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108 were the real heroes. * * Mr. Gandhi regarded the settlement as the Magna Charta of the South Africa British Indians, not because of the substance but because of the spirit which brought it about. There had been a change in the attitude of the people of South Africa and the settlement had been sealed by the sufferings of the Indian community. It had proved that if Indians were in earnest they were irresistible. There had been no compromise in principles. Some grievances remained unredressed but these were capable of adjustment by pressure from Downing Street, Simla, and from South Africa itself. The future rested with themselves. If they proved worthy of better conditions, they would get them.

The following letter dated the 14th August, 1914, signed by Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, Mayor N. P. Sinha, Dr. Jivraj N. Mehta and some fifty other Indians, was sent to the Under-Secretary of State for India:—

It was thought desirable by many of us that during the crisis that has overtaken the Empire and whilst many Englishmen, leaving their ordinary vocations in life, are responding to the Imperial call, those Indians who are residing in the United Kingdom and who can at all do so should place themselves unconditionally at the disposal of the Authorities.

With a view of ascertaining the feeling of the resident Indian population, the undersigned sent out a circular letter to as many Indians in the United