Page:Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches.djvu/272

M. K. Gandhi victory and peace." Here there is evident confusion of thought. The credit which is becoming the money power of the world has little moral basis and is not synonym for Trust or Faith which are purely moral qualities. After twenty year's experience of hundreds of men, who had dealings with banks in South Africa, the opinion I had so often heard expressed has become firmly rooted in me, that the greater the rascal the greater the credit he enjoys with his banks. The banks do not pry into his moral character: they are satisfied that he meets his overdrafts and promissory notes punctually. The credit system has encircled this beautiful globe of ours like a serpent's coil, and if we do not mind, it bids fair to crush us out of breath. I have witnessed the ruin of many a home through the system, and it has made no difference whether the credit was labelled co-operative or otherwise. The deadly coil has made possible the devastating spectacle in Europe, which we are helplessly looking on. It was perhaps never so true as it is to-day that as in law so in war the longest purse finally wins. I have ventured to give prominence to the current belief about credit system in order to emphasize the 152