36. “Indians and Passes,” NM, February 29, 1896.
37. “Indians and the Curfew,” NW, February 22, 1896.
38. “Out After Hours,” NM, February 21, 1896.
39. CWMG 1:297–300.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Epigraph, page 84: Autobiography, 504.
1. Autobiography, 165.
2. CWMG 3 (1960 edition): 101.
3. Autobiography, 148.
4. The company was upset with Adams for mishandling correspondence to have been delivered in Mozambique and for failing to adequately deal with a consignment of salt. A company employee reported that the captain got drunk at Delagoa Bay. Finally, the company believed Adams boarded unticketed passengers and moved second-class passengers into first-class without justification and without charging them.
5. The most likely explanation for Adams’ refusal to settle in Bombay is that between the time he submitted his bill in Bombay and the time he refused payment there, he realized he could do better by submitting the bill in pounds in Durban.
6. Inferior courts were not empowered to grant such commissions. “Evidence by Commission,” NA, April 15, 1896.
7. Gandhi had gone to Frederick Laughton, an experienced lawyer friendly to the Indians and an expert in procedure, to obtain Laughton’s advice as to whether Abdulla could successfully appeal Gallwey’s decision. Laughton opined not only that there were adequate grounds for the Supreme Court to take the appeal but that the Court had the power to grant Gandhi’s application, as well. “Opinion Letter from F. A. Laughton to M. K. Gandhi,” SN 870 (April 15, 1896).
8. “The Courland Shipping Case,” NA, April 16, 1896.
9. Ibid. A counterclaim was then known as a “claim in reconvention.”
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. The clerk, Bissessur, had boarded the Courland with instructions to watch Adams. Bissessur testified that Adams, among other things, defied the company’s order that he not board his family.
13. “The Courland Shipping Case,” NA, April 20, 1896.
14. “The ‘Courland’ Shipping Case,” NM, April 23, 1896.
15. “The Courland Shipping Case,” NM, April 24, 1896.
16. In a move not calculated to endear his client to the court or the public, Gandhi defiantly stated that, in regard to passenger lodging, it should not be the business of the plaintiff or the court “whether the Courland was a floating palace or a pig stye.” “The Courland Shipping Case,” NA, April 24, 1896.
17. Gandhi was largely unsuccessful with his counterclaim. Waller did rule for the company on some minor matters of damages. Considering that at one point in the case Gandhi had offered to drop his counterclaim entirely, this ruling was not a bad result. Costs, however, were assessed against Dada Abdulla and Company. “The Courland Shipping Case,” NA, May 15, 1896, and “The ‘Courland’ Shipping Case,” NM, May 16, 1896.
18. “Mr. Gandhi’s Departure,” NA, June 5, 1896.
19. Autobiography, 503–504.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Second epigraph, page 95: Satyagraha, 58.
1. An approximation of the speech can be found in CWMG 2 (1976 edition): 50.
2. CWMG 2:103.
3. Gandhi gave other speeches in India, including one at Madras that he was apparently able to read himself. Autobiography, 179.
4. “Mr. Gandhi Ashore: Mobbed.—Stoned and Kicked,” NA, January 14, 1897. Gandhi’s later recollection was that he had taken a month to write the pamphlet in India. Autobiography, 169.
5. Reproduced in CWMG 2:2.
6. According to Reuters, Gandhi claimed Indians “are treated like beasts.” CWMG 2:142.
7. “Passengers Interviewed: How Mr. Gandhi Views the Agitation,” NM, January 12, 1897; “The Asiatic Invasion: Events of Yesterday—Return of the Deputation,” NA, January 12, 1897. Gandhi estimated one hundred were newcomers. “Mr. Gandhi Ashore: Mobbed.—Stoned and Kicked,” NA, January 14, 1897.
8. CWMG 2:199.
9. “The Asiatic Invasion,” NM, January 8, 1897.
10. CWMG 2:129, 159.
11. Spiller, District and Supreme Courts of Natal, 60, 122–123. Laughton was a member of Goodricke, Laughton, and Cooke, a firm with which Gandhi had earlier come into professional contact. During the quarantine crisis, the firm sought relief from various government officials. CWMG 2:146–150, 156.
12. Satyagraha, 57. Gandhi writes that Laughton was “an old and well-known advocate of Durban. . . . I used to consult with him in difficult cases and often to engage him as my senior. He was a brave . . . man.” Ibid.
13. “In Support of Mr. Gandhi,” NM, January 16, 1897.
14. “Mr. Gandhi Comes Ashore,” NM, January 14, 1897.
15. “Mr. Gandhi and the Lady,” NM, January 18, 1897; “Mr. Gandhi Ashore: Mobbed.—Stoned and Kicked,” NA, January 14, 1897. Satyagraha, 58.
16. Autobiography, 191–194; “Mr. Gandhi Comes Ashore,” NM, January 14, 1897; “Asiatic Invasion—How Gandhi Got Away,” NW, January 16, 1897. Gandhi reports the crowd numbered in the thousands, and those milling outside the house threatened to burn it. Satyagraha, 59. The press accounts do not support his crowd estimate, but do support his report of the threat to burn the building.
17. The Alexanders urged Gandhi to forgive his attackers and to “forget the past,” a course Gandhi adopted. “Letter from R. Alexander to M. K. Gandhi” (January 22, 1897), SN 1938; “Letter from J. Alexander to M. K. Gandhi” (January 22, 1897), SN 1939.
18. CWMG 2:241.
19. “Pars about People,” NA, January 20, 1897.
20. NM, December 30, 1896, quoted in CWMG 2:163.
21. CWMG 2:13.
22. CWMG 2:118.
23. Autobiography, 195.
24. Ibid.
25. “Letter to the Natal Mercury,” NM, April 16, 1897.
26. Autobiography, 196.
27. “Mr. Gandhi Comes Ashore,” NM, January 14, 1897.
28. Laughton quoted in “In Support of Mr. Gandhi,” NM, January 16, 1897.
CHAPTER NINE
Second epigraph, page 104: CWMG 3:121.
1. CWMG 2:161; CWMG 2:152.
2. NA, February 26, 1897, cited in CWMG 2:267; The Star, May 10, 1897, cited in CWMG 2:267–268.
3. CWMG 2:272.
4. CWMG 2:260.
5. The act used the British spelling “licences.” Newspapers of the era used both “licences” and “licenses.”
6. For a history of the £3 tax, see Swan, South African Experience, 45–46. Proposals were also entertained to have a servant’s indenture end in India. CWMG 2:140.
7. CWMG 2:260.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. “Restrictions on Immigration,” NW, April 1, 1897.
12. “The big merchants . . . were unable to expand by opening a new branch, to break a partnership into . . . elements, or to pass . . . a business to an heir. . . . [T]hose with property . . . were . . . affected . . . if persons leasing . . . from them were refused renewal of licence, and those with debtors among the petty traders stood to lose if their debtors were forced to shut up shop.” Swan, South African Experience, 68–69.
13. Gandhi’s faith in reason is almost naïve. Referring to the IRA, he would write in late 1897, “If the Act is to be ever removed, it can only be done by persuasion.” “Letter to the Editor,” NM, November 13, 1897.
In petitioning against the IRA, Gandhi wrote that the act restricted the immigration of Indians while never mentioning them. “Such a mode of procedure,” he argued, “is un-British, and, therefore, it should not receive countenance in a Colony which is supposed to be the most British in South Africa.” “The Asiatic Question: Indians Petition against the Bills,” NM, March 30, 1897.
14. CWMG 2:140.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. CWMG 2:243.
18. CWMG 2:231.
19. “Letter to the Natal Mercury,” NM, April 16, 1897.
20. CWMG 2:260.
21. CWMG 2:281.
22. “Undesirables at Dundee,” NM, September 21, 1897.
23. CWMG 2:290.
24. “Undesirables at Dundee,” NM, September 21, 1897.
25. “The New Licensing Act,” NA, October 28, 1897.
26. Spiller, District and Supreme Courts of Natal, 94.
27. Coakes had presented much the same argument earlier. Coakes won at the magistrate level; there was no appeal. “Are They Retail Shops?” NM, February 26, 1897; “Not a Retail Shop,” NM, February 27, 1897.
28. “Selling in Passages,” NM, December 10, 1897.
29. Musa v. Dyer, XIX NLR 26 (1898).
30. Ibid.
31. “Letter to M. K. Gandhi,” SN 2893 (December 26, 1898).
32. Law 39 of 1896, Section 8.
33. “The Dealers’ Licences Act,” NA, January 31, 1898.
34. Vanda v. Newcastle, XIX NLR 28 (1898). Case records show the correct name as “Vauda.” See, e.g., “Costs, Charges and Expenses relating to the Appeal of Suliman Ebrohim Vauda,” SN 2879 (undated).
35. “Traders’ Licences,” NA, March 3, 1898.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Vanda would not permit a conventional appeal to the Court. To avoid this problem, Laughton and Gandhi postured the case as one for a writ of mandamus.
