Later on the European creditors of Kachhalia caught him as in a noose. Many Indian traders are entirely dependent in their trade on European firms, which sell them lakhs of rupees worth of goods on credit on mere personal security. That Europeans should repose such trust in Indian traders is an excellent proof of the general honesty of Indian trade. Kachhalia likewise owed large sums to many European firms, which asked him at once to meet their dues, being instigated thereto directly or indirectly by the Government. The firms gave Kachhalia to understand that they would not press for immediate payment if he left the Satyagraha movement. But if he did not, they were afraid of losing their money as he might be arrested any time by the Government, and therefore demanded immediate satisfaction in cash. Kachhalia bravely replied, that his participation in the Indian strug¬ gle was his personal affair, which had nothing to do with his trade. He considered that his religion, the honour of his community and his own self-respect were bound up with the struggle. He thanked his creditors for the sup¬ port they had extended to him, but refused to attach any undue importance to that support or indeed to his trade. Their money was perfectly safe with him, and as long as he was alive he would repay them in full at any cost. But if anything happened to him, his stock as well as the book debts owing to him were at their disposal. He therefore wished that his creditors would continue to trust him as SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA before. This was a perfectly fair argument, and Kachhalia’s firmness was an additional reason for his creditors to trust him, but on this occasion it failed to impress them. We can rouse from his slumbers a man who is really asleep, but not him who only makes a pretence of sleep all the while that he is awake, and so it was with these European traders, whose sole object was to bring undue pressure to bear upon Kachhalia. Otherwise their money was per¬ fectly safe.
A meeting of the creditors was held in my office on January 22, 1909. I told them clearly that the pressure to which they were subjecting Kachhalia was purely political and unworthy of merchants, and they were incensed at my remark. I showed them Kachhalia Sheth’s balance sheet and proved that they could have their 20 s. in the pound. Again if the creditors wanted to sell the business to some one else, Kachhalia was ready to hand over the goods and the book debts to the purchaser. If this did not suit them, the creditors could take over the stock in Kachha¬ lia’s shop at cost price, and if any part of their dues still remained unsatisfied, they were free to take over book debts due to him sufficient to cover the deficit. The reader can see that in agreeing to this arrangement the European merchants had nothing to lose. I had on many previous occasions effected such arrangements with the creditors of some of my clients who were hard pressed. But the merchants at this juncture did not seek justice. They were out to bend Kachhalia. Kachhalia would not bend, bankruptcy proceedings were instituted against him, and he was declared an insolvent, though his estate showed a large excess of assets over liabilities.
Far from being a blot upon his escutcheon this in¬ solvency was perfectly honourable to him. It enhanced his prestige among the community and all congratulated him upon his firmness and courage. But such heroism is rarely found. The man in the street cannot understand how insolvency can cease to be insolvency, cease to be a disgrace and become an honour and an ornament, but Kachhalia realized it at once. Many traders had submitted to the Black Act merely from a fear of insolvency. Kachha- GENERAL SMUTS* BREACH OF FAITH (?)
lia could have warded off the insolvency if he had wished, not by leaving the struggle, — that was out of the question, — but by borrowing from his many Indian friends who would have gladly helped him over the crisis. But it would not have been becoming in him to have saved his trade by such means. The danger of being any day clapped into gaol he shared in common with all Satyagrahis. It would therefore be hardly proper for him to borrow from a fellow Satyagrahi to pay his European creditors. But among his friends there were ‘blacklegs’ also whose help was available. Indeed one or two of them actually offered assistance. But to accept their offer would have been tantamount to an admission that there was wisdom in submitting to the obnoxious Act. We therefore decided to decline their proffered aid.
Again we thought that if Kachhalia allowed himself to be declared an insolvent, his insolvency would serve as a shield for others, for if not in all, at least in an over¬ whelmingly large majority of cases of insolvency, the creditor stands to lose something. He is quite pleased if he realizes 10 s. in the pound, and considers 15 s. quite as good as 20 s. in the pound. For big traders in South Africa generally reap a profit not of 6^ but of 25 per cent. They therefore consider 15 s. as good as full payment. But as 20 s. in the pound is hardly ever realized from a bank¬ rupt’s estate, creditors are not anxious to reduce their debtor to a state of insolvency. As soon, therefore, as Kachhalia was declared an insolvent, there was every likelihood that the European traders would cease to threaten other Satyagrahi traders who were their debtors. And that was exactly what happened. The Europeans wanted to compel Kachhalia either to give up the struggle or else to pay them in full in cash. They failed to achieve any of these two objects, and the actual result was the very reverse of what they had expected. They were dumb¬ founded by this first case of a respectable Indian trader welcoming insolvency and were quiet ever afterwards. In a year’s time the creditors realized 20 s. in the pound from Kachhalia Sheth’s stock-in-trade, and this was the first case in South Africa to my knowledge in which creditors SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA were paid in full from the insolvent debtor’s estate. Thus even while the struggle was in progress, Kachhalia com¬ manded great respect among the European merchants, who showed their readiness to advance to him any amount of goods in spite of his leading the movement. But Kachha¬ lia was every day gaining in strength and in an intelli¬ gent appreciation of the struggle. No one could now tell how long the struggle would last. We had therefore resolv¬ ed after the insolvency proceedings that the Sheth should not make any large commitments in trade during the continuance of the movement, but confine his operations within such moderate limits as would suffice to provide him with his daily bread. He therefore did not avail him¬ self of the European merchants’ offer.
I need scarcely say that all these incidents in the life of Kachhalia Sheth did not happen soon after the Com¬ mittee meeting referred to above, but I have found place for them here in the shape of a connected narrative. Chrono¬ logically, Kachhalia became Chairman some time after the resumption of the struggle (September 10, 1908) and his insolvency came about five months later.
But to return to the Committee meeting. When the meeting was over, I wrote a letter to General Smuts, say¬ ing that his new bill constituted a breach of the compro¬ mise, and drawing his attention to the following passage in his Richmond speech delivered within a week of the settlement: ‘The Indians’ second contention was that they would never register until the law had been repealed...He had told them that the law would not be repealed so long as there was an Asiatic in the country who had not registered...Until every Indian in the country had registered the law would not be repealed.’ Politicians do not reply at all to questions which land them in difficulty, or if they do, they resort to circumlocution. General Smuts was a past master of this art. You may write to him as often as you please, you may make any number of speeches you like, but if he is unwilling to reply, nothing that you do can draw him out. The law of courtesy, which requires a gentleman to reply to letters received, could not bind GENERAL SMUTS’ BREACH OF FAITH (?) 181 General Smuts, and I did not receive any satisfactory reply to my letters.
I met Albert Cartwright who had been our mediator. He was deeply shocked and exclaimed, ‘Really I cannot understand this man at all. I perfectly remember that he promised to repeal the Asiatic Act. I will do my best, but you know that nothing can move General Smuts when he has once taken up a stand. Newspaper articles are as nothing to him. So I am afraid I may not be of much help to you.5 I also met Mr Hosken who wrote to General Smuts but who received only a very unsatisfactory reply. I wrote articles in Indian Opinion under the caption of ‘Foul Play’, but what was that to the redoubtable General? One may apply any bitter epithets one likes to a philo¬ sopher or a heartless man but in vain. They will follow the even tenor of their way. I do not know which of these two appelations would fit General Smuts. I must admit that there is a sort of philosophy about his attitude. When I was corresponding with him and writing in the paper against him, I remember I had taken General Smuts to be a heartless man. But this was only the beginning of the struggle, only its second year, while it was to last as long as eight years, in course of which I had many occasions of meeting him. From our subsequent talks I often felt that the general belief in South Africa about General Smuts’ cunning did him perhaps less than justice. I am however sure of two things. First, he has some principles in politics, which are not quite immoral. Secondly, there is room in his politics for cunning and on occasions for perversion of truth.
CHAPTER XXVI RESUMPTION OF THE STRUGGLE If on the one hand we were trying to induce General Smuts to fulfil his part of the settlement, we were on the other hand enthusiastically engaged in ‘educating’ the community. We found the people everywhere ready to resume the struggle and go to jail. Meetings were held in every place, where we explained the correspondence which was being carried on with the Government. The weekly diary in Indian Opinion kept the Indians fully abreast of current events, and they were warned of the impending failure of the voluntary registration, and asked to hold themselves in readiness to burn the certificates if the Black Act was not repealed after all, and thus let the Govern¬ ment note that the community was fearless and -firm and ready to go to prison. Certificates were collected from every place with a view to making a bonfire of them.
