressive nationalism, a selfish nationalism, a commercial +nationalism of gain and loss. The gain of France is a loss of Germany, and +the gain of Germany is a loss of France. Therefore French nationalism is +nurtured on the hatred of Germany and German nationalism is nurtured in +the hatred of France. It is not yet realised that you cannot hurt Germany +without hurting Humanity and in consequence hurting France; and that you +cannot hurt France without hurting Humanity, and in consequence hurting +Germany. That is European nationalism; that is not the nationalism of +which I am speaking to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> you to-day. I contend that each nationality +constitutes a particular stream of the great unity, but no nation can +fulfil itself until it becomes itself and at the same time realises its +identity with Humanity. The whole problem of nationalism is therefore to +find that stream and to face the destiny. If you find the current and +establish a continuity with the past, then the process of self-expression +has begun, and nothing can stop the growth of nationality.</p> + +<p>Throughout the pages of Indian history, I find a great purpose unfolding +itself. Movement after movement has swept over this vast country, +apparently creating hostile forces, but in reality stimulating the +vitality and moulding the life of the people into one great nationality. +If the Aryans and the non-Aryans met, it was for the purpose of making one +people out of them. Brahmanism with its great culture succeeded in binding +the whole of India and was indeed a mighty unifying force. Buddhism with +its protests against Brahmanism served the same great historical purposes +and from Magadha to Taxila was one great Buddhistic empire which succeeded +not only in broadening the basis of Indian unity, but in creating what is +perhaps more important, the greater India beyond the Himalayas and beyond +the seas, so much so that the sacred city where we have met may be +regarded as a place of pilgrimage of millions and millions of people of +Asiatic races. Then came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> the Mahomedans of divers races, but with one +culture which was their common heritage. For a time it looked as if there +was a disintegrating force, an enemy to the growth of Indian nationalism, +but the Mahomedans made their home in India, and, while they brought a new +outlook and a wonderful vitality to the Indian life, with infinite wisdom, +they did as little as possible to disturb the growth of life in the +villages where India really lives. This new outlook was necessary for +India: and if the two sister streams met, it was only to fulfil themselves +and face the destiny of Indian history. Then came the English with their +alien culture, their foreign methods, delivering a rude shock to this +growing nationality; but the shock has only completed the unifying process +so that the purpose of history is practically fulfilled. The great Indian +nationality is in sight. It already stretches its hands across the +Himalayas not only to Asia but to the whole of the world, not +aggressively, but to demand its recognition, and to offer its +contribution, I desire to emphasise that there is no hostility between the +ideal of nationality and that of world-peace. Nationalism is the process +through which alone will world-peace come. A full and unfettered growth of +nationalism is necessary for world-peace just as a full and unfettered +growth of individuals is necessary for nationality. It is the conception +of aggressive nationality in Europe that stands in the way of peace; but +once the truth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> is grasped that it is not possible for a nation to inflict +a loss on another nation without at the same time inflicting a loss on +itself, the problem of Humanity is solved. The essential truth of +nationality lies in this, that it is necessary for each nation to develop +itself, express itself and realise itself, so that Humanity itself may +develop itself, express itself and realise itself. It is my belief that +this truth of nationality will endure, although, for the moment, unmindful +of the real issue, the nations are fighting amongst themselves and, if I +am not mistaken, it is the very instinct of selfishness and +self-preservation which will ultimately solve the problem, not the narrow +and the mistaken selfishness of the present, but a selfishness +universalized by intellect and transfigured by spirit, a selfishness that +will bring home to the nations of the world that in the efforts to put +down their neighbours lies their own ruin and suppression.</p> + +<p>We have, therefore, to foster the spirit of Nationality. True development +of the Indian nation must necessarily lie in the path of Swaraj. A +question has often been asked as to what is Swaraj. Swaraj is indefinable +and is not to be confused with any particular system of Government. There +is also the difference in the world between Swarajya and Samrajya. Swaraj +is the natural expression of the national mind. The full outward +expression of that mind covers, and must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> necessarily cover, the whole +life history of a nation. Yet it is true that Swaraj begins when the true +development of a nation begins, because, as I have said, Swaraj is the +expression of the national mind.</p> + +<p>The question of nationalism, therefore, looked at from another point of +view, is the same question as that of Swaraj. The question of all +questions in India to-day is the attainment of Swaraj.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">NON-VIOLENT NON-CO-OPERATION</p> + +<p>I now come to the question of method. I have to repeat that it has been +proved beyond any doubt that the method of non-violent non-co-operation is +the only method which we must follow to secure a system of Government +which may in reality be the foundation of Swaraj. It is hardly necessary +to discuss the philosophy of non-co-operation. I shall simply state the +different view-points from which this question may be discussed. From the +national point of view the method of non-co-operation means the attempt of +the nation to concentrate upon its own energy and to stand on its own +strength. From the ethical point of view, non-co-operation means the +method of self-purification, the withdrawal from that which is injurious +to the development of the nation, and therefore to the good of humanity. +From the spiritual point of view Swaraj means that isolation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> which in the +language of Sadhana is called protyahar—that withdrawal from the forces +which are foreign to our nature—an isolation and withdrawal which is +necessary in order to bring out from our hidden depths the soul of the +nation in all her glory. I do not desire to labour the point, but from +every conceivable point of view, the method of non-violent +non-co-operation must be regarded as the true method of “following in the +path of Swaraj.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">FORCE AND VIOLENCE</p> + +<p>Doubt has, however, been expressed in some quarters about the soundness of +the principle of non-violence. I cannot refuse to acknowledge that there +is a body of Indian opinion within the country as well as outside +according to which non-violence is an ideal abstraction incapable of +realisation, and that the only way in which Swaraj can ever be attained is +by the application of force and violence. I do not for a moment question +the sacrifice and patriotism of those who hold this view. I know that some +of them have suffered for the cause which they believe to be true. But may +I be permitted to point out that apart from any question of principle, +history has proved over and over again the utter futility of revolutions +brought about by force and violence. I am one of those who hold to +non-violence on principle. But let us consider the question of expediency. +Is it possible to attain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> Swaraj by violent means? The answer which +history gives is an emphatic “No”. Take all the formidable revolutions of +the world.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">THE FRENCH REVOLUTION</p> + +<p>The history of the French Revolution is the history of a struggle at the +first instance between the Crown and the nobility on one side and the +Representative Assemblies with armed Paris on the other. Both took to +violence, one to the bayonet and the other to the pike. The pike succeeded +because the bayonet was held with uncertain hands. And then, as is usual +after the victory gained with violence, the popular party was sharply +divided between two sections—the Girondins and the Jacobins. Again there +was an appeal to force. The Girondins asked the provinces to rise in arms, +the Jacobins asked Paris to rise in arms. Paris being nearer and stronger, +the Girondins were defeated and sent to the guillotine—the Jacobins +seized the power. But it did not take them many months to fall out among +themselves. First Robespierre and Danton sent Hebert and Chanmette to the +guillotine, then Robespierre sent Danton to the guillotine. Robespierre in +his turn was guillotined by Collot, Billand and Tallien. These men again +were banished by others to the far-off South America. If there was a +slight difference of views between the Girondins and the Jacobins there +was practically none between the different<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> sections of the Jacobins. The +whole question was which of the various sections was to rule France. Force +gave way to stronger force and at last under Napoleon, France experienced +a despotism similar to if not worse than the despotism of Louis XIV. As +regards liberty there was not more liberty in France under the terrible +Committee of Public Safety, and Napoleon than under Louis XIV or Louis XV. +The law of Prairial was certainly much worse than Lettres de Cachet. And +the people—? On the Pont au Change, on the Place de Greve, in long sheds, +Mercier, at the end of the Revolution, saw working men at their repast. +One’s allotment of daily bread had sunk to an ounce and a half. “Plates +containing each three grilled herrings, sprinkled with shorn onions, +wetted with a little vinegar; to this add some morsel of boiled prunes, +and lentils swimming in a clear sauce; at these frogal tables I have seen +them ranged by the hundred; consuming, without bread, their scant messes, +far too moderate for the keenness of their appetite, and the extent of +their stomach.” “Seine water,” remarks Carlyle grimly—“rushing plenteous +by, will supply the deficiency.” One cannot forget the exclamation of +Carlyle in this connection:</p> + +<p>“O Man of Toil! Thy struggling and thy daring, these six long years of +insurrection and tribulation, thou hast profited nothing by it, then? Thou +consumest thy herring and water, in the blessed gold-red of evening. O why +was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> Earth so beautiful, becrimsoned with dawn and twilight, if man’s +dealings with man were to make it a vale of scarcity, of tears, not even +soft tears? Destroying of Bastilles, discomfiting of Brunswicks, fronting +of Principalities and Powers, of Earth and Tophet, all that thou hast +dared and endured,—it was for a Republic of the Saloons? Aristocracy of +Feudal Parchment has passed away with a mighty rushing; and now, by a +natural course, we arrive at Aristocracy of the Moneybag. It is the course +through which all European Societies are, at this hour, travelling. +Apparently a still baser sort of Aristocracy? An infinitely baser the +basest yet known.”