ሥነ-ሥሥት በጋንዲ !

Ad Valorem

We have seen how the ideas upon which political economy is based are

misleading. Translated into action they can only make the individual and

the nation unhappy. They make the poor poorer and the rich richer and

none are any the happier for it.

Economics do not take the conduct of men into account but hold that

the accumulation of wealth is the sign of prosperity, and that the happiness

of nations depends upon their wealth alone. The more factories, the

merrier. Thus men leave village farms with their spring winds and

coming to cities, live diminished lives in the midst of noise, of darkness,

and of deadly exhalation. This leads to deterioration of the national

physique, and to increasing avarice and immorality. If some one talks of

steps to be taken to eradicate vice, so-called wise men will say that it is of

no use at all that the poor should receive education and that it is best to

let things alone. They however forget that the rich are responsible for the

immorality of the poor, who work like slaves in order to supply them

with their luxuries, and have not a moment which they can call their

own for self-betterment. Envying the rich, the poor also try to be rich,

and when they fail in this effort, they are angry. They then lose their

senses, and try to make money by force of fraud. Thus both wealth and

labour are barren of all fruit or else are utilized for chicanery.

Labour in the real sense of the term is that which produces useful

articles.

Useful articles are those which support human life, such as food,

clothes or houses, and enable men to perfect the functions of their own

lives to the utmost and also to exercise a helpful influence over the lives

of others. The establishment of big factories with a view to getting rich

may lead a person into sin. Many people amass riches but few make a

good use of it. Accumulated wealth which leads to the destruction of a

nation is of no earthly use. The capitalists of modern times are respon26

/ M. K. Gandhi

sible for wide spread and unjust wars which originate from the covetousness

of mankind.

Some people say that it is not possible to impart knowledge so as to

ameliorate the condition of the masses; let us therefore live as seems fit

and amass riches. But this is an immoral attitude. For the good man who

observes ethical rules and does not give way to greed has a disciplined

mind, does not stray from the right path, and influences others by his

acts. If the individuals who constitute a nation are immoral, so is the

nation too. If we behave as we choose and at the same time take our

neighbours to task for their wrongdoing, the results can only be disappointing.

We thus see that money is only an instrument which makes for misery

as well as happiness. In the hands of a good man it helps in the cultivation

of land and the harvesting of crops. Cultivators work in innocent

contentment and the nation is happy. But in the hands of a bad man,

money helps to produce say gunpowder which works havoc among its

manufacturers as well as among its victims. Therefore THERE IS NO

WEALTH BUT LIFE. That country is the richest which nourishes the

greatest number of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest

who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has

also the widest helpful influence, both personal and by means of his

possessions, over the lives of others.

This is not a time for self-indulgence but for each of us to labour

according to our capacity. If one man lives in idleness, another has to put

in a double amount of work. This is at the root of the distress of the poor

in England. Some so-called work is nugatory as in jewel-cutting and

even destructive as in war. It brings about a diminution in the national

capital, and is not beneficial to the worker himself. It seems as if men are

employed, but really they are idle. The rich oppress the poor by misuse

of riches. Employers and employees are at daggers drawn with one

another, and men are reduced to the level of beasts.

Unto This Last: A Paraphrase / 27

Conclusion

Ruskin’s book thus paraphrased has a lesson for Indians no less than for

the Englishmen to whom it was primarily addressed. New ideas are in

the air in India. Our young men who have received Western education

are full of spirit. This spirit should be directed into the right channels, as

otherwise it can only do us harm. ‘Let us have Swaraj’ is one slogan; ‘Let

us industrialize the country’ is another.

But we hardly understand what Swaraj is. Natal for instance enjoys

Swaraj but her Swaraj stinks in our nostrils, for she crushes the negroes,

and oppresses the Indians. If by some chance the negroes and the

Indians left Natal, its white men would fight among themselves and

bring about their own destruction.

If not like Natal’s will we have Swaraj as in the Transvaal one of whose

leaders, General Smuts, breaks his promises, says one thing and does

another? He has dispensed with the services of English policemen and

employed Afrikanders instead. I do not think that this is going to help

any of the nationalities in the long run. Selfish men will loot their own

people, when there are no more ‘outsiders’ left to be looted.

Thus Swaraj is not enough to make a nation happy. What would be the

result of Swaraj being conferred on a band of robbers? They would be

happy only if they were placed under the control of a good man who

was not a robber himself. The United States, England and France for

instance are powerful States, but there is no reason to think that they are

really happy.

Swaraj really means self-control. Only he is capable of self-control who

observes the rules of morality, does not cheat or give up truth, and does

his duty to his parents, wife and children, servants and neighbours. Such

a man is in enjoyment of Swaraj, no matter where he lives. A state enjoys

Swaraj if it can boast of a large number of such good citizens.

It is not right that one people should rule another. British rule in India

28 / M. K. Gandhi

is an evil, but let us not run away with the idea that all will be well when

the British quit India.

The existence of British rule in the country is due to our disunity,

immorality and ignorance. If these national defects were overcome, not

only would the British leave India without a shot being fired but we

would be enjoying real Swaraj.

Some foolish Indians rejoice in bomb-throwing, but if all the Britishers

in the country were thus killed, the killers would become the rulers of

India who would only have a change of masters. The bomb now thrown

at Englishmen will be aimed at Indians after the English are there no

longer. It was a Frenchman who murdered the President of the French

Republic. It was an American who murdered President Cleveland. Let us

not blindly imitate Western people.

If Swaraj cannot be attained by the sin of killing Englishmen, it cannot

be attained either by the erection of huge factories. Gold and silver may

be accumulated but they will not lead to the establishment of Swaraj.

Ruskin has proved this to the hilt. Western civilization is a mere baby, a

hundred or only fifty years old. And yet it has reduced Europe to a sorry

plight. Let us pray that India is saved from the fate that has overtaken

Europe, where the nations are poised for an attack on one another, and

are silent only because of the stockpiling of armaments. Some day there

will be an explosion, and then Europe will be a veritable hell on earth.

Non-white races are looked upon as legitimate prey by every European

state. What else can we expect where covetousness is the ruling passion

in the breasts of men? Europeans pounce upon new territories like crows

upon a piece of meat. I am inclined to think that this is due to their massproduction

factories.

India must indeed have Swaraj but she must have it by righteous

methods. Our Swaraj must be real Swaraj, which cannot be attained by

either violence or industrialization. India was once a golden land,

because Indians then had hearts of gold. The land is still the same but it

is a desert because we are corrupt. It can become a land of gold again

only if the base metal of our present national character is transmuted

into gold. The philosopher’s stone which can effect this1 transformation

Unto This Last: A Paraphrase / 29

is a little word of two syllables – Satya (Truth). If every Indian sticks to

truth, Swaraj will come to us of its own accord.

1 ‘Institutions,’ says Herbert Spencer, ‘are dependent on character; and

however changed in their superficial aspects, cannot be changed in their

essential natures faster than character changes.’ V.G.D.