41. “What is the use of allowing an appeal to the Town Council, and then declining to grant the applicant a copy of the record?” “Licensing Appeals,” NA, March 3, 1898. “Dealers’ Licences Act—A Durban Indian’s Case—Mr. Gandhi Eloquently Appeals,” NW, March 3, 1898.
A columnist for the Natal Witness also referred to Gandhi’s “eloquent appeal” but then went on to opine that it was not “improbable that had the Indian seeker after a licence taken the precaution to have himself represented by someone other than Mr. Gandhi, the Council might not have been quite so unanimous in upholding the Licensing Officer’s decision.” “Talk of the Town,” NW, March 5, 1898. This same columnist would later join in the criticism of the Durban Town Council. “Topics of the Town,” NW, April 2, 1898.
42. Spiller, District and Supreme Courts of Natal, 121. All levels of professionals could then perform all functions of solicitors, attorneys, and advocates.
43. Solnath v. Durban Corporation, XIX NLR 70 (1898).
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. “Licensing Appeals,” NA, June 7, 1898.
47. Ibid. The Natal Mercury stated that Gandhi had “demolished” the officer’s reason. “The Licence Appeals,” NM, June 8, 1898.
48. “Licensing Appeals,” NA, June 7, 1898.
49. “Retail Licensing Appeals,” NM, June 7, 1898.
50. “Licensing Appeals,” NA, June 7, 1898. The council also denied the appeal of a third Gandhi client, who, it was revealed at the hearing, also did not know English. “Retail Licensing Appeals,” NM, June 7, 1898.
51. CWMG 3:17.
52. “Licensing Appeal—Anti-Asiatic Feeling—Attitude of the Town Council,” NA, September 15, 1898.
53. CWMG 3:17.
54. “Licensing Appeal—Anti-Asiatic Feeling—Attitude of the Town Council,” NA, September 15, 1898.
55. Ibid.
56. Ibid.
57. “Licences to Asiatics,” NA, September 15, 1898. “There was . . . no other objection to the . . . licence than that the applicant was an Indian.” “Town Council and Indian Licences,” NM, September 16, 1898.
58. On December 22, 1898, Gandhi drafted a brief in which he sought an opinion regarding this very question. CWMG 3:24. In response, Labistour opined that excluding Indians was an unlawful exercise of discretion. “Preliminary Opinion re Indian Licences,” SN 3114 (March 12, 1899). Laughton differed, stating that if the licensing officer’s decision did not stem from “corrupt motives,” he could exercise his discretion in any fashion whatsoever. “The Act,” Laughton held, “was the injustice[,] not refusing licenses to Indians under it.” “Opinion of F. A. Laughton,” SN 3134 (March 14, 1899). Labistour retorted that the attack on the DLA “had so far been fairly bungled.” “Letter to M. K. Gandhi,” SN 3165 (March 31, 1899).
CHAPTER TEN
Epigraph, page 126: Autobiography, 219.
1. Vauda [sic] v. Mayor and Councillors of New Castle, December 10, 1898, Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1899 Law Reports 246; LXXIX The Law Times Reports 600; XX NLR 1 (December 10, 1898); “Indian Appeal Case,” NA, December 12, 1898.
2. Gandhi considered the decision “a calamity.” Untitled document, SN 4036 (undated).
3. Autobiography, 202.
4. See, for example, “Letter to Gandhi from O. J. Askew,” SN 3919 (January 24, 1896); and “Letter to W. Lehman from M. K. Gandhi,” SN 3812 (April 17, 1901). For a less typical example, because it deals with a less typical client—the Congress—see “Letter to Gandhi from William Edward Pitcher,” SN 2605–2 (November 22, 1897).
5. See, for example, “Letter to Gandhi from William Morcom,” SN 2891 (December 23, 1898).
6. See, for example, “Statement of Bennett Expenses due to Hawthorn and Mason,” SN 2969 (July 30, 1895); “Letter to Gandhi from G. B. Cooke,” SN 405 (July 22, 1895).
7. “Supreme Court—Tuesday: An Indian Advocate,” NW, July 12, 1899.
8. CWMG 3:283.
9. In re: M. C. Camrooden & Co., XX NLR 171 (September 1, 1899).
10. Ibid.; “The Supreme Court—In Re M. C. Camrooden & Co.,” NM, September 2, 1899; “A Big Security,” NM, September 4, 1899.
11. See CWMG 5 (1961 edition): 37.
12. Thompson, A History of South Africa (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990), summarizes the war’s causes, the conduct of the war, and postwar developments.