</p> + +<p>Even to-day France is plodding her weary way towards Swaraj.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">REVOLUTIONS IN ENGLAND</p> + +<p>The history of England proves the same truth. The revolution of the Barons +in 1215 took away or purported to take away the power from the King but +the power fell into the hands of the aristocracy, and democracy did not +share in the triumph of the Barons. Thus the great Charter, as a great +historian has observed, was thus not a Charter of Liberty but of +liberties. The revolution in the reign of Charles I. produced a new +dictator who suppressed freedom. The work which the Long Parliament began +was interrupted by the Revolution which followed the execution of the +King, and it required another Revolution, this time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> a bloodless +Revolution, to complete the work. I deny that the work is yet complete. +The continual class war and the obvious economic injustice do not proclaim +that freedom which England claimed for herself. I maintain that no people +has yet succeeded in winning freedom by force and violence. The truth is +that love of power is a formidable factor to be reckoned with, and those +who secure that power by violence will retain that power by violence. The +use of violence degenerates them who use it and it is not easy for them, +having seized the power, to surrender it. And they find it easier to carry +on the work of their predecessor, retaining their power in their own +hands. Non-violence does not carry with it that degeneration which is +inherent in the use of violence.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">REVOLUTIONS IN ITALY AND RUSSIA</p> + +<p>The Revolutions in Italy and Russia illustrate the same principle. The +Italian Revolution inspired by Mazzini and worked out by Garibaldi and +Cavour, did not result in the attainment of Swaraj. The freedom of Italy +is yet in the making, and the men and women of Italy are to-day looking +forward to another revolution. If it results in a war of violence it will +again defeat its purpose, but only to allow Freedom and Non-violence to +triumph in the end.</p> + +<p>The recent revolution in Russia is a very interesting study. The shape +which it has now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> assumed is due to the attempt to force Marxian doctrines +and dogmas on the unwilling genius of Russia. Violence will again fail. If +I have read the situation accurately I expect a counter-revolution. The +soul of Russia must struggle to free herself from the socialism of Carl +Marx. It may be an independent movement or it may be that the present +movement contains within itself the power of working out that freedom. In +the meantime the fate of Russia is trembling in the balance.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">NON-VIOLENT NON-CO-OPERATION: THE ONLY METHOD</p> + +<p>I believe in revolutions, but I repeat, violence defeats freedom. The +revolution of non-violence is slower but surer. Step by step the soul of +the nation emerges and step by step the nation marches on in the path of +Swaraj. The only method by which Freedom can be attained in India at any +rate, is the method of non-violent non-co-operation. Those who believe +this method to be impracticable would do well to ponder over the Akali +movement. When I saw the injuries of the wounded at Amritsar and heard +from their lips that not one of them had even wished to meet violence by +violence, in spite of such grave provocation, I said to myself, “here was +the triumph of non-violence.”</p> + +<p>Non-violence is not an idle dream. It was not in vain that Mahatma +declared, “put up thy sword<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> into the sheath.” Let those who are “of the +truth” hear his voice as those others heard a mightier voice two thousand +years ago.</p> + +<p>The attempt of the Indian nation to attain Swaraj by this method was, +however, met by severe repression. The time has come for us to estimate +our success as well as our failure. So far as repression is concerned, it +is easy to answer the question. I have not the least doubt in my mind that +the nation has triumphed over the repression which was started and +continued to kill the soul of the movement.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">SUCCESS OF NON-VIOLENT NON-CO-OPERATION</p> + +<p>But the question, which agitates most minds, is as to whether we have +succeeded in our work of non-violent non-co-operation. There is, I am +sorry to say, a great deal of confusion of thought behind the question. It +is assumed that a movement must either succeed or fail, whereas the truth +is that human movements, I am speaking of genuine movements, neither +altogether succeed nor altogether fail. Every genuine movement proceeds +from an ideal, and the ideal is always higher than the achievement. Take +the French revolution. Was it a success? Was it a failure? To predicate +either would be a gross historical blunder. Was the non-co-operation +movement in India a success?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> Yes, a mighty success when we think of the +desire for Swaraj which it has succeeded in awakening throughout the +length and breadth of this vast country. It is a great success when we +think of the practical result of such awakening, in the money which the +nation contributed, in the enrolment of members of the Indian National +Congress and in the boycott of foreign cloth. I go further and say that +the practical achievement also consists of the loss of prestige suffered +by Educational Institutions and the Courts of Law and the Reformed +Councils throughout the country. If they are still resorted to, it is +because of the weakness of our countrymen. The country has already +expressed its strong desire to end these institutions. Yet it must be +admitted that from another point of view, when we assess the measure of +our success in the spirit of Arithmetic, we are face to face with “the +petty done” and “the undone vast.” There is much which remains to be +accomplished. Non-violence has to be more firmly established. The work of +non-co-operation has to be strengthened, and the field of non-co-operation +has to be extended. We must be firm but reasonable. The spirit of +sacrifice has got to be further strengthened, and we must proceed with the +work of destruction and creation more vigorously than before I say to our +critics. I admit we have failed in many directions, but will you also not +admit our success where we have succeeded?</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHARGE OF CORRUPTING THE YOUTHS</p> + +<p>We have been denounced by the Moderates for having corrupted the youth of +this country. It has been asserted that we have taught sons to disobey +their fathers, the pupils, their teachers and the subjects the Government. +We plead guilty to the charge and we rely on every spiritual movement as +argument in our support. Christ himself was tried for having corrupted the +people, and the answers which he gave in anticipation is as emphatic as it +is instructive.</p> + +<p>“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I come not to send +peace, but a sword.”</p> + +<p>“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the +daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">CHARGE OF HYPOCRISY</p> + +<p>It has been said that with love on our lips we have been preaching the +Gospel of hatred. Never was such a vile slander uttered. It may be we have +failed to love, it may be we lost ourselves some of us in hatred, but that +only shows our weakness and imperfectness. Judge us by our ideals, not by +what we have achieved. Wherever we have fallen short of our ideal, put it +down to our weakness. On behalf of the Indian National Congress I deny the +charge of hypocrisy. To those who are anxious to point out our defects, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +say with all humility. “My friends, if you are weak, come and join us and +make us stronger. If the Leaders are worthless, come and join us to lead, +and the leaders will stand aside. If you do not believe in the ideal what +is the use of always criticising us in the light of that ideal?” We need +no critic to tell us how far we have fallen short of that ideal. Evidence +of weakness has met me from every direction which I have looked. But in +spite of our defects of human weakness, of human imperfection I feel bold +enough to say that our victory is assured and that the Bureaucracy knows +that our victory is assured.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">HOW TO APPLY THE NON-VIOLENT N. C. O. METHOD</p> + +<p>But though the method of non-violent non-co-operation is sure and certain, +we have now to consider how best to apply that method to the existing +circumstances of the country. I do not agree with those who think that the +spirit of the nation is so dead that non-violent non-co-operation is no +longer possible. I have given the matter my earnest thought and I desire +to make it perfectly clear that there is absolutely no reason for +entertaining any feelings of doubt or despair. The outward appearance of +the people to-day is somewhat deceptive. They appear to be in a tired +condition and a sense of fatigue has partially overcome them. But beneath +all this exterior of quietude, the pulse of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> the nation beats as strongly +as before and as hopefully as at the beginning of this movement. We have +to consolidate the strength of the nation. We have to devise a plan of +work which will stimulate their energy, so that we can accelerate our +journey towards Swaraj. I shall place before you one by one the items of +work which in my opinion the Indian National Congress should prescribe for +the nation.