Page:Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches.djvu/149



INDIANS AND THEIR EMPLOYERS

SPEECH AT VERULAM

[''One of the most important gatherings held just before Mr. Gandhi left South Africa was the great meeting of indentured Indians and employers at Verulam. In his address, Mr. Gandhi took pains to make the position under the Relief Act absolutely clear to the Indian labourers, and addressed a few earnest words at the close to the European Employers of the neighbourhood'']:—

He asked his countrymen to understand that it was wrong for them to consider that the relief that had been obtained had been obtained because he had gone to gaol, or his wife, or those who were immediately near and dear to him. It was because they had had the good sense and courage to give up their own lives and to sacrifice themselves, and in these circumstances he had also to tell them that many causes led to that relief, and one of these was Certainly also the most valuable and unstinted assistance rendered by Mr. Marshall Campbell 37