I was telling you something about Charkha, I have been asked in several places as to how Charkha could improve matters. How could Charkha bring Swaraj. Do you know what the facts are. Swaraj means that we must live within ourselves. We must be self-contained. I tell you that we are great slaves to-day. Our economic slavery is greater than political slavery. Exploitation is carried on by the bureaucracy. The Non-officials and officials so far as Europeans are concerned constitute the bureaucracy. One helps the other, so exploitation and administration are the two chief policies of the Government. I say our economic slavery is very great indeed and constitute the main factor of our dependence. The facts at present are that if Manchester and Lancashire stop sending cloth our women will have to go naked. That was not the case in India before this bureaucracy came here. Our system was not this. I speak of Bengal because I claim to know more about Bengal. The system obtained in India was, that so far as our necessaries were concerned we were self-contained. We never depended on any body in India. We made our own clothes and were independent of any race in the world. Now just consider what Charkha can do for you. From Manchester comes 60 crores of rupees worth of cloth every year. You will not have to pay these 60 crores of rupees which go out of India. If a householder works by Charkha for one or two hours a day at the end of the year he will find himself with all the necessaries of his family. For a clerk who gets 40 or 50 rupees per month, and who weaves his own cloth every day, it is a great deal of saving for him. It is very easy. One ordinary tree will yield one to 3 seers of cotton, and ¼th of a seer is quite enough for one Dhoti. If you use Charkha only for limited hours daily you will get sufficient cloth for a Dhoti. This Dhoti that I am wearing to-day will last 4 times longer than that which comes from Manchester. I tell you, you will solve it very easily. If the work is carried on all this year by every student and every householder, we will see the economic independence of India to-day. Along with it you will achieve your political independence. It is only for one year that we are asking for Charkha and after that you can regulate your methods. You do not want any mills. It is only for one year. Many ask, what about ship-building, what, about navy etc., I say for God's sake, I do not want any thing for one year. If you once secure economic independence, I venture to say that India's economic development cannot be prevented by any power in the world. It will grow better and better every year. I know there is a great deal of discussion about it and personally I can tell you that I cannot for one moment be in favour of European industrialism at all. I shall not at all be sorry if some of the things that are manufactured in England are not made here. Do what you should do, work a Charkha and you will realise the result. If you do that you will without doubt get independence. Now, gentlemen, one word more and I have done. I have told you that non-co-operation is the only method to achieve freedom. I have also told you that the work of non-co-operation is very difficult. It will be destroyed if it is not kept by non-violent method. The whole work will be impeded if it is not carried on non-violently. Every kind of violence mental or physical is detrimental to the method of non-co-operation. Therefore every non-co-operator's work must be strictly non-violent. He has to face danger after danger. Every non-co-operator will be inculcated, beaten, outraged but he should strictly maintain non-violence. You know the ways and methods of bureaucracy in this country. They have got so many sections in their Penal Code which they can use against any preacher of non-co-operation. I do not for one moment, think that these methods can ever root out non-co-operation. They know that the moment non-co-operation succeeds that very moment bureaucracy will be crushed. I know they will try to destroy the method of non-co-operation by using their penal sections. They may go on using section after section. But a non-co-operator should never indulge in violence.
Continuing Mr. Das said that he knew that proceedings have been started against certain workers in the district of Muzaffurpur under sections 107 and 144 of the C. P. C for delivering violent speeches. They should not give any excuse like that to the bureaucracy. But now that they have been served with the notices they must comply with the section. Let the action of the bureaucracy be as autocratic, as autocratic can be. Let them break the law, and not the non-co-operators. If they found that the authorities were using section after section unjustly without any justification then the congress would have to declare civil disobedience. Time would then arrive to break the law. But that moment had not arrived yet. Their mission was the mission of law-abiding citizens.
If violence is used you will go against the Indian National Congress and destroy this sacred method. You must know in your heart of hearts the secret of Swaraj and that you will gain only by Non-co-operation. The only feeling, the only intense desire which a Non-co-operator should cherish, his only prayer to God, should be for the achievement of Swaraj. Gentlemen, now I am tired. I wish our movement a success in the province of Bihar.
Transcriber's note:
Inconsistencies in punctuation and spelling are as in the original.