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">DECLARATION OF RIGHTS</p> + +<p>It should commence its work for the year, by a clearer declaration of +rights of the different communities in India under the Swaraj Government. +So far as the Hindus and Mahomedans are concerned, there should be a clear +and emphatic confirmation of what is known as the Lucknow pact and along +with that there should be an emphatic insistence of each others’ rights. +And each should be prepared to undergo some kind of sacrifice in favour of +the other. Let me give an instant to make my meaning clear. Every devout +Mussalman objects to any music in front of a mosque and every devout and +orthodox Hindu objects to cows being slaughtered. May not the Hindus and +Mussalmans of India enter into a solemn pact so that there may not be any +music before any mosque and that no cows may he slaughtered? Other +instances may be quoted. There should be a scheme of a series of +sacrifices to be suffered by each community so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> they may advance +shoulder to shoulder in the path of Swaraj. As regards the other +communities such as Sikhs, Christians and Parsees, the Hindus and +Mohamedans who constitute the bulk of the people should be prepared to +give them even more than their proportional share in the Swaraj +administration, I suggest that the Congress should bring about real +agreement between all these communities, by which the rights of every +minority should be clearly recognised in order to remove all doubts which +may arise and all apprehensions which probably exist. I need hardly add +that I include among Christians not only pure Indians but also +Anglo-Indians and other people who have chosen to make India their home. +Such an agreement as I have indicated was always necessary but such an +agreement is specially necessary in view of the work which faces us +to-day.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">FOREIGN PROPAGANDA</p> + +<p>I further think that the policy of exclusiveness which we have been +following during the last two years be now abandoned. There is in every +country a number of people who are selfless followers of liberty and who +desire to see every country free. We can no longer afford to lose their +sympathy and co-operation. In my opinion there should be established +Congress agencies in America and in every European country. We must keep +ourselves in touch with the world’s movements and be in constant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>communication with the lovers of freedom all over the world.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">THE GREAT ASIATIC FEDERATION</p> + +<p>Even more important than this is the participation of India in the great +Asiatic Federation which I see in the course of formation. I have hardly +any doubt that the Pan-Islamic movement which was started on a somewhat +narrow basis has given way or is about to give way to the great Federation +of all Asiatic people. It is the union of the oppressed nationalities of +Asia. Is India to remain outside the union? I admit that our freedom must +be won by ourselves, but such a bond of friendship and love of sympathy +and co-operation between India and the rest of Asia, nay between India and +all the liberty-loving people of the world is destined to bring about +World Peace. World Peace, to my mind, means the freedom of every +nationality and I go further and say that no nation in the face of the +earth can be really free when other nations are in bondage. The policy +which we have hitherto pursued, was absolutely necessary for the +concentration of the work which we took upon ourselves to perform and I +agreed to that policy whole-heartedly. The hope of the attainment of +Swaraj or a substantial basis of Swaraj in the course of the year made +such concentration absolutely necessary. To-day that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> very work demands +broader sympathy and a wider outlook.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">DEMANDS FOR PUNJAB WRONGS, KHILAFAT AND SWARAJ</p> + +<p>We are on the eve of great changes, and the world-forces are upon us. The +victory of Kemal Pasha has broken the bonds of Asia and she is all astir +with life. It is Prometheus who spoke within her, and ‘her thoughts’ are +like the many forests of vale through which the might of whirlwind and +rain had passed. The stir within every European country for the real +freedom of the people has also worked a marvellous transformation in the +mentality of subject races. That which was more or less a matter of Ideal +has now come within the range of practical politics. The Indian nation has +found out its bearings. At such a time as this it is necessary for us to +reconsider and to restate our demands. Our demands regarding the Punjab +wrongs have got to be restated because many of them have already been +realised. Our demands regarding Khilafat have got to be reconsidered, +because some of them have already been worked out and we hope that before +Lausanne Commission has finished their work very little of it will remain +unrealised. Our demand for Swaraj must now be presented in a more +practical shape. The Congress should frame a clear scheme of what we mean +by a system of government which may serve as a real<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> foundation for +Swaraj. Hitherto, we have not defined any such system of Government. We +have not done so advisedly as it was on the psychological aspect of Swaraj +that we concentrated our attention. But circumstances to-day have changed. +The desire is making us impatient. It is therefore the duty of the +Congress to place before the Country a clear scheme of the system of +Government which we demand. Swaraj, as I have said, is indefinable and is +not to be confused with any particular system of Government. Yet the +national mind must express itself, and although the full outward +expression of Swaraj covers the whole life history of a nation, the +formulation of such a demand cannot be any further delayed.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">SCHEME OF A GOVERNMENT</p> + +<p>It is hardly within the province of this address to deal with any detail +scheme of any such Government. I cannot, however, allow this opportunity +to pass without giving you an expression of my opinion as to the character +of that system of Government. No system of Government which is not for the +people and by the people can even be regarded as the true foundation of +Swaraj. I am firmly convinced that a parliamentary Government is not a +government by the people and for the people. Many of us believe that the +middle class must win Swaraj for the masses. I do not believe in the +possibility of any class movement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> being ever converted into a movement +for Swaraj. If to-day the British Parliament grants Provincial autonomy in +the provinces with responsibility in the Central Government, I for one, +will protest against, because that will inevitably lead to the +concentration of the power in the hands of the middle class. I do not +believe that the middle class will then part with their power. How will it +profit India, if in place of the White Bureaucracy that now rules over +her, there is substituted an Indian Bureaucracy of the middle classes. +Bureaucracy is Bureaucracy and I believe that the very idea of Swaraj is +inconsistent with the existence of a Bureaucracy. My ideal of Swaraj will +never be satisfied unless the people co-operate with us in its attainment. +Any other attempt will inevitably lead to what European Socialists call +the “Bourgeoise” Government. In France and in other European countries it +is the middle class who fought the battle of freedom and the result is +that power is still in the hands of this class. Having usurped the power +they are unwilling to face with it. If to-day the whole Europe is engaged +in a battle of real freedom it is because the nations of Europe are +gathering their strength to wrest this power from the hands of the middle +classes. I desire to avoid repetition of that chapter of European history. +It is for India to show the light to the world, Swaraj by Non-violence and +Swaraj by the people.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>To me the organisation of village life and the practical autonomy of small +local centres are more important than either provincial autonomy or +central responsibility; and if the choice lay between the two, I would +unhesitatingly accept the autonomy of the local centres. I must not be +understood as implying that the village centres will he disconnected +units. They must be held together by a system of co-operation and +integration. For the present, there must be power in the hands of the +provincial and the Indian Government; but the ideal should be accepted +once for all, that the proper function of the central authority, whether +in the provincial or in the Indian Government is to advise, having a +residuary power of control only in case of need and to be exercised under +proper safeguard. I maintain that real Swaraj can only be attained by +vesting the power of Government in these local centres, and I suggest that +the Congress should appoint a Committee to draw up a scheme of Government +which would be acceptable to the Nation.</p> + +<p>The most advanced thought of Europe is turning from the false +individualism on which European culture and institutions are based to what +I know to be the ideal of the ancient village organisation of India. +According to this thought modern democracy of the ballot box and large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +crowds has failed, but real democracy has not yet been tried. What is the +real democracy of modern European thought?</p> + +<p>The foundation of real democracy must be laid in small centres—not +gradual decentralisation which implies a previous centralisation—but a +gradual integration of the practically autonomous small centres into one +living harmonious whole. What is wanted is a human state, not a mechanical +contrivance. We want the growth of institutions and organisations which +are really dynamic in their nature and not the mere static stability of a +centralised state.</p> + +<p>This strain of European thought found some expression in the philosophy of +Hegel according to whom “human institutions belong to the region not of +inert externality, but of mind and purpose and are therefore dynamic and +self-developing.”</p> + +<p>Modern European thought has made it clear that from the individual to the +“unified state,” it is one continuous process of real and natural growth. +Sovereignity (Swaraj) is a relative notion. “The individual is sovereign +over himself”—attains his Swaraj “in so far as he can develop control and +unify his manifold nature.” From the individual we come to the integrated +neighbourhood which is the real foundation of the unified State, which +again in its turn gives us the true ideal of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> the world-state. This +integrated neighbourhood is a great deal more than the mere physical +contiguity of the people who live in the neighbourhood area. It requires +the coalition of what has been called “neighbourhood consciousness.” In +other words, the question is “how can the force generated by the +neighbourhood life become part of our whole critic and national life?” It +is this question which now democracy takes upon itself to solve.