The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-04-30
Gandhi, Leader of Indian ReuOh
Half Naked. But Impelling Man
SayS American Girl Who SaU Him

In supcrstitious reverence the bare
feet behind me,
"An imam opened the meeting,
followed hy one uf Gandh's CO.
workers, who made u fun report un
the results uf the national schuuls'
founded In opposition To state
schools a year ago. At the close OF
hi address several graduates " the
national university OF Lahore re-
ccivod their diplomas from Mr.
Gandhls own hand.
AS he rose for the first time,
dropping Off his blanket shawl ana
appearing clad only. In a very short
dhut, in accordance with a recent
resolve hc had made tu share the
utmost poverty Of his people. | saw.
to my surprise, an expression ~
sophisticated amusement run across
the faces of those nearest the plat
form l}ut II for one momcnt a rev
people laughed. the laughter ceased
abruptly Mr. Guudhi began to
sIsak In voice that at first sounded
note OF great physical exhaustion,
but after "A few moments shook oft
this wcaTincss and rang out with
arrcsting urgency lie Is not an
orator. His thin right hand. with
fingers bent flcNibly backward at
the tips. made the same automatic
gesture again and again. He did
not plead with his audience. lie
made no attempt to flattor It,
Rather did he seem TO he speaking
in anger and bitterness of heart
He was asking the people how they
expected To have swarai when they
would not work for it, when they
would not Hdopt the vow uf swada -hl
and thus make India self-sustaining.
as she was old old, when, through
incapacity to deny themselves COM
forts or to suffer, they showed them
selves unpreparcd for true self rule.
Some of the familiar catChwurds |
caught. a stout Moslem gentleman
who sat near mo on the floor OF the
platform occasionally acted as In
tcrpreter.
The Leaders Smile.
Put the text of Gandhi's face was
what chiefly Interested me. am
almost tempted to call him ugly. To
begin with, his head Is small even
for his stature though possibly the
propurtionately broad Indian should
ors make 1t seem more 80, Close
cropped irun-gray hair with the long
Wisp generally worn by HinduA-l
never saw Gandhi himself wearing
the cap his followers have adopted
a forehead with very deep horizontal
lines, "A long nose shadowing u dis
tinctiy Oricnt,| mouth with u
clipped mustachc. thin checks, dark
eyes rather far apart with Indefinite
| eyebrows and heavy cyellds-- uch
Is his general appearance ns well as
! can describe 1t. Perhaps IT ls the
effect of sharp features too much
crowded into the lower half of the
face that Is its most distinctive char
acteristic. Perhaps 1t ls the troub-
/ led forehead and the deepset lines
/ running from nose to chin. The
/ lines are those of suffering and old
/ age, now not very far away. al
/ though in years Mr.. Gandhi II only
| just so. When he Smiles one notes
| with "A shock how the lines In his
/ face deepen and how the absence
| of two or three teeth In the lower
/ jaw aCcentuatcs the impression of
| advancing age. There was some
| thing inappropriate about that smile.
! Gandhi once remarked to me that
| it was his sense OF humor which
! kept him going sometimes. But
! have heard many people lay claim
| to n sense OF humor when | could
| never discover n trace of one. So II
was with Gandhi His smile was not
Of the troubled soul. II broke around
the mouth and passed quickly, like
a veil thrown for fraction OF n
second across the settled melancholy
Of the face. Many Indian faces wear
that same melancholy. Sometimes
II is sunk in apathy, often II cN'
presses itself in conscious dlscon'
tent, but whatever It's varyln1
shades, II has seemed 10 me funda'
| mental to Indian thought. II IL q
flag Of the mind. You never see u
| reflected on Malayan face, tol
Instance. As for the eyes OF thi'
man, they suggest n stern and crit
ical appraisal OF everything comlni
within range Of their vision, ana
curious detachment. 1t In so tina
one looSs out on glittering tropica
sea or toward the desert horizon,
"The windows I'm the mosque
darkened. and the lights hangint
from the ceiling cleaned with hos
tile brllliancy. Many men In th'
audience were nov weeping. Tn
slight, half-naked figure Of Gandhi
saving again for the thoumndth oi
ten thousandth time all that he ha
to say about the charka and swad
eshi and swarni seemed TO shrinI
even smaller. was II that some
thing of himself was actually spent
something material and physical, n
his indomitable will battlcd agains
the mass mind, striving to liit II Il
the plane Of his own strange vision
Opinions OF Him.
II am aware of having drawn
plcture that commits me ia certain
sympathy with Gandhfs personality
This sympathy has nothing TO d
with my critical estimate OF his bal
nncc or his political Judgments
which ! shall attempt to give In
succeeding article. For the presen
I shall not discuss any OF the In
volvcd questions that have mnd'
Gandhl dangerous person In tn
eyes Of tho English world, II !
worth stating, however, that. al
though / talked about him with
great many English people in al
parts of india. | never heard an
except two general expressions o
opinion concerning him. To tn
larger number, he Is nothing NOR
nor less than an arch hypocrile,
man who talks non-yiolcnce ana In
directly incites to violence, who pro
fcsses to love mankind and all IN
time stirs up the bitterest feeling
/ of race hatred. To the rest he
an lncomprehcnsible religious fanati
i whose psychology and point Of vle'
are 30 apart from the usual under
standing that II is impossible I
meet him on any sort OF comno
z ground; In short. a fool. Both sec
tiOns OF opinion agree that he ha
2 lot loose forces beyond his COntrO