Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/107

Rh hoarse, desiring that the Government should hear us. But our shouting has no more affected the Government than the sound of a gnat. Our rulers disbelieve our statements or profess to do so. Let us now try to force our grievances into their ears by strong constitutional means. We must give the best political education possible to the ignorant villagers. We must meet them on terms of equality, teach them their rights and show how to fight constitutionally. Then only will the Government realise that to despise the Congress is to despise the Indian Nation. Then only will the efforts of the Congress leaders be crowned with success. Such a work will require a large body of able and single-minded workers, to whom Politics would not mean some holiday recreation but an every-day duty to be performed with strictest regularity and utmost capacity."

Closely in the heels of the Famine followed the Plague which has till now exacted the heavy toll of one crore of Indian lives. The fell nature of the disease and its sudden irruption created a consternation which was aggravated by the helplessness of the medical science in arresting its spread. The medical advisers of the Government failed, at first, to take any serious notice of the disease and when at last its looming shadow terrified the European nations and it became evident that not only had the plague become really virulent but also threatened to scare away European trade, strictest sanitary measures were devised to stem its tide. But trouble arose in the execution of these measures. Actuated, no doubt, by an earnest desire o stamp out this unwelcome guest in minimum time.