The Government bill we have referred to in the pre¬ vious chapter was about to pass through the Legislature, to which a petition was presented on behalf of the Indians but in vain. At last an ‘ultimatum5 was sent to the Govern¬ ment by the Satyagrahis. The word was not the Satyagrahis5 but of General Smuts who thus chose to style the letter they had addressed to him signifying the determination of the community. The General said, ‘The people who have offered such a threat to the Government have no idea of its power. I am only sorry that some agitators are trying to inflame poor Indians who will be ruined if they succumb to their blandishments.5 As the newspaper reporter wrote on this occasion, many members of the Transvaal Assembly reddened with rage at this ‘ultimatum5 and unanimously and enthusiastically passed the bill introduced by General Smuts.
The so-called ultimatum may be thus summarized: ‘The point of the agreement between the Indians and General Smuts clearly was that if the Indians registered voluntarily, he on his part should bring forward in the RESUMPTION OF THE STRUGGLE Legislature a bill to validate such registration and to repeal the Asiatic Act. It is well known that the Indians have registered voluntarily to the satisfaction of the Govern¬ ment, and therefore the Asiatic Act must be repealed. The community has sent many communications to General Smuts and taken all possible legal steps to obtain redress but thus far to no purpose. At a time when the bill is passing through the Legislature, it is up to the leaders to apprise the Government of the discontent and strong feeling prevalent in the community. We regret to state, that if the Asiatic Act is not repealed in terms of the settle¬ ment, and if Government’s decision to that effect is not communicated to the Indians before a specific date, the certificates collected by the Indians would be burnt, and they would humbly but firmly take the consequences.’
One reason why this letter was held to be an ulti¬ matum was that it prescribed a time limit for reply. Another reason was that the Europeans looked upon the Indians as savages. If the Europeans had considered the Indians to be their equals, they would have found this letter perfect¬ ly courteous and would have given it most serious consi¬ deration. But the fact that the Europeans thought Indians to be barbarians was a sufficient reason for the Indians to write such letter. The Indians must either confess to their being barbarians and consent to be suppressed as such, or else they must take active steps in repudiation of the charge of barbarism. This letter was the first of such steps. If there had not been behind the letter an iron determination to act up to it, it would have been held an impertinence, and the Indians would have proved them¬ selves to be a thoughtless and foolish race.
The reader will perhaps point out that the charge of barbarism was repudiated in 1906 when the Satyagraha pledge was taken. And if so, there was nothing new about this letter which might warrant my giving it so much importance and dating the denial of the charge from it. This is true so far as it goes; but on thinking a little more deeply, it will appear that the repudiation really began with this letter. It should be remembered that the Satyagraha pledge came in almost by accident, and the SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA subsequent imprisonments followed as an inevitable corol¬ lary. The community then gained largely in stature but unconsciously. But when this letter was written, there was a deliberate intention of claiming full knowledge and high prestige. Now as well as before the object aimed at was the repeal of the Black Act. But there was change in the style of language used, in the methods of work select¬ ed and in other things besides. When a slave salutes a master and a friend salutes a friend, the form is the same in either case, but there is a world of difference between the two, which enables the detached observer to recognize the slave and the friend at once.
There was much discussion among ourselves when the ultimatum was forwarded. Would not the demand for reply within a stated period be considered impudent? Might it not be that it would stiffen the Government and lead them to reject our terms which otherwise they might have accepted? Would it not be sufficient indirectly to announce the community’s decision to the Government? After giving due weight to all these considerations we unanimously came to the conclusion that we must do what we thought to be right and proper for us to do. We must run the risk of being charged with discourtesy, as well as the risk of Government refusing in a huff what otherwise they might have granted. If we do not admit our inferiori¬ ty as human beings in any sense whatever and if we be¬ lieve that we possess the capacity for unlimited suffering for any length of time, we must adopt a straightforward course without hesitation.
