Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/205

 between the two wings of Indian opinion. She was perfectly right in her estimate. By the time the Congress met in Bombay Mrs. Besant had made a very fair start. Most of the influential leaders of Bharatavarsha had given consent to Mrs. Besant's Scheme of a League and on September 14, 1915 she formally declared the aim of holding a conference in Bombay and forming an All-India League. It had to be postponed however as Mrs. Besant felt the time had not yet come. Agitating as she was for Home Rule,she chose to fall in with the Congress and wait till the 1st of September 1916 the time limit fixed by the Congress Executive to come to a decision of their own. While Mrs. Besant, an unconnected individual, was endeavouring in this fashion to drag the Yesterdays into a line with the To-morrows step by step and achieving it as was evident by the difference in spirit of the Congress Sessions in Madras and again in Bombay Mr. Tilak as the leader of one of the parties to be reconciled was quietly and steadily doing his own work of educating the country. Under his guidanceorganisations sprang up in the Bombay Presidency and during the earlier part of 1916 work on behalf of Home Rule was well pushed