Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/261

 bring about this change only by creating a split in the Cabinet and driving out of office his old chief, we are not surprised that Mr. Tilak was unsuccessful. Pre- judices and prepossessions die hard. Mr. Tilak would however brook no compromise on one point. He wanted the Congress to call on the Home Rule Leagues and other pubUc Associations to carry on continuously a vigorous propaganda. " If the Congress " he said " would not lead a national agitation, let the Home Rule Leagues at least do the work." It was with evi- dent ill-grace that the veteran Moderates allowed the Resolution to be passed. Even Mr. Jinnah and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya voted against it. This reso- lution was only the thin end of the wedge and Mr. Tilak trusted time to make the National Congress lead the National movements.

The memorable 1917 dawned and found Mr. Tilak busy with his Home Rule Propaganda. During the whole of this eventful year, Mr. Tilak toured from one end of the country to the other. He deUvered lectures at Calcutta, Delhi, Mathura, Nagpur, Akola, Godhra, Surat, Jalgaon, DhuUa, Belgaum, Thana, Sholapur, Satara and other places too numerous to be mentioned in detail. It is estimated that he delivered over 100 lectures to audiences varying from 4 to 20 thousand. He exhorted his countrjnnen to be up and doing ; he wanted them to strike while the iron was hot. His cherished plan of sending a Home Rule Deputation to England was approved of everj^-where and people gladly paid large sums of money to meet the expendi- ture.

During the earlier course of the war, the Bureaucracy 16