Page:Satyagraha in South Africa.pdf/330

 be arrested along with Mr Kallenbach who was working most energetically on behalf of the Indians. Mr Polak therefore was arrested in Charlestown whilst waiting for the corridor train. Mr Kallenbach was also arrested and both these friends were confined in Volksrust jail.

I was tried in Dundee on the 11th and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment with hard labour. I had still to take my second trial at Volksrust on the charge of aiding and abetting prohibited persons to enter the Transvaal. From Dundee I was therefore taken on the 13th to Volksrust where I was glad to meet Kallenbach and Polak in the jail.

I appeared before the Volksrust court on the 14th. The beauty of it was that the charge was proved against me only by witnesses furnished by myself at Kromdraai. The police could have secured witnesses but with difficulty. They had therefore sought my aid in the matter. The courts here would not convict a prisoner merely upon his pleading guilty.

This was arranged as regards me, but who would testify against Mr Kallenbach and Mr Polak? It was impossible to convict them in the absence of evidence, and it was also difficult at once to secure witnesses against them. Mr Kallenbach intended to plead guilty as he wished to be with the pilgrims. But Mr Polak was bound for India, and was not deliberately courting jail at this moment. After a joint consultation therefore we three resolved that we should say neither yes nor no in case we were asked whether Mr Polak was guilty of the offence with which he was charged.

I provided the evidence for the Crown against Mr Kallenbach and I appeared as witness against Mr Polak. We did not wish that the cases should be protracted, and we therefore did our best to see that each case was disposed of within a day. The proceedings against me were completed on the 14th, against Kallenbach on the 15th and against Polak on the 17th, and the Magistrate passed sentences of three months’ imprisonment on all three of us.