Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 1.djvu/264

 almost anything on the South African soil, and that in abundance. The supply of bananas, pineapples, and oranges is almost inexhaustible, and far greater than the demand. There is no wonder that the Vegetarians can thrive very well in Natal. The only wonder is, that in spite of such facilities and the warm climate, there should be so few Vegetarians. The result is that large tracts of land still remain neglected and uncultivated. The staple articles of food are imported when it is perfectly possible to grow all of them in South Africa ; and in a vast territory like Natal, there is much distress among a small population of 40,000 whites. All this, because they will not take to agricultural pursuits.

Another curious but painful result of the unnatural mode of living, is that there is a very strong prejudice against the Indian population who also number 40,000. The Indians, being Vegetarians, take to agriculture without any difficulty whatsoever. Naturally, therefore, all over the colony, the small farms are owned by Indians, whose keen competition gives offence to the white population. They are following a dog-in-the-manger and suicidal policy in so behaving. They would rather leave the vast agricultural resources.of the country undeveloped, than have the Indians to develop them. Owing to such stolidity and shortsightedness, a colony that can easily support double, or even treble, the number of European and Indian inhabitants, with difficulty supports 8,000 [sic] Europeans and Indians. The Transvaal government have gone so far in their prejudice, that the whole of the republic, although the soil is very fruitful, remains a desert of dust. And if the gold mines could not be worked from any cause, thousands of men would be thrown out of employ-ment, and literally starved to death. Is there not here a great lesson to be learnt? The non-flesh [sic] eating habits have really tended to retard the pro-gress of the community, and indirectly to create division among the two great communities which ought to be united and work hand in hand. There is also this striking fact to be noticed that the Indians enjoy as good health as the Europeans in the Colony, and I know that many doctors would be simply starving if there were no Europeans, or their flesh pots, and that by thrifty and temperate habits, both attributable to Vegetarianism, can Indians successfully compete with the Europeans. Of course, it should be understood that the Indians in the Colony are not pure Vegetarians. They are practically so.

We shall see presently how the Trappists of Marian Hill. near Pinetown, are a standing testimony to the above remarks.