</p> + +<p>The process prescribed is the generation of the collective will. The +democracy which obtains to-day rests on an attempt of securing a common +will by a process of addition. This really means a war of wills, the issue +being left to be decided by a mere superiority of numbers. New democracy +discountenances this process of addition, and insists on the discovery of +detailed means and methods by which the different wills of a neighbourhood +entity may grow into one common collective will. This process is not a +process addition but of integration and the consciousness of the +neighbourhood thus awakened must express the common collective will of +that neighbourhood entity. The collective will of several neighbourhood +centres, must by a similar process of integration be allowed to evolve the +Common collective will of the whole nation. It is only thus, by a similar +process of integration that any league of nations may be real and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> the +vision of a world state may be realized. The whole of this philosophy is +based on the idea of the evolution of the individual. The idea is to +“release the powers of the individual.” Ordinary notions of state have +little to do with true individualism, (<i>i. e.</i>) with the individual as +consciously responsible for the life from which he draws his breath and to +which he contributes his all. According to this school of thought +‘Representative government, party organisation, majority rule, with all +their excrescences in their stead must appear the organisation of +non-partisan groups for the begetting, the bringing into being of common +ideas, a common purpose and the collective will.’ This means the true +development and extension of the individual self. The institutions that +exist to-day have made machines of men. No Government will be successful, +no true Government is possible which does not rest on the individual. “Up +to the present moment,” says the gifted authoress of the New State, “we +have never seen the individual yet. The search for him has been the whole +long striving of our Anglo-Saxon history. We sought to improve the method +of representation and failed to find him. We sought to reach him by +extending the suffrage to every man and then to every woman and yet he +eludes us. Direct Government now seeks the individual.” In another place +the same writer says; “Thus group organisation releases us from the +domination of mere numbers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> thus democracy transcends time and space. It +can never be understood except as a spiritual force. Majority rule rests +on numbers; democracy rests on the well-grounded assumption that society +is not a collection of units, but a network of human relations. Democracy +is not worked out at the polling booths, it is the bringing forth of a +genuine collective will, one to which every single being must contribute +the whole of his complex life, as one which every single being must +express the whole of it at one point. Thus the essence of democracy is +creating. The technique of democracy is group organization.” According to +this school of thought no living state is possible without the development +and the extension of the individual self. The State itself is no static +unit. Nor is it an arbitrary creation. “It is a process; a continual +self-modification to express its different stages of growth in which each +and all must be so flexible that continual change of form is twin fellow +of continual growth.” This can only be realised when there is a clear +perception that individuals and groups and the nation stand in no +antithesis. The integration of all these into one conscious whole means +and must necessarily mean the integration of the wills of individuals into +the common and collective will of the entire nation.</p> + +<p>The general trend of European thought has not accepted the ideal of this +new democracy. But the present problems which are agitating Europe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> seem +to offer no other solution. I have very little doubt that this ideal which +appears to many practical politicians as impracticable will be accepted as +the real ideal at no distant future. “There is little yet,” I again quote +from the same author, “that is practical in practical politics.”</p> + +<p>The fact is that all the progressive movements in Europe have suffered +because of the want of a really spiritual basis and it is refreshing to +find that this writer has seized upon it. So to those who think that the +neighbourhood group is puny to serve as a real foundation of +self-Government, she says, “is our daily life profane and only so far as +we rise out of it do we approach the sacred life? Then no wonder politics +are what they have become. But this is not the creed of men to-day; we +believe in the sacredness of life; we believe that divinity is for ever +incarnating in humanity, and so we believe in Humanity and the common +daily life of all men.”</p> + +<p>There is thus a great deal of correspondence between this view of life and +the view which I have been endeavouring to place before my countrymen for +the last 15 years. For the truth of all truths, is that the outer Leela of +God reveals itself in history. Individual Society, Nation, and Humanity +are the different aspects of that very Leela and no scheme of +self-Government which is practically true and which is really practical +can be based on any other philosophy of life. It is the realisation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> of +this truth which is the supreme necessity of the hour. This is the soul of +Indian thought, and this is the ideal towards which the recent thought of +Europe is slowly, but surely, advancing.</p> + +<p>To frame such a scheme of Government regard must therefore be had:—</p> + +<p>1. To the formation of local centres more or less on the lines of the +ancient village system of India.</p> + +<p>2. The growth of larger and larger groups out of the integration of these +village centres.</p> + +<p>3. The unifying state should be the result of minor growth.</p> + +<p>4. The village centres and the larger groups must be practically +autonomous.</p> + +<p>5. The residuary power of control must remain in the Central Government, +but the exercise of such power should be exceptional and for that purpose +proper safeguards should be provided, so that the practical autonomy of +the local centres may be maintained and at the same time the growth of the +Central Government into a really unifying state may be possible. The +ordinary work of such Central Government should be mainly advisory.</p> + +<p>As a necessary corollary to what I have ventured to suggest as the form of +Government which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> we should accept, I think that the work of organising +these local centres should be forthwith commenced. The modern +sub-divisions or even smaller units may be conveniently taken as the local +centres, and larger centres may be conveniently formed. Once we have our +local areas—“the neighbourhood group”—we should foster the habit of +corporate thinking, and leave all local problems to be worked out by them. +There is no reason why we should not start the Government by these local +centres to-day. They would depend for their authority on the voluntary +co-operation of the people, and voluntary co-operation is much better than +the compulsory co-operation which is at the bottom of the Bureaucratic +rule in India. This is not the place to elaborate the scheme which I have +in mind; but I think that it is essentially necessary to appoint a +Committee with power, not only to draw up a scheme of Government but to +suggest means by which the scheme can be put in operation at once.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">BOYCOTT OF COUNCILS</p> + +<p>The next item of work to which I desire to refer is the Boycott of +Councils. Unhappily the question has become part of the controversy of +Change or No change. To my mind the whole controversy proceeds on a +somewhat erroneous assumption. The question is not so much as to whether +there should be a change in the programme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> of the work; the real question +is, whether it is not necessary now to change the direction of our +activities in certain respects for the success of the very movement which +we hold so dear. Let me illustrate what I mean. Take the Bardoli +Resolution. In the matter of boycott of schools and colleges the Bardoli +Resolution alters the direction of our activity, which does not in any way +involve the abandonment of the boycott. During the Swaraj year the idea +was to bring the students out of Government schools and colleges, and if +National schools were started they were regarded as concessions to the +“weakness” of those students. The idea was, to quote the words of Mahatma +Gandhi, “political” and not “educational.” Under the Bardoli Resolution, +however, it is the establishment of schools and colleges which must be the +main activity of national education. The idea is “educational” and if it +still be the desire of the Congress to bring students out of Government +schools and colleges, it is by offering them educational advantages. Here +the boycott of schools and colleges is still upheld, but the direction of +our activities is changed. In fact, such changes must occur in every +revolution, violent or non-violent, as it is only by such changes that the +ideal is truly served.</p> + +<p>In the next place, we must keep in view the fact that according to the +unanimous opinion of the members of the Enquiry Committee, Civil +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>Disobedience on a large scale is out of question because the people are +not prepared for it.</p> + +<p>I confess that I am not in favour of the restrictions which have been put +upon the practical adoption of any system of civil disobedience, and in my +opinion, the Congress should abolish those restrictions. I have not yet +been able to understand why to enable a people to civilly disobey +particular laws, it should be necessary that at least 80 per cent. of them +should be clad in pure “Khadi”. I am not much in favour of general Mass +Civil Disobedience. To my mind, the idea is impracticable. But the +disobedience of particular laws which are eminently unlawful, laws which +are the creatures of “Law and Order,” laws which are like an outrage on +humanity and an insult to God ... disobedience of such laws is within the +range of practical politics, and, in my opinion, every attempt should be +made to offer disobedience to such laws. It is only by standing on truth +that the cause of Swaraj may prevail. When we submit to such laws, we +abandon the plank of truth. What hope is there for a nation so dead to the +sense of truth as not to rebel against lawless laws, against regulations +which insult their national being and hamper their national development?