The reader will perhaps see that there was some novelty and distinction about the step now taken, which had its reverberations in the Legislature and in European circles outside. Some congratulated the Indians on their courage while others got very angry, and asked for condign punishment to be awarded to the Indians for their insolence. Either section acknowledged the novelty of the Indians’ fresh move by its conduct. This letter created greater stir than even the commencement of the Satyagraha. movement, which too was a novelty when it was started. The reason is obvious. When Satyagraha was started, no A BONFIRE OF CERTIFICATES IBS one knew what the Indians were capable of, and there¬ fore neither such a letter nor the language in which it was couched would have been fitting for that initial stage. But now the community had had its baptism of fire. Every one had seen that the Indians had the capacity of suffer¬ ing the hardships incidental to an attempt to get their wrongs righted, and therefore the language of the ‘ulti¬ matum5 appeared in the light of a natural growth and not at all inappropriate in the circumstances.
CHAPTER XXVII A BONFIRE OF CERTIFICATES The ultimatum was to expire on the same day that the new Asiatic Bill was to be carried through the Legis¬ lature. A meeting had been called some two hours after the expiry of the time limit to perform the public cere¬ mony of burning the certificates. The Satyagraha Com¬ mittee thought that the meeting would not be fruitless even if quite unexpectedly perhaps a favourable reply was received from the Government, as in that case the meet¬ ing could be utilized for announcing the Government’s favourable decision to the community.
The Committee however believed that the Govern¬ ment would not reply to the ultimatum at all. We had all reached the place of meeting early, and arranged for the Government’s reply by wire, if any, to be brought promptly to the meeting, which was held at four o’clock on the grounds of the Hamidia Mosque at Johannesburg (August 16, 1908). Every inch of space available was taken up by Indians of all classes. The Negroes of South Africa take their meals in iron cauldrons resting on four legs. One such cauldron of the largest size available in the market had been requisitioned from an Indian trader’s shop and set up on a platform in a corner of the grounds in order to burn the certificates.
As the business of the meeting was about to com¬ mence, a volunteer arrived on a cycle with a telegram from the Government in which they regretted the deter¬ mination of the Indian community and announced their SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA inability to change their line of action. The telegram was read to the audience which received it with cheers, as if they were glad that the auspicious opportunity of burning the certificates did not after all slip out of their hands as it would have if the Government had complied with the demands formulated in the ultimatum. It is difficult to pronounce any categorical opinion on the propriety or the reverse of such a feeling of gladness without a knowledge of the motives which prompted each of the audience who greeted the Government reply with applause. This much however can be said, that these cheers were a happy sign of the enthusiasm of the meeting. The Indians had now some consciousness of their strength.
The meeting began. The chairman put the meeting on their guard and explained the whole situation to them. Appropriate resolutions were adopted. I clearly detailed the various stages of the protracted negotiations and said, Tf there is any Indian who has handed his certificate to be burnt but wants it to be returned to him, let him step forward and have it. Merely burning the certificates is no crime, and will not enable those who court imprison¬ ment to win it. By burning the certificates we only declare our solemn resolution never to submit to the Black Act and divest ourselves of the power of even showing the certificates. But it is open to any one to take a copy to¬ morrow of the certificate that may be burned to ashes to¬ day, and if there are any persons here who contemplate such a cowardly act or doubt their own ability to stand the ordeal, there is still time for them to have their certi¬ ficates back, and these can be given back to them. No one need be ashamed of getting his certificate back just now, as in doing so he will be exhibiting a certain kind of courage. But it would be not only shameful but also detrimental to, the best interests of the community to get a copy of the certificate afterwards. Again let us take note that this is going to be a protracted struggle. We know that some of us have fallen out of the marching army, and the burden of those who remain has been made heavier to that extent. I would advise you to ponder over all these A BONFIRE OF CERTIFICATES 187 considerations and only then to take the plunge proposed today.’
Even during my speech there were voices saying, ‘We do not want the certificates back, burn them.’ Finally I suggested that if any one wanted to oppose the resolu¬ tion, he should come forward, but no one stood up. Mir Alam too was present at this meeting. He announced that he had done wrong to assault me as he did, and to the great joy of the audience, handed his original certificate to be burnt, as he had not taken a voluntary certificate. I took hold of his hand, pressed it with joy, and assured him once more that I had never harboured in my mind any resentment against him.
The Committee had already received upwards of 2,000 certificates to be burnt. These were all thrown into the cauldron, saturated with paraffin and set ablaze by Mr Yusuf Mian. The whole assembly rose to their feet and made the place resound with the echoes of their conti¬ nuous cheers during the burning process. Some of those who had still withheld their certificates brought them in numbers to the platform, and these too were consigned to the flames. When asked why he handed his certificate only at the last moment, one of these friends said that he did so as it was more appropriate and would create a greater impression on the onlookers. Another frankly admitted his want of courage and a feeling that the certi¬ ficates might not be burnt after all. But he could not pos¬ sibly withhold the cerificate after he had seen the bonfire and gave it up, from an idea that the fate of all might well be his own fate too. Such frankness was a matter of frequ¬ ent experience during the struggle.
