Holten High School - Onion Yearbook (Danvers, MA)

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8 THE HOLTEN Q ,L iifiigi iii Qfiliflis LITERARY VALEDICTORY Mahatma Gandhi: His Personality and Power There is no figure in the world to- day more important or more interest- ing than Mahatma Gandhi. Although his activities center in India, his sig- nificance is to the entire World. Gandhi's great political objective is the gaining of Swaraj or home rule for India. The desire of India for in- dependence is not remarkable. The leaning toward self-government in the East is one of the inevitable results of the World War. During the war India had been led to believe that some measure of independence would be granted her in return for her loy- alty and support. When, therefore, at the close of the war, Britain's promises were not regarded as being satisfactorily fulfilled, the spirit of India was awakened to revolt. It was at this point that Gandhi assumed the leadership of India. Mahatma Gandhi was brought up as an orthodox Hindu of the third caste of trade and agriculture. In de- fiance of Hindu custom and sanction, he was sent to England to study law. It was during his three years in Lon- don as a student that Gandhi came in contact with the doctrines of na- tionalism and of democracy, which were to influence his future life. Having passed the bar examina- tions, he returned to India and at- tempted to build up a law practice, but as a lawyer he was a failure. His natural timidity and shyness were a- gainst him, and his refusal to prose- cute for debt or to accept cases which seemed to him unjust lost him many clients. Then occurred the incident to which the world owes the discovery of Gandhi. He accepted a legal case in South Africa. While there he saw racial prejudices against the Indians which stirred the depths of his soul. Determined to free his Hindu bro- thers from their shameful oppression

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THE HOLTEN 7 they do resort to war it is from some unselfish beautiful motive. They kill to protect their country, their homes, their families. They kill to free them- selves from bondage, to make them- selves better men. The Wicked as you say may sit in high places, but they are not always going to remain there. Any high place that is held by a person not deserving of it is too high for him and eventually he will fall from his lofty perch. Do I hear you say that many wicked men have never fallen from their lofty perches but have enjoyed every advantage during a lifetime? I will admit that many have. No one in this world has the power to prevent them. But in the next world each one of these will face the Almighty Father. He is Om- nipotent and it is he who will punish and put down the mighty from their seat and exalt them of low degree. I should think that you could learn from the examples of certain great men in our country that poverty does not crush childhood. Rather, the child born in poverty is sensitive be- cause of it and is determined to leave it behind, as he matures. He succeeds because in his heart he worships men like Lincoln and sees that even though born into poverty they have struggled to the top of the ladder. The fact that a child is born poor in- spires him to a great ambition, the ambition to be somebody in spite of his poverty. Poverty does not crush a childg it uplifts him. You claim that storms destroy us, the sun scorches usg the winds blow cold. It is a well known fact that men do not live forever. Death is an in- evitable thing. If storms do not des- troy us something else will. Then, storms are not as dangerous as you would have us believe. Heavy storms are not frequent and the whole na- tion is not wiped out by them. I am certain that you would feel the lack of those foods that require the heating sun if the Almighty sud- denly decided to please you. You would also quickly tire of weather that was neither warm nor cold. Without doubt you would long for a cool breath of the winter Winds. I am afraid that you want a perfect land, and since nothing is absolutely perfect, there doesn't seem to be much hope for you. You are one of a few who are dissatisfied with all phases of the weather. If the earth should become as you want it, what would you do with the Negro or the Eskimo? We must think of -others be- side ourselves. So you don't think you owe anything to any one? In my opinion you owe a debt to the coun- try for even tolerating you. I cannot begin to enumerate the debts you owe to your government. The government protects your property and your life. The government educated you. You have the wrong impression of your- self if you think you are totally in- dependent of everybody and every- thing. Like Diogenes you think that there are so few honest men in this world that you need a lantern to find one. Like him you purposely close your eyes to the good and obstinately per- sist in hunting out the evil. Diogenes was wrong. If you would find good- ness you needs must only openyour eyes. - Dorothy Hart, '31.

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THE HOLTEN 9 at the hands of the white race, he became their leader, launching for the first time his policy of passive-resis- tance. Gandhi defines passive-resistance as follows: Through love he says, we seek to conquer the wrath of the English administrators and their sup- porters. We must love them and pray to God that they might have wisdom to see what appears to us to be their error. It is our duty to let ourselves be slain, but not ourselves to slay. If we are cast into prison we must ac- quiesce in our lot without bad feeling, hate, or any sort of revenge. In the struggle in South Africa, lasting six years, Gandhi was in a large measure successful. It is to his credit that in spite of his conflict with the government he holds nothing against the English as a people. He has often declared him- self a lover of the British Empire be- cause it stands for racial equality and freedom of conscience. But although he accepted the theory of government expressed by the British Constitution as being founded upon justice, he soon became convinced that the ad- ministration of the Constitution in India violated all the principles of that Constitution. Upon his return to India at the be- ginning of the World War, Gandhi re- mained. loyal to England' both because he wished to prove India worthy of self-government and because he be- lieved that the Allies were fighting to make the world safe for democra- cy. He immediately enlisted for am- bulance work for the entire term of the war. When he became physically unfit to carry on he recruited soldiers in India encouraging Hindus and Mo- hammedans alike to fight the Ger- mans and the Turks. At the close of the war came dis- appointment. The Government's at- tention was focused on India, but in- stead of self-government, it gave on- ly more representation and certain civil rights to the Indians, none of which satisfied the Nationalist party. Then followed the great program of non-violent resistance, using love, faith, and sacrifice as its instruments. If all India had sincerely followed Gandhi's ideal of passive-resistance, his plan would have met with some measure of success. But many Indi- ans were incapable of the exaltation and sacrifice demanded in order to re- frain from violence. The result was a riot at Amritsar, in quelling which the government used the utmost cruelty and violence. Gandhi then, supported by the all-India National Congress, precipitated the movement called Non-Violent Non-Co-operation. This movement called for the res- ignation of Hindus from all govern- ment offices, the withdrawal of Hin- dus from the government schools, the refusal to pay taxes or perform mili- tary service, the withdrawal of Hin- du funds from government bonds, and the boycott of government courts and British goods. Gandhi also ad- vocated the restoration of the spin- ning wheel in the homes of India as an immediate and practicable solu- tion of the economic problem of pov- erty and starvation. It will be seen upon examination that these methods of Gandhi are the aims of an idealist. It is hardly conceivable that in a ma- chine age a nation can accomplish in- dependence by stepping out of the in- dustrial world and by returning to conditions of the past. This whole program was to be car- ried out without violence, for to Gandhi no end is worth while which requires open warfare in its attain,-