</p> + +<p>I am of opinion that the question of the boycott of Councils which is +agitating the country so much must be considered and decided in the light<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +of the circumstances I have just mentioned. There is no opposition in idea +between such civil disobedience as I have mentioned and the entry into the +Councils for the purpose and with the avowed object of either ending or +mending them. I am not against the boycott of Councils. I am simply of +opinion that the system of the Reformed Councils with their steel frame of +the Indian Civil Service covered over by a dyarchy of deadlocks and +departments is absolutely unsuitable to the nature and genius of the +Indian nation. It is an attempt of the British Parliament to force a +foreign system upon the Indian people. India has unhesitatingly refused to +recognise this foreign system as real foundation for Swaraj. With me, as I +have often said, it is not a question of more or less; I am always +prepared to sacrifice much for a real basis of Swaraj, nor do I attach any +importance to the question as to whether the attainment of full and +complete independence will be a matter of 7 years or 10 years or 20 years. +A few years is nothing in the life history of a nation. But I maintain +India cannot accept a system such as this as a foundation of Swaraj. These +Councils must therefore be either mended or ended. Hitherto we have been +boycotting the Councils from outside. We have succeeded in doing much. The +prestige of the councils is diminished and the country knows that the +people who adorn those chambers are not the true representatives of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> the +people. But though we have succeeded in doing much, these Councils are +still there. It shall be the duty of the Congress to boycott the councils +more effectively from within. Reformed councils are really a mask which +the Bureaucracy has put on. I conceive it to be our clear duty to tear +this mask from off their face. The very idea of boycott implies, to my +mind, something more than mere withdrawal. The boycott of foreign goods +means that such steps must be taken that these councils may not be there +to impede the progress of Swaraj. The only successful boycott of these +councils is either to mend them in a manner suitable to the attainment of +Swaraj or to end them completely. That is the way in which I advise the +nation to boycott the councils.</p> + +<p>A great deal of discussion has taken place in the country as to whether +the boycott of councils in the sense in which I mean it is within the +principle of non-violent non-co-operation. I am emphatically of opinion +that it does not offend against any principle of non-co-operation which +has been adopted and applied by the Indian National Congress. I am not +dealing with the logical, or philosophical abstractions. I am only dealing +with that which the Congress has adopted and called non-co-operation. In +the first place, may I point out that we have not up to now +non-co-operated with the Bureaucracy? We have been merely preparing the +people of this country to offer non-co-operation. Let me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> quote the Nagpur +Resolution on non-co-operation in support of my proposition. I am quoting +only the portions which are relevant to this point.</p> + +<p>Whereas in the opinion of the Congress the existing Government of India +has forfeited the confidence of the country, and, whereas the people of +India are now determined to establish Swaraj ... now this Congress ... +declares that the entire or any part or parts of the scheme of non-violent +non-co-operation with the renunciation of voluntary association with the +present Government at one end and the refusal to pay taxes at the other, +should be put into force at a time to be determined by either the Indian +National Congress, or the All-India Congress Committee and that “in the +meanwhile to prepare the country for it, effective steps should continue +to be taken in that behalf.”</p> + +<p>Then follows the effective steps such as, national education, boycott of +law courts, boycott of foreign goods, etc., which must be taken “in the +meanwhile.” It is clear therefore that the Congress has not yet advocated +the application of non-co-operation but has merely recommended certain +steps to be taken so that at some time or other to be determined by the +Congress, the Indian Nation may offer non-co-operation. In the second +place, let us judge of the character of this principle not by thinking of +any logical idea or philosophical abstraction but by gathering principle +from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> work and the activity which the Congress has enjoined. When I +survey the work it is clear to my mind that the Congress was engaged in a +two-fold activity. In everything that the Congress has commanded there is +an aspect of destruction as there is an aspect of creation. The boycott of +Lawyers and Law Courts means the destruction of existing legal +institutions; and the formation of Panchayats means the creation of +agencies through which justice may be administered. The boycott of schools +and colleges means the destruction of the department of Education; and the +establishment of National schools and colleges means the creation of +educational institutions for the Youth of India. The boycott of foreign +goods followed as it was by the burning of foreign goods covering into the +country. But, on the other hand, the spinning wheel and looms means +creative activity in supplying the people with indigenous cloth. Judged by +this principle what is wrong about the desire either to convert the +Councils into institutions which may lead us to Swaraj, or to destroy them +altogether? The same twofold aspect of creation and destruction is to be +found in the boycott of Councils in the way I want them to be boycotted.</p> + +<p>It has also been suggested that it offends against the morality and +spirituality of this movement. Let us take the two points separately. As +regards morality apart from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> the ethics of Non-co-operation, it has been +urged that entering the Councils for the purpose of ending the Councils is +unfair and dishonest. The argument implies that the Reformed Councils +belong entirely to the Bureaucracy, and the idea is that we should not +enter into other peoples’ property with a view to injure it. To my mind, +the argument is based on a misconception of facts. Inadequate as the +Reforms undoubtedly are, I do not for a moment admit that the Reform Act +was a gift of the British Parliament. It was, to quote the words of +Mahatma Gandhi, “a concession to popular agitation.” The fact is that it +is the resultant of two contending forces, the desire of the people for +freedom and the desire of the Bureaucracy to oppose such a desire. The +result is that it has travelled along lines neither entirely popular nor +entirely bureaucratic. The people of India do not like these Reforms, but +let us not forget that the Bureaucracy does not like them either because +it is the result of two contending forces pulling in different directions +or the Reforms have assumed a tortured state. But so far as the rights +recognised are concerned, they are our rights—our property, and there is +nothing immoral or unfair or dishonest in making use of the rights which +the people have extorted from the British Parliament. If the fulfilment of +the very forces which have succeeded in securing the Reforms require that +the Councils should either be mended or ended, if the struggle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> for +freedom compels the adoption of either course, what possible charge of +immorality can be levelled against it? I admit if we had proposed to enter +the Councils stealthily with the avowed object of co-operation keeping +within our hearts the desire to break the Councils, such a course would +undoubtedly have been dishonest. European diplomacy, let us hope, has been +abolished by Indian National Congress under the leadership of Mahatma +Gandhi. If we play now, we play with all our cards on the table.</p> + +<p>But some people say that it is immoral from the point of view of +non-co-operation, because it involves an idea of destruction. The work of +non-co-operation according to these,—I have the highest reverence for +them,—is only to build our national life ignoring altogether the +existence of the Bureaucracy. It may be an honest ideal, and, logically +speaking, it may be the inner meaning of non-co-operation. But the +non-co-operation which the Congress has followed is not so logical and I +claim that if the principle of non-co-operation is to be advanced as a +test of my programme, let it be the same principle which the Congress has +accepted, adopted and applied. As I have already said, that principle +countenance destruction as well as creation. As a matter of fact +circumstanced as we are with Bureaucracy to the right and the Bureaucracy +to the left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> Bureaucracy all around us, it is impossible to create without +destroying: nor must it be forgotten that if we break, it is only that we +may build.</p> + +<p>It has also been suggested that the very entry into the Council is +inconsistent with the ideal of non-co-operation. I confess I do not +understand the argument. Supposing the Congress had sanctioned an armed +insurrection could it be argued that entry into the fort of the +Bureaucracy is inconsistent with the principle of non-co-operation? Surely +the charge of inconsistency must depend on the object of the entry. An +advancing army does not co-operate with the enemy when it marches into the +enemy’s territory. Co-operation must therefore depend on the object with +which such entry is made. The argument if analysed comes to this, that +whenever the phrase entry into Councils is used it calls up the +association of co-operation, and then the mere idea of this entry is +proclaimed to be inconsistent with non-co-operation. But this is the +familiar logical fallacy of our terms. Entry into the Councils to +co-operate with the Government and entry into the Councils to +non-co-operate with the Government are two terms and two different +propositions. The former is inconsistent with the idea of +non-co-operation, the latter is absolutely consistent with that very idea.</p> + +<p>Next let us understand the opposition from the point of view of the +spirituality of our movement.