Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 2.djvu/245

 matter. There is strong and deeply-rooted prejudice against Indians flocking into the country, and against their customs and mode of life. They may be British subjects by law, but they are aliens by what is stronger than law. viz., racial traditions and instincts.—The Natal Mercury, 18th January, 1897.

It is now beginning to be admitted that the outcry against Mr. Gandhi was much more bitter and violent than warranted by the facts and that his statement, although perhaps exaggerated, did not amount to such a wilful and deliberate attempt to blacken the character of the Colonists as to justify the vindictive attitude assumed, doubtless, under a misconception, by some extremists. Mr. Gandhi is endeavouring to perform for his compatriots similar services to those which Englishmen have always been ready to perform, and, when time has been afforded for cool reflection, it will be recognized that, however mistaken his methods, or however untenable his theses, it is the worst possible policy to treat him as an outcast and a pariah, because he is striving to secure what he considers to be the rights of his fellow-countrymen. It has always been the boast of Englishmen that they can take up a side without abandoning all fair play to their opponents. Colonists know that it would be dangerous to the well-being of the Colony to grant what Mr. Gandhi demands; they know that the fundamental and abiding racial distinctions between the Asiatic and European for ever preclude anything like social equality, and that no argument will ever bridge the gulf; they know that, even though abstract justice may apparently be against them, the instinct of self-preservation warns them that theirs is the only safe position; in short, they know that the Colony cannot remain a white Colony if no limit is put to Asiatic immigration. All this, however, may be admitted, without spoiling our case by unfair and unnecessary harshness towards those who quite naturally, take other views. Harm has been done already by the accentuation of the personal element, and it is to be hoped that Colonists will, in future, exhibit that dignity and self-restraint in the conduct of the campaign, without which we cannot expect the approval of disinterested observers.—The Natal Mercury, 19th January, 1897.

Mr. Gandhi’s statements to the Advertiser interviewer have been read with considerable interest, and show that he has a good deal to say for himself. If his assertions are correct, there seems to have been a good deal of exaggeration in the statements made about him and his proposed scheme to swamp the Colony with Indians, which have had much to do with the irritation of the public mind against him. In the interests of justice it is to be hoped this matter will be cleared up. It has been asserted that the Government have information in their possession to prove the existence of this scheme. If so, the evidence ought to be brought forward, because this really constitutes the gravamen of the charges against Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi