Page:Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches.djvu/226



SOCIAL SERVICE

[''The anniversary meeting of the Social Service League, Madras, (1916) was held at the quadrangle of the Christian College, the Anderson Hall having been found insufficient to accommodate the immensely large gathering which had begun to assemble from an early hour. Mrs. Whitehead presided. Bishop Whitehead teas also present. Mr. Gandhi having been called upon by Mrs. Whitehead to address the meeting said'']:—

For social service as for any other service on the face of this earth, there is one condition indispensable, viz., proper qualifications on the part of those who want to render social service or any other service, and so we shall ask ourselves this evening whether those of us who are already engaged in this kind of service and those who aspire to render that service possess those necessary qualifications, because you will agree with me that servants if they can mend matters, they can also spoil matters, and in trying to do service, however well-intentioned that service might be, if they are not qualified for that service, they will be rendering not service but disservice. 106