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> The question of spirituality is not to be +confused with the dictates of any particular religion. I am not aware of +the injunctions of any religion against entering the Councils with a view +either to mend them or end them. I have heard from many Mahomedans that +the Koran lays down no such injunction. Other Mahomedan friends have told +me that there may be some difficulty on that ground, but that is a matter +with regard to which I am not competent to speak. The Khilafat must answer +that question with such assistance as they may obtain from the Ulemas. It +is needless to point out that should the Ulemas come to the conclusion +that under the present circumstances it would be an offence against their +religion to enter the Councils, the Congress should unhesitatingly accept +their decision because no work in this country towards the attainment of +Swaraj is possible without the hearty co-operation of both Hindus and +Mussalmans. But I am dealing with that spirituality which does not affect +any particular creed or any particular religion. Judged from the +standpoint of such spirituality what objection there can be in removing +from our path by all legitimate means any obstacle to the attainment of +Swaraj? We burned foreign cloth without a scruple, and the spirituality of +the movement did not receive a shock when we burned them. It is as well to +start with a clear conception as to what that spiritually is. Apart from +any creedal or doctrinal injunction and apart from any question<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> of +morality, the basis of spirituality must be the attainment of freedom and +of Swaraj. What is the duty which every human being owes not only to his +race, not only to his nation, not only to humanity but also to his God? It +is the right to fulfil oneself. It is the duty of living in the light of +God. Shortly after my release from imprisonment I said in a public speech +that all our national activities should be based on truth. Ever since that +day questions and conundrums have been put to me. I have been asked to +define what is truth. It has also been suggested that because I dare not +tell the truth that I took refuge under the general expression. I still +insist that our national activities must be based on truth. I repeat that +I do not believe in politics, or in making water-tight compartments of our +national life which is an indivisible organic whole. I repeat that as you +cannot define life, you cannot define truth. The test of Truth is not +logical definition. The test of Truth lies in its all-compelling force, in +making itself felt. You know truth when you have felt it. God cannot be +defined, nor can truth because truth is the revelation of God. Two +thousand years ago, a jesting judge asked the same question of the Son of +God. He made no answer by word of mouth; but he sacrificed himself and +Truth was revealed. When I speak of spirituality I speak of the same +truth. I look upon history as the revelation of God. I look upon human +individual personality, nationality<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> and humanity, each contributing to +the life of the other as the revelation of God to man. I look upon the +attainment of freedom and Swaraj the only way of fulfilling oneself as +individuals, as nations. I look upon all national activities as the real +foundation of the service of that greater humanity which again is the +revelation of God to man. The Son of God brought to the world not peace +but a sword—not the peace of death and immortality and corruption but the +“separating sword” of Truth. We have to fight against all corruptions and +all immorality. It is only thus that freedom can be attained. Whatever +obstacles there may be in the path of Swaraj either of the individual or +of the nation, or humanity at large, these obstacles must be removed by +the individual if he desires his freedom by the nation, if that nation +desires to ruin itself by all the nations of the world if the cause of +humanity is to prosper. That being the spirituality of the movement as I +understand it I am prepared to put away all obstacles that lie between the +Indian nation and the attainment of its freedom, not stealthily but +openly, reverently in the name of truth and God. Judged from this ideal of +spirituality the entry into the Councils for the purpose I have stated is +necessary to advance the cause of truth. Everything in connection with the +controversy must be judged by that standard.</p> + +<p>At present the question before the country put by those members of the +Civil Disobedience Enquiry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> Committee who are in favour of the Council +Entry is simply that the members of the Congress should stand as +candidates. It is unnecessary therefore to go into other questions raised, +such as in the matter of taking oath, the probability or otherwise of +securing a majority and so on. With regard to the question of oath all +that I need say at present is this, that apart from the dictates of any +particular religion which I do not propose to deal with, the question does +not present any difficulty at all. The oath is a constitutional one. The +king stands for the constitution. Great changes in the constitution have +taken place in England under that very oath. Now what is the oath? It +binds those who take it,—first not to make any use of powers which are +not allowed by the Reforms Act; secondly to discharge their duties +faithfully. So far as the first point is concerned, there is nothing in my +suggestion which militates against it. So far as the second point is +concerned, I am aware that a forced interpretation has been sought to be +put upon it, namely, that a member taking the oath is bound to discharge +his duties faithfully to the Bureaucracy. All that I need say is, that +there is no constitutional authority of any kind to justify that +interpretation. To my mind the words mean a faithful discharge of a +member’s duties to his constituency by the exercise of powers recognised +under the Reforms Act. I do not therefore understand what possible +objection there may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> to take the Oath. But there again the question +does not arise at present.</p> + +<p>Various other questions have been asked as to whether it is possible to +secure a majority and as to what we should do, supposing we are in a +majority. I think it possible that having regard to the present +circumstances of the country, the Non-co-operators are likely to get the +majority. I am aware of the difficulty of the franchise. I am aware of the +rules which prevent many of us from entering the Councils; but making +every allowances for all these difficulties, I believe that we shall be in +the majority. But here also the question doesn’t arise till we meet in the +Congress of 1923 when the matter may be discussed not on suppositions but +on actualities.</p> + +<p>As regards the question as to what we should do if we have the majority +the answer is clear. We should begin our proceedings by a solemn +declaration of the existence of our inherent right, and by formal demand +for a constitution which would recognise and conserve those rights and +give effect to our claims for the particular system of Government which we +may choose for ourselves. If our demands are accepted, then the fight is +over. But, as I have often said, if it is conceded that we are entitled to +have that form of Government which we may choose for ourselves, and the +real beginning is made with that particular form of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> Government in view, +then it matters nothing to me whether the complete surrender of power is +made up to-day, or in five years or even in twenty years. If, however, our +demand is not given effect to, we must non-co-operate with the Bureaucracy +by opposing each and every work of the Council. We must disallow the +entire Budget. We must move the adjournment of the House on every possible +occasion and defeat every Bill that may be introduced. In fact we must so +proceed that the Council will refuse to do any work unless and until our +demands are satisfied. I am aware of the large powers of certification +which Governors can exercise under the Reform Act. But Government by +certification is just as impossible as Government by veto. Such procedure +may be adopted on a few occasions. The time must soon come when the +Bureaucracy must yield or withdraw the Reforms Act. In either case it is a +distinct triumph for the nation, and either course if adopted by the +Bureaucracy will bring us nearer to the realisation of our ideal.</p> + +<p>Another question is often asked, suppose we end these Reformed +Councils,—what then? Could not the same question be asked with regard to +every step the Congress has hitherto undertaken in the way of breaking, of +destroying institutions. If we had succeeded in destroying the Educational +Department, might not somebody ask—what then? If we had succeeded in +destroying the legal <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>institutions, might not the question be put with +equal relevance? The fact is destruction itself will never bring us +Swaraj. The fact further is that no construction is possible without +destruction. We must not forget that it is not this activity or that +activity by itself that can bring Swaraj. It is the totality of our +national activity in the way of destruction and in the way of creation, +that will bring Swaraj. If we succeeded in demolishing these Reformed +Councils you will find the whole nation astir with life. Let them put +other obstacles in our way; we shall remove them with added strength and +greater vitality.</p> + +<p>It has also been suggested that the Bureaucracy will never allow the +Non-co-operators to enter the Councils, they will alter the rules to +prevent such entry. I cannot conceive of anything better calculated to +strengthen the cause of Non-co-operation than this. If any such rule is +framed I should welcome it and again change the direction of our activity. +The infant nation in India requires constant struggle for its growth and +development. We must not forget that a great non-violent revolution is on +the land, and we shall change the direction of our activities as often as +circumstances require it. To-day the Councils are open and we must attack +them,—to-morrow if the Councils are closed, we must be prepared to deal +with the contingency when it arises. What do we do when it pours with +rain? We turn our umbrella in the direction from which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> the water comes. +It is in the same way that we must turn the direction of our activities +whenever the fulfilment of our national life demands it.