The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-02-21
A New Tolstoi Comes to L;eht

Mohandas X. Gandhi, leader of the
nationalist movement in India is the
central figure of the remarkable paci-
fist revolution" which has stirred the
S13,000,000 people of the Indian EN-.
pire as, perhaps, never before since
the days Of the Sepoy mutiny.
He has been called philosophic an
archist, new Tolstoi. He became
more dominant than ever in the CAM
paign against British rule in India
when, in December last, the Indian
National Congress in it's annual ses-
sion at Ahmedabad invested him with
sole executive powers of that congress
with authority to appoint his success.
sor "in any emergency"
The congress voted to suspend all
ether activities in order to concentrate
. upon civil disobedience, feature of
which was to the enlistment in the
National Volunteer Corps but includ-
ed also refusal to pay taxes and an
attempt to boycott British goods.
Soon after the congress adjourned
Gandhi sent manifesto to Lord Read
ing, the viceroy, offering to abandon
aggressive plans provided the govern
ment set free his followers, many hun
dreds of whom were in prison. and
provided the press was released from
administrative control and fines the
forfeitures were restored.
The British India office promptly an
nounced that it would not discuss such
demands and that it inteded to adopt
stern measures to suppress the cam
paign of civil disobedience.
Non-violence and non-cooperation
with the Indian government have been
the fundamental principles of Gand-
HIS campaign. His ideas have domi-
mated the Indian Congress and his ap
pointment as executive of that BODY
virtually made him dictator of the
revolutionary movement. He sought
to attain swaraj, self-determination
or freedom for every one) by non-re-
sistance, by conquering the enemy by
love.
Gandhi has been described as a
dark, little wisp of man, who has
tasted so long and often that he is
physically a mere shadow of a man.
He was born 52 years ago in the Bonn
bay presidency, the son of Hindu
merchant. He studied law, and finish
ed his legal training in London where
he donned the European dress. He|
has said that he drew the inspiration
for his movement from the New Tes-
lament, Christ's Sermon on the Mount
and from Tolstoi's "The Kingdom of
God is Within You"
AS lawyer he defended the Indians
who had been arrested in South Af-
rica and was himself imprisoned there.
During long campaign in behalf of
the Indians in South Africa, he was
jailed three times and once ambushed|
and left for dead but eventually OBJ
tanned legislation to protect the rights
of the Indians. He organized an am
bulance corps to serve in the Boer War
and rendered similar service in Lon
don during the world war.
He went back to India in 1915.
The idea of self-determination had
taken deep root in that empire and it
burst into flame when 500 Indians
were killed and 1000 wounded in the
Amritsar uprising and Indians of the
Punjab were made to crawl through
certain streets in humiliating punish
ment for rioting.
Gradually Gandhi assumed direction
of the campaign of protest against
what have ben called "The Punjab
atrocities" and his sway over the mil
lions Of Hinus has steadily gained
force until he is called an Indian
"Mahatma," or the wonder worker.