Practice as a lawyer was and remained for me a subordinate occupation. It was
necessary that I should concentrate on public work to justify my
stay in Natal. The despatch of the petition regarding the
disfranchising bill was not sufficient in itself. Sustained
agitation was essential for making an impression on the Secretary of
State for the Colonies. For this purpose it was thought necessary to
bring into being a permanent organization. So I consulted Sheth
Abdulla and other friends, and we all decided to have a public
organization of a permanent character.
To find out a name to be given to the new organization perplexed me
sorely. It was not to identify itself with any particular party. The
name 'Congress', I knew, was in bad odour with the Conservatives in
England, and yet the Congress was the very life of India. I wanted
to popularize it in Natal. It savoured of cowardice to hesitate to
adopt the name. Therefore, with full explanation of my reasons, I
recommended that the organization should be called the Natal Indian
Congress, and on the 22nd May the Natal Indian Congress came into
being.
Dada Abdulla's spacious room was packed to the full on that day. The
Congress received the enthusiastic approval of all present. Its
constitution was simple, the subscription was heavy. Only he who
paid five shillings monthly could be a member. The well-to-do
classes were persuaded to subscribe as much as they could. Abdulla
Sheth headed the list with £2 per month. Two other friends also
put down the same. I thought I should not stint my subscription, and
put down a pound per month. This was for me no small amount. But I
thought that I would not be beyond my means, if I was to pay my way
at all. And God helped me. We thus got a
considerable number of members who subscribed £1 per month. The
number of those who put down 10s. was even larger. Besides this,
there were donations which were gratefully accepted.
Experience showed that no one paid his subscription for the mere
asking. It was impossible to call frequently on members outside
Durban. The enthusiasm of one moment seemed to wear away the next.
Even the members in Durban had to be considerably dunned before they
would pay in their subscriptions.
The task of collecting subscriptions lay with me, I being the
secretary. And we came to a stage when I had to keep my clerk
engaged all day long in the work of collection. The man got tired of
the job, and I felt that, if the situation was to be improved, the
subscriptions should be made payable annually and not monthly and
that too strictly in advance. So I called a meeting of the Congress.
Everyone welcomed the proposal for making the subscription annual
instead of monthly and for fixing the minimum at £3. Thus the work
of collection was considerably facilitated.
I had learnt at the outset not to carry on public work with borrowed
money. One could rely on people's promises in most matters except in
respect of money. I had never found people quick to pay the amounts
they had undertaken to subscribe, and the Natal Indians were no
exception to the rule. As, therefore, no work was done unless there
were funds on hand, the Natal Indian Congress has never been in
debt.
My co-workers evinced extraordinary enthusiasm in canvassing
members. It was work which interested them and was at the same time
an invaluable experience. Large numbers of people gladly came
forward with cash subscriptions. Work in the distant villages of the
interior was rather difficult. People did not know the nature of
public work. And yet we had invitations to visit far away places,
leading merchants of every place extending their hospitality.
On one occasion during this tour the situation was rather difficult.
We expected our host to contribute £6, but he refused to give
anything more than £3. If we had accepted that amount from him,
others would have followed suit, and our collections would have been
spoiled. It was a late hour of the night, and we were all hungry.
But how could we dine without having first obtained the amount we
were bent on getting? All persuasion was useless. The host seemed to
be adamant. Other merchants in the town reasoned with him, and we
all sat up throughout the night, he as well as we determined not to
budge one inch. Most of my co-workers were burning with rage, but
they contained themselves. At last, when day was already breaking,
the host yielded, paid down £6 and feasted us. This happened at Tongaat,
but the repercussion of the incident was felt as far as
Stanger on the North Coast and Charlestown in the interior. It also
hastened our work of collection.
But collecting funds was not the only thing to do. In fact I had
long learnt the principle of never having more money at one's
disposal than necessary.
Meetings used to be held once a month or even once a week if
required. Minutes of the proceedings of the preceding meeting would
be read, and all sorts of questions would be discussed. People had
no experience of taking part in public discussion or of speaking
briefly and to the point. Everyone hesitated to stand up to speak. I
explained to them the rules of procedure at meetings and they
respected them. They realized that it was an education for them,
and many who had never been accustomed to speaking before an
audience soon acquired the habit of thinking and speaking publicly
about matters of public interest.
Knowing that in public work minor expenses at times absorbed large
accounts, I had decided not to have even the receipt books printed in
the beginning. I had a cyclostyle machine in my office, on which I
took copies of receipts and reports. Such things I began to get
printed only when the Congress coffers were full, and when the
number of members and work had increased. Such economy is essential
for every organization, and yet I know that it is not always
exercised. That is why I have thought it proper to enter into these
little details of the beginnings of a small but growing
organization.
People never cared to have receipts for the amounts
they paid, but we always insisted on the receipts being given. Every
pie was thus clearly accounted for, and I dare say the account books
for the year 1894 can be found intact even today in the records of
Natal Indian Congress. Carefully kept accounts are a
sine qua non for any organization. Without them it falls into disrepute. Without
properly kept accounts it is impossible to maintain truth in its
pristine purity.
Another feature of the Congress was service of colonial-born
educated Indians. The Colonial-born Indian Educational Association
was founded under the auspices of the Congress. The members
consisted mostly of these educated youths. They had to pay a nominal
subscription. The Association served to ventilate their needs and
grievances, to stimulate thought amongst them, to bring them into
touch with Indian merchants and also to afford them scope for
service of the community. It was a sort of debating society. The
members met regularly and spoke or read papers on different
subjects. A small library was also opened in connection with the
Association.
The third feature of the Congress was propaganda. This consisted in
acquainting the English in South Africa and England and people in
India with the real state of things in Natal. With that end in view
I wrote two pamphlets. The first was An Appeal to Every Briton in South Africa.
It contained a statement, supported by evidence, of the general
condition of Natal Indians. The other was entitled The Indian Franchise – An Appeal.
It contained a brief history of the Indian franchise in Natal with
facts and figures. I had devoted considerable labour and study to
the preparation of these pamphlets, and the result was quite
commensurate with the trouble taken. They were widely
circulated.
All this activity resulted in winning the Indians numerous friends
in South Africa and in obtaining the active sympathy of all parties
in India. It also opened out and placed before the South African
Indians a definite line of action.