</p> + +<p>The work of the Councils for the last two years has made it necessary for +non-co-operators to enter the Councils. The Bureaucracy has received added +strength from these Reformed Councils, and those who have entered the +Councils, speaking generally, have practically helped the cause of +Bureaucracy. What is most necessary to consider is the fact that taxation +has increased by leaps and bounds. The expenditure of the Government of +India has grown enormously since the pre-war year 1913-14. In that year +the total expenditure of the Government of India amounted to 79 crores and +37 lakhs; in 1919-20, it rose to 138 crores, and in 1920-21, the first +year of the reformed system of administration, it stood at 149 crores. The +expenses of the current year are likely to be even higher. To meet the +successive increases in expenditure, additional taxation was levied in +1916-17, 1917-18, 1919-20, 1921-22 and 1922-23. We may prepare ourselves +for proposals for further additional taxation in the ensuing year. In +spite of the levy of additional taxation, seven out of the last nine years +have been years of deficit.</p> + +<p>The increase in military expenditure is chiefly responsible for the +present financial situation. In 1913-14, the expenses of this department +amounted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> to about 31½ crores, in 1919-20, after the conclusion of the +war they mounted up to 87 crores, and in 1920-21 they stood at 88 crores. +As Sir Visveswaraya remarks the expenses under the head “Civil +Administration” also have shown a perpetual tendency to increase. As a +part and parcel of the Reform Scheme, the emoluments of the members of the +Indian Civil Service, the Indian Educational Service, the Indian Medical +Service and of all the other services recruited in England have been +enormously increased; and to maintain some kind of fairness the salaries +of the subordinate services which are manned by Indians have also been +increased.</p> + +<p>The financial situation in the provinces is not much better. Under the +financial arrangements of the Reform Scheme, the provinces of India, taken +together, secured an accession to their resources of about 11 crores of +Rupees. Besides, the provinces had between them in 1920-21 a total +accumulated balance of 21 crores and 68 lakhs. But so great has been the +increase in provincial expenditure during the last two years that even +those provinces which had hoped to realise large surpluses are now on the +verge of bankruptcy. In the first year of the reform era, most of the +provinces were faced with deficits and were just able to tide over their +financial difficulties by drawing upon their balances. But in the current +year, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> financial situation in many of the provinces has become worse. +The Burma budget shows a deficit of 1 crore and 90 lakhs, the Punjab, 1 +crore and 30 lakhs, Bihar and Orissa, 51 lakhs, Madras, 41 lakhs, the +United Provinces, 27 lakhs and the Central Provinces 37 lakhs. The deficit +of the Madras Government would have been much higher had it not taken +steps to increase its revenues by Rs. 77½ lakhs from fresh taxation. +The Bengal statement shows an estimated surplus owing to the remission of +the Provincial contribution to the Central Government and expected +receipts from fresh taxation amounting to 1 crore and 40 lakhs. But it is +very doubtful if the expectation will be realised, and early next year, +further fresh taxes are likely to be imposed. Assam has budgeted for a +deficit of 14½ lakhs after the imposition of additional taxation. +Proposals for further taxation are under consideration in the Punjab, +Bihar and Orissa, the Central Provinces and Assam. In the United Provinces +the proposals brought forward by the Government were rejected by the +Legislative Council.</p> + +<p>I warn my countrymen against the policy of allowing these Reformed +Councils to work their wicked will. There will undoubtedly be a further +increase of taxation and there is an apprehension in my mind, I desire to +express it with all the emphasis that I can command, that if we allow this +policy of drift to continue the result will be that we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> shall lose the +people who are with us to-day. Let us break the Councils if the +Bureaucracy does not concede to the demands of the people. If there is +fresh taxation as it is bound to be let the responsibility be on the +Bureaucracy. Then you and I and the people will jointly fight the powers +that be.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">LABOUR ORGANISATION</p> + +<p>I am further of opinion that the Congress should take up the work of +Labour and Peasant organisation. With regard to labour there is a +resolution of the Nagpur Congress, but I am sorry to say that it has not +been acted upon. There is an apprehension in the minds of some +non-co-operators that the cause of non-co-operation will suffer if we +exploit Labour for Congress purposes. I confess again I do not understand +the argument. The word “exploitation” has got an ugly association, and the +argument assumes that Labour and Peasants are not with us in this struggle +of Swaraj. I deny the assumption. My experience has convinced me that +labour and the Peasantry of India to-day are, if anything, more eager to +attain Swaraj than the so called middle and educated classes. If we are +“exploiting” boys of tender years and students of colleges, if we are +exploiting the women of India, if we are exploiting the whole of the +middle classes irrespective of their creed and caste and occupation, may I +ask what justification<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> is there for leaving out Labourers and the +Peasants? I suppose the answer is that they are welcome to be the members +of the Congress Committees but that there should not be a separate +organisation of them. But Labour has got a separate interest and they are +often oppressed by foreign capitalists and the Peasantry of India is often +oppressed by a class of men who are the standard bearers of the +Bureaucracy. Is the service of this special interest in any way +antagonistic to the service of nationalism? To find bread for the poor, to +secure justice to a class of people who are engaged in a particular trade +or avocation—how is that work different from the work of attaining +Swaraj? Anything which strengthens the national cause, anything which +supports the masses of India is surely as much a matter of Swaraj as any +other items of work which the Congress has in hand. My advice is that the +Congress should lose no time in appointing a Committee, a calm workable +Committee to organise labour, and the peasantry of India. We have delayed +the matter already too long. If the Congress fails to do its duty, you may +expect to find organisations set up in the country by labour and peasants +detached from you, dissociated from the cause of Swaraj which will +inevitably bring within the arena of a peaceful evolution class struggles +and the war of special interests. If the object of the Congress be to +avoid that disgraceful issue let us take labour and the peasantry in +hand,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> and let us organise them both from the point of view of their own +special interests and also from the point of view of the higher ideal +which demands the satisfaction of their special interests and the devotion +of such interests to the cause of Swaraj. Here again we have to make use +of very selfishness of the labourers and peasants, as we know that the +fulfilment of that very selfishness requires its just and proper +contribution to the life of the nation.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">WORK ALREADY TAKEN UP</p> + +<p>I now turn to the work which the Congress has already taken up. I may at +once point out that it is not my desire that any work which the Congress +has taken up should be surrendered. The change of direction which I +advocate and the other practical change which I have mentioned is not by +way of surrendering anything that is already on the plank but it is simply +by way of addition.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">BOYCOTT OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES</p> + +<p>I am firmly of opinion that the boycott of schools and colleges should be +carried on as effectively as before. I defer from the Civil Disobedience +Enquiry Committee when they propose the abandonment of the withdrawal of +boys from such schools and colleges. The question to my mind is of vital +importance. It is on the youth of the country that the cause of Swaraj +largely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> depends—and what chance is there for a nation which willingly, +knowingly sends its boys, its young men to schools and colleges to be +stamped with the stamps of slavery and foreign culture? I do not desire to +enter into the question more minutely. I have expressed my views on the +subject so often that I find it unnecessary to repeat them. I, however, +agree with the recommendation of the Enquiry Committee that national +schools and colleges should also be started.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">BOYCOTT OF LAW COURTS AND LAWYERS</p> + +<p>With regard to the question of the boycott of lawyers and the legal +institutions I agree with the main recommendations of the Committee. Many +questions have been raised as to whether the right of defence should be +allowed or not and on what occasions, and for what purposes. I have never +been in love with formal rules, and I think it impossible to frame rules +which will cover all the circumstances which may arise in particular +cases. All that I desire to insist on, is the keeping in view of the +principle of the boycott of courts.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">HINDU-MUSLIM UNITY</p> + +<p>With regard to the question of Hindu-Muslim Unity, untouchability and such +matters, I agree with the recommendations of the Enquiry Committee. I +desire to point out however the true unity of all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> sections of the Indian +nation can only be based on a proper co-operation and the recognition by +each section of the rights of the others—that is why I proposed that +there should be a compact between different sections, between the +different communities of India. We will do little good to the section +known as untouchables if we approach them in a spirit of superiority. We +must engage them in the work before us, and we must work with them side by +side and shoulder to shoulder.