The reporters of English newspapers present at the meeting were profoundly impressed with the whole scene and gave graphic descriptions of the meeting in their papers. A description of the meeting was sent to The Daily Mail (London) by its Johannesburg correspondent, in course of which he compared the act of the Indians in burning their certificates with that of the Boston Tea Party. I do not think this comparison did more than justice to the Indians, seeing that if the whole might of the British SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA Empire was ranged against the hundreds of thousands of able Europeans in America, here in South Africa a help¬ less body of 13,000 Indians had challenged the powerful Government of the Transvaal. The Indians’ only weapon was a faith in the righteousness of their own cause and in God. There is no doubt that this weapon is all-sufficient and all-powerful for the devout, but so long as that is not the view of the man in the street, 13,000 unarmed Indians might appear insignificant before the well-armed Europeans of America. As God is the strength of the weak, it is as well that the world despises them.
CHAPTER XXVIII CHARGE OF FORGING FRESH ISSUE During the same year in which the Black Act was passed General Smuts carried through the Legislature another bill called the Transvaal Immigrants Restriction Bill (Act 15 of 1907), which was ostensibly of general application but was chiefly aimed at the Indians. This Act generally followed the lines of similar legislation in Natal, but it treated as prohibited immigrants those who could pass education tests but were ineligible for registration under the Asiatic Act, and was thus indirectly made an instrument for preventing the entry of a single Indian newcomer.
It was absolutely essential for the Indians to resist this fresh inroad on their rights, but the question was whether it should be made a plank in the Satyagraha struggle. The community was not bound as to when and regarding what subjects they should offer Satyagraha, in ^ deciding which question they must only not transgress „ the limits prescribed by wisdom and appreciation of their own capacity. Satyagraha offered on every occasion seasonable or otherwise would be corrupted into Dura- s* graha. And if any one takes to Satyagraha without having measured his own strength and afterwards sustains a defeat, he not only disgraces himself but he also brings the matchless weapon of Satyagraha into disrepute by his folly.
CHARGE OF FORCING FRESH ISSUE The Satyagraha Committee saw that the Indians’ Satyagraha was being offered only against the Black Act, and that if the Black Act was once repealed, the Immi¬ gration Restriction Act would lose the sting to which I have referred. Still if the Indians did not take any steps regarding the Immigration Act from an idea that a sepa¬ rate movement against it was unnecessary, their silence might be misconstrued as implying their consent to the total prohibition of Indian immigration in the future. The Immigration Act too must therefore be opposed, and the only question was: Should this also be included in the Satyagraha struggle? The community’s view was that it was their duty to include in the Satyagraha any fresh attacks on their rights made while the struggle was in progress. If they did not feel strong enough to do so that was al¬ together a different matter. The leaders came to the conclu¬ sion that their lack or deficiency of strength should not be made a pretext for letting the Immigration Act alone, and that therefore this Act too must be covered by the Satyagraha struggle.
Correspondence was therefore carried on with the Government on this subject. We could not thereby induce General Smuts to agree to a change in the law, but it provided him with a fresh handle for vilifying the com¬ munity and really speaking myself. General Smuts knew that many more Europeans, besides those who were publicly helping us, were privately sympathetic to our movement, and he naturally wished that their sympathy should be alienated if possible. He therefore charged me with raising a fresh point, and he told as well as wrote to our supporters that they did not know me as he did. If he yielded an inch, I would ask for an ell and therefore it was that he was not repealing the Asiatic Act. When Satyagraha was started, there was no question whatever about fresh immigrants. Now when he was legislating to prevent the fresh entry of any more Indians in the interest of the Transvaal, there too I had threatened Satyagraha. He could not any more put up with this Tunning.’ I might do my worst, and every Indian might be ruined, but he would not repeal the Asiatic Act, nor would the Transvaal SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA Government give up the policy they had adopted regard¬ ing the Indians, and in this just attitude they were entitled to the support of all Europeans.