and female child over 13 came under the impost. To levy a yearly tax of £ 12 from a family of four
husband, wife and two children when the average income of the husband was never more than

14s. a month, was atrocious and unknown anywhere else in the world.

We organized a fierce campaign against this tax. If the Natal Indian Congress had remained
silent on the subject, the Viceroy might have approved of even the £ 25 tax. The reduction from £
25 to £ 3 was probably due solely to the Congress agitation. But I may be mistaken in thinking so.
It may be possible that the Indian Government had disapproved of the £ 25 tax from the
beginning and reduced it to £3, irrespective of the opposition from the Congress. In any case it
was a breach of trust on the part of the Indian Government. As trustee of the welfare of India, the

Viceroy ought never to have approved of this inhuman tax.

The Congress could not regard it as any great achievement to have succeeded in getting the tax
reduced from £ 25 to £3. The regret was still there that it had not completely safeguarded the
interests of the indentured Indians. It ever remained its determination to get the tax remitted, but it
was twenty years determination to get the tax remitted, but it was twenty years before the
determination was realized. And when it was realized, it came as a result of the labours of not
only the Natal Indians but of all the Indians in South Africa. The breach of faith with the late Mr.
Gokhale became the occasion of the final campaign, in which the indentured Indians took their
full share, some of them losing their lives as a result of the firing that was resorted to, and over

ten thousand suffering imprisonment.

But truth triumphed in the end. The sufferings of the Indians were the expression of that truth. Yet
it would not have triumphed except for unflinching faith, great patience and incessant effort. Had
the community given up the struggle, had the Congress abandoned the campaign and submitted
to the tax as inevitable, the hated impost would have continued to be levied from the indentured
Indians until this day, to the eternal shame of the Indians in South Africa and of the whole of
India.

Chapter 47

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGIONS

If I found myself entirely absorbed in the service of the community, the reason behind it was my

desire for self-realization. I had made the religion of service my own, as I felt that God could be
realized only through service. And service for me was the service of India, because it came to me
without my seeking, because I had an aptitude for it. I had gone to South Africa for travel, for
finding an escape from Kathiawas intrigues and for gaining my own livelihood. But as I have said,

I found myself in search of God and striving for self- realization.

Christian friends had whetted my appetite for knowledge, which had become almost insatiable,
and they would not leave me in peace, even if I desired to be indifferent. In Durban Mr. Spencer
Walton, the head of the South Africa General Mission, found me out. I became almost a member
of his family. At the back of this acquaintance was of course my contact with Christians in
Pretoria. Mr. Walton had a manner all his own. I do not recollect his ever having invited me to
embrace Christianity. But he placed his life as an open book before me, and let me watch all his
movements. Mrs. Walton was a very gentle and talented woman. I liked the attitude of this
couple. We knew the fundamental differences between us. Any amount of discussion could not
efface them. Yet even differences prove helpful, where there are tolerance, charity and truth. I