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">KHADDAR</p> + +<p>I now come to the question of khaddar which I regard as one of the most +important questions before us. As I have already said, I am opposed to the +manufacture of Khaddar on a commercial basis. I said among the other +things when I seconded the Bezwada resolution on the 31st of March in 1921 +proposed by Mahatma Gandhi:</p> + +<p>“Our reason in asking the people to take to Charka was not based upon any +desire to enter into any competition with foreign capitalist production +either from without or from within. Our idea is to enable the people to +understand and fashion for themselves, their economic life and utilise the +spare time of their families and opportunities with a view to create more +economic goods for themselves and improve their own condition.” The idea +is to make the people of this country <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>self-reliant and self-contained. +This work is difficult but essential and should be carried on with all our +strength. I would much rather that few families were self-contained than +that factories were started on a large scale. Such factories represent a +short-sighted policy, and there is no doubt that though it would satisfy +the present need it will create an evil which it would be difficult to +eradicate. I am naturally opposed to the creation of a new Manchester in +India of which we have had sufficient experience. Let us avoid that +possibility, if we can.</p> + +<p>It is often stated that Khaddar alone will bring us Swaraj. I ask my +countrymen in what way is it possible for khaddar to lead us to Swaraj? It +is in one sense only that the statement may be true. We must regard +khaddar as the symbol of Swaraj. As the khaddar makes us self-contained +with regard to a very large department of our national life, so it is +hoped that the inspiration of khaddar will make the whole of our national +life self-contained and independent. That is the meaning of the symbol. To +my mind such symbol worship requires the spreading out of all +non-co-operation activities in every possible direction. It is only thus +and only thus that the speedy attainment of Swaraj is possible.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CONCLUSION</p> + +<p>It remains to me to deliver to you a last message of hope and confidence. +There is no royal road to freedom, and dark and difficult will be the path +leading to it. But dauntless is your courage, and firm your resolution; +and though there will be reverses, sometimes severe reverses, they will +only have the effect of speeding your emancipation from the bondage of a +Foreign Government. Do not make the mistake of confusing achievements with +success. Achievement as in appearances are often deceptive. I contend +that, though we cannot point to a great deal as solid achievement of the +movement, the success of it is assured. That success is proclaimed by the +bureaucracy in the repeated attempts which were made, and are still being +made, to crush the growth of the movement, and to arrest its progress, in +the refusal to repeal some of the most obnoxious of the repressive +legislation, in the frequent use that has been made of the arbitrary or +discretionary authority that is vested in the executive Government and in +sending to prison our beloved leader, who offered himself as a sacrifice +to the wrath of the Bureaucracy. But though the ultimate success of the +movement is assured, I warn you that the issue depends wholly on you and +how you conduct yourselves in meeting the forces that are arrayed against +you. Christianity rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> triumphant when Jesus of Nazareth offered himself +as a sacrifice to the excessive worship of law and order by the Scribes +and the Pharisees. The forces that are arrayed against you are the forces +not only of the bureaucracy but of the modern Scribes and Pharisees whose +interest it is to maintain the Bureaucracy in all its pristine glory. Be +it yours to offer yourself as sacrifice in the interest of truth and +justice, so that your children and your children’s children may have the +fruit of your sufferings. Be it yours to wage a spiritual warfare so that +the victory, when it comes does not debase you, nor tempt you to retain +the power of Government in your own hands. But if yours is to be a +spiritual warfare, your weapons must be those of the spiritual soldier. +Anger is not for you, hatred is not for you, nor for you is pettiness, +meanness or falsehood.</p> + +<p>For you is the hope of dawn and the confidence of the morning, and for you +is the song that was sung by Titan, chained and imprisoned, but the +champion of man in the Greek fable:</p> + +<p class="poem">To Suffer woes with Hope, things infinite;<br /> +To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;<br /> +To defy power which seems Omnipotent:<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>To love, and bear, to hope till Hope creates<br /> +From its own wreck, the thing it contemplates;<br /> +Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;<br /> +This like thy glory, Titan, is to be<br /> +Good, Great and joyous, beautiful and free;<br /> +This alone Life, Joy, Empire and Victory.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">BANDE MATARAM.</span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<div class="verts"> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">IMPERIALISM<br />IN PRACTICE AND IN THEORY</span></p> + +<p class="center">BY<br />K. M. Panikkar. Re. 1<br />(<i>Late Scholar of Christ Church, Oxford</i>).</p> + +<p class="center">Press Opinions.</p> + +<p>Mr. K. M. Panikkar, lately Chairman of the Department of History in +Aligarh University; has done a distinct service to the country by his able +analysis of the processes of aggrandisement with which the Br. Empire was +built up. In his small book he has laid bare the selfishness which +underlies the foundation of the British Empire. “What it stands for,” says +Mr. Panikkar, “is a white oligarchy exploiting coloured nations. It is in +fact a British Empire Co., Ltd.” The Book is a valuable addition to the +growing Indian Political Literature.—<i>Bombay Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>We have learnt to associate Mr. Panikkar’s name with first class work and +our expectations have not been disappointed in this volume. The vulgar +pretensions of Imperialism have been shown up with perfect candour, but +the days of Imperialism, according to the author, are numbered in Asia +though not in Africa. It has done the great service of calling forth the +mighty spirit of Asia from its decaying cell.—<i>Modern Review, Calcutta.</i></p> + +<p>“Your remarkable little book <i>on Imperialism</i> which I have read <i>three +times</i>—I have been anxious to write a review on it appreciating it.”—<i>C. +F. Andrews.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>ARKA PUBLISHING HOUSE</i>,<br />George Town, Madras.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">BOOKS WORTH READING</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><b>Struggle for Swaraj</b> by Pandit Motilal Nehru.</td><td>As.</td><td>4</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>India and the Empire</b> by Edward Carpenter.</td><td align="center">"</td><td>4</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>Voice of Bengal</b> by Mrs. C. R. Das.</td><td align="center">"</td><td>4</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>A Guide to Matrimonial Alliance</b> by Aristotle</td><td align="center">"</td><td>12</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>Non-co-operation in Other Lands</b> by Fenner Brockway<br />(cloth bound)</td><td valign="top">Re.</td><td valign="top">1-8</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>National Education</b> by Arabinda Gose</td><td>Re.</td><td>1</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>Indian Industrialism</b> by K. V. Ganapathy Aiyar<br />with introduction by Hon. V. G. Kale</td><td align="center" valign="top">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>Indian Boy Scouts Hand Book</b> by F. G. Pearce</td><td>Re.</td><td>1-8</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>The New Russia</b> by R. U. Postgate & T. A. Jackson</td><td>As.</td><td>12</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>Amritsar and Our Duty to India</b> by B. G. Horniman</td><td>Rs.</td><td>2-10</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>My Childhood and Boyhood</b> by Tolstoy</td><td>Re.</td><td>1-12</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>My Youth</b> by Tolstoy</td><td>Re.</td><td>1-12</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>Life and Writings of Bal Gangadhar Tilak</b></td><td>Rs.</td><td>4</td></tr> +<tr><td><b>Tolstoy’s Teachings</b></td><td>As.</td><td>6</td></tr></table> + +<p class="center">ARKA PUBLISHING HOUSE,<br /><i>George Town, MADRAS</i>.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The<br />RELATIONS OF THE SEXES</span></p> +<p class="center">BY<br />COUNT LEO TOLSTOY<br /> +Translated by V. T. and A. C. F., Principally from<br /> +private letters, diaries and unpublished Mss.</p> +<p class="center">Price Re. 1.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Some Extracts.</i></p> + +<p>Women who demand masculine work and liberty equal to that of man are +generally unconsciously demanding the liberty of License, and in +consequence descend to a plane lower than the family one, while imagining +they are ascending higher....</p> + +<p>I think that a man who has entered upon physical connection with a woman +cannot, and must not, forsake her especially when there is or may be a +child....</p> + +<p>Chastity is an ideal after which one should always; under all conditions, +strive. The nearer you are realising it the more you—not to say attain a +merit before God—attain a greater degree of your own well being. Man may +serve God more by being chaste than by giving himself up to carnal +life....</p> + +<p>Attacks of sexual lust engender confusion of thought. The absence of +thought rather—the whole world darkens. Man loses his relation to +it—chance, blackness and failure....</p> + +<p>One thing is rational: “Be perfect, as your Father”, and this perfection +is in purity and then in Love, deduction: first, purity, then preservation +of the race....</p> + +<p class="center"><i>ARKA PUBLISHING HOUSE</i>,<br />G. T., MADRAS.</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREEDOM THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 35349-h.txt or 35349-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/5/3/4/35349">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/3/4/35349</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/35349-h/images/deco_bottom.jpg b/35349-h/images/deco_bottom.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4b2042 --- /dev/null +++ b/35349-h/images/deco_bottom.jpg diff --git a/35349-h/images/deco_top.jpg b/35349-h/images/deco_top.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a02b67d --- /dev/null +++ b/35349-h/images/deco_top.jpg diff --git a/35349-h/images/frontis.jpg b/35349-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..81b0c86 --- /dev/null +++ b/35349-h/images/frontis.jpg |