13. CWMG 3:113–114.
14. For a description of the corps’s work, see Satyagraha, 76–78.
15. CWMG 3:160.
16. CWMG 3:183.
17. Gandhi stated in 1899 that he had had “some little experience” of law governing indentured servants. CWMG 3:72. Whatever it was, it does not appear to have been experience of representing significant numbers of servants in court. Gandhi did represent Balasundaram and appears to have represented another indentured servant during 1896 or earlier. See Satyagraha, 53.
18. “Absent from Roll Call,” NA, August 16, 1900; “Durban District Circuit Court: Civil Business—Monkeys and the Roll Call,” NM, August 17, 1900; “Durban Circuit Court: Another Roll Call Episode,” NA, August 17, 1900; “Indians and Witnesses,” NM, December 14, 1900; “Transfer of Indians,” NA, December 14, 1900; “A Review,” NM, December 14, 1900; Chelligadu v. G. Wilkinson, XXII NLR 24 (January 15, 1901); CWMG 3:173.
19. In 1898 Gandhi floated the Congress a £300 loan. CWMG 3:7. By comparison, Natal’s attorney general’s yearly salary was £800. “The Boer Republics: Their Financial Resources,” NM, January 26, 1900. Gandhi spearheaded a relief effort, donating generously himself. “Indian Famine Relief Fund,” NM, August 23, 1900. See also SNs 2091–0001 et seq. He also may have been supporting his extended family in India; see CWMG 3:50.
20. “Durban Civil Court,” NA, January 4, 1901.
21. CWMG 2:100.
22. While it is impossible to say what Gandhi’s income was at this time, a sense of its magnitude can be gained from a partnership proposal he made two years earlier to an Indian lawyer. Gandhi estimated that, working together, they could earn as much as £150 per month. CWMG 2:67.
23. “Indian Famine Fund: Meeting of Indians,” NW, August 9, 1900.
24. CWMG 3:108.
25. CWMG 3:165–166.
26. NM, July 12, 1900.
27. CWMG 3:171.
28. Ibid.
29. In 1901 Gandhi refers to the fight against the DLA as “a sealed book.” CWMG 3:213.
30. CWMG 2:67.
31. Autobiography, 212.
32. Ibid.
33. Autobiography, 212. Khan appeared to be fulfilling both functions
when he succeeded in convincing the Supreme Court to overturn the conviction of an indentured servant who had been found guilty of desertion. Duyall v. G. A. Riches, XXIII NLR 94 (April 15, 1902). Nazar, who would later edit Indian Opinion, succeeded Gandhi as court translator. In re M. H. Nazar, XXII NLR 369 (November 19, 1901).
34. Gandhi started a trust with the gifts, indicating it was a trust for the community’s benefit. Autobiography, 221. The trust instrument dedicates the use of the trust to the Congress. CWMG 3:208.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Epigraph, page 138: Autobiography, 250–251.
1. Swan, South African Experience, 90.
2. CWMG 3:227.
3. Autobiography, 222–223.
4. Ibid., 228.
5. CWMG 3:216.
6. Autobiography, 231.
7. CWMG 3:246.
8. CWMG 3:255.
9. Autobiography, 243.
10. Ibid., 243–244.
11. Ibid., 245.
12. Ibid.
13. CWMG 3:260.
14. CWMG 3:261.
15. Ibid. “The solicitors who were preponderantly British . . . preferred to take business to their countrymen.” J. S. Gandhi, Lawyers and Touts: A Study in the Sociology of the Legal Profession (Delhi: Hindustan Publishing, 1982), 31.
16. CWMG 3:261.
17. CWMG 3:262.
18. Autobiography, 219.
19. CWMG 3:236.
20. Ibid.
21. CWMG 3:262.
22. Gandhi saw this as an opportunity to redeem his failure to prevent Natal’s anti-Indian legislation. If Britain could be convinced to discard the Boer anti-Indian legislation, Natal’s anti-Indian legislation simply could not stand. Swan, South African Experience, 92–93.
23. CWMG 3:263.
CHAPTER TWELVE
First epigraph, page 146: Quoted in Pillay, British Indians in the Transvaal: Trade, Politics and Imperial Relations, 1885–1906 (London: Longman, 1976), 46–47.
Second epigraph, page 146: CWMG 1:222.
1. See Richardson, Chinese Mine Labour in the Transvaal (London: Macmillan, 1982).
2. Satyagraha, 25.
3. Beck, The History of South Africa (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), 91.
4. “Law respecting Coolies, Arabs, and other Asiatics (No. 3, 1885),” Appendix A, BSP, C-7911, p. 438 (1895).
5. Pillay, British Indians in the Transvaal, provides an excellent history of the act.
M.K. Gandhi, Attorney at Law Page 39