Page:Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches.djvu/333

 protest into the Transvaal, the horrible scenes enacted into the latter in the effort to crush the strikers and compel them to resume work, the arrest and imprisonment of the principal leaders and of hundreds—almost thousands—of the rank and file, the enormous Indian mass meetings held in Durban, Johannesburg, and: other parts of the Union, the fierce and passionate indignation aroused in India, the large sums of money poured into South Africa from all parts of the Motherland, Lord Hardinge's famous speech at Madras, in which he placed himself at the head of Indian public opinion and his demand for a Commission of Inquiry, the energetic efforts of Lord Ampthill's Committee, the hurried intervention of the Imperial authorities, the appointment over the heads of the Indian community of a Commission whose personnel could not satisfy the Indians, the discharge of the lead’s whose advice to ignore the Commission was almost entirely accepted, the arrival of Messrs. Andrews and Pearson and their wonderful work of reconciliation, the deaths of Harbatsingh and Valiamma, the strained position relieved only by the interruption of the second European strike, when Mr. Gandhi once more undertook not to hamper the Government whilst they had their hands full with the fresh difficulty, and, when it had been dealt with, the entirely new spirit of friendliness, trust, and