M. K. Gandhi, Attorney at Law: The Man before the Mahatma


concerning promissory notes



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concerning promissory notes

“In the Civil Courts”, Rand Daily Mail, November 25, 1903; “Jaggemath v. E. Mahomed”, Rand Daily Mail, September 22, 1904.



rent due

“Civil Judgments”, The Star, November 28, 1903; “In the Civil Courts”, Rand Daily Mail, December 1, 1903; “E.M.Patel v. Essop Mahomed”, Rand Daily Mail, March 15, 1904; “B. Bhika v. B. Friedman”, Rand Daily Mail, November 1, 1904; “Camrooden v. Dawson”, Rand Daily Mail, June 9, 1905.



goods sold

“In the Court of the Second Civil Magistrate”, The Star, November 3, 1903; “In the Civil Courts”, Rand Daily Mail, December 1, 1903; “G. Dhana v. Mrs. Hinney”, Rand Daily Mail, December 23, 1903; “G. Bhugan v. Hill”, Rand Daily Mail, January 20, 1904; “A.M.H. Bhana v. S.K. Lorgat”, Rand Daily Mail, August 12, 1904; “Civil Judgments: In Johannesburg”, The Transvaal Leader, September 16, 1904; “Estep v. Sali”, Rand Daily Mail, February 4, 1905; “Metropolitan Butchery Co. V. Rosenthal”, Rand Daily Mail, July 11, 1905.



wages owed

“C. Ebrahis v. D. Levitt”, Rand Daily Mail, January 20, 1904.



cash lent

“Civil Judgments: In Johannesburg”, The Transvaal Leader, September 16, 1904.



and services rendered

“Dr. W. Godfrey v. Hanikon” and “W. Godfrey v. Vorster”, The Transvaal Leader, December 6, 1904.



action for ejectment

“M.F. Takolia v. J. McKenzie”, Rand Daily Mail, January 20, 1904.



issued a bad check

“Civil Cases: In the R.M. Courts”, The Transvaal Leader, September 15, 1904.



dealing with wages owed

“Peter Cassim v. M. Hanson”, The Transvaal Leader, September 27, 1904; “In the Civil Courts”, Rand Daily Mail, January 24, 1905.



Page 175

aspirations might be

“An Appeal to Indians in South Africa”, “February 25, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 363 (1960 edition).



very long hours

With respect to the burden of his public work and his private practice, Gandhi wrote to a fellow lawyer that “...at present, I have to work from nearly a quarter of nine in the morning to ten o’clock at night, with intervals for meals and a short walk.” “Letter to H.V. Vora”, June 30, 1903, CWMG 4, p. 352 (1960 edition).



for his fees

“Letter to Fulabhai”, June 7, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 463 (1960 edition); “Letter to Haji Habib”, June 30, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 486 (1960 edition).



defending his bills

“Letter to E. Ebrahim and Co.”, June 30, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 485 (1960 edition).



others’ bills

Letter of G.B. Cooke, Solicitor, to M.K. Gandhi, July 22, 1895. Serial Number 405-0001, Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya,, Ahmedabad.



to lower his rent

“Letter to M.H. Thurston,” June 5, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 462 (1960 edition).



were cheating him

“Letter to H.J. Hofmeyr”, June 2, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 456 (1960 edition).



friends and acquaintances

“Letter to Dadabhai Naoroji”, March 25, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 388 (1960 edition); “Letter to Haji Dada Haji Habib”, May 23, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 444 (1960 edition).



grow more and more

“The First Colonial-Born Indian Barrister”, September 23, 1905, CWMG 5, p. 75 (1960 edition).



the Indian cause

“Letter to G.K. Gokhale”, January 13, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 332 (1960 edition). In his autobiography Gandhi states that at one point he was contributing £75 a month, “practically sinking all [his] savings in it.” Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 286.



in the paper

Enclosure with “Letter to Private Secretary to Lord Elgin”, November 20, 1906, CWMG 6, p. 196 at 198.



were eventually moved

“Letter to Omar Haji Amod Zaveri”, May 11, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 426 (1960 edition); “Letter to Haji Habib”, June 30, 1905, CWMG 4, p. 486 (1960 edition).



Page 176

the proper permits

“Letter to Colonial Secretary”, April 25, 1903, CWMG 3, p. 293 (1960 edition).



immediately concerned

“Notes on the Position”, May 9, 1903, CWMG 3, p. 298 (1960 edition).



of love and charity

“The Uses of Adversity”, August 20, 1903, CWMG 3, p. 411 (1960 edition).



Gandhi’s approach failed

“Notes on the Position”, May 9, 1903, CWMG 3, p. 298 (1960 edition).



Page 177

the entire world

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 275-276.



Lord Brougham

A lawyer, politician and reformer in 19th-century Britain.



to determine for himself….

“An Opportunity for the Indians”, October 2, 1903, Indian Opinion.



Page 178

members of the profession

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 365-366.



civil cases like Gandhi’s

The representation of a defendant whom the lawyer believes to be factually guilty is justified with the argument that forcing the prosecution to prove its case preserves and strengthens the rights of all. This rationale does not exist in civil cases.



in the previous decade

“The Hoondamal Case Again”, September 23, 1905, CWMG 5, p. 72 (1960 edition).



of manual labor

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 304.



the legal profession

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 275.



Page 179

as his own

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 265. Gandhi refers here to Snell’s Principles of Equity Intended for the Use of Students and Practitioners. Snell states that the general idea of a trust is “that one person in whom property is vested is compelled in equity to hold the property for the benefit of another or for some purpose other than his own.” H. Gibson Rivington, Snell’s Principles of Equity Intended for the Use of Students and Practitioners (Sweet and Maxwell, Limited: London, 1939) p. 68.



as it was last year

“A Retrospect”, CWMG 5, p. 167 (1960 edition).



Chapter Fourteen

Page 180

Transvaal Leader

“The Colour Question”, The Transvaal Leader, February 16, 1906.



by the Indian population

Trams resemble trolleys. They run on fixed tracks and can be powered by horses or electricity.



Page 181

electrical tram cars

Tony Spit and Brian Patton, Johannesburg Tramways: A History of the Tramways of the City of Johannesburg, (London: The Light Railway Transport League, 1976), pages 15 - 17.



begin to disappear

“The Tramway System”, Johannesburg Star, July 17, 1906; Tony Spit and Brian Patton, Johannesburg Tramways: A History of the Tramways of the City of Johannesburg, (London: The Light Railway Transport League, 1976), page 34.



February 14, 1906

Martin Pabst, Tram and Trolley in Africa (Rohr Verlag, 1989), page 96.



cannot be exaggerated

Over 300,000 passenger trips per week were taking place by September, 1906. “Tram Returns”, The Rand Daily Mail, September 13, 1906.



the system’s operations

Oddly enough, when the first horse-drawn system opened in 1891, the government had not enacted any regulations to govern its operation. Tony Spit and Brian Patton, Johannesburg Tramways: A History of the Tramways of the City of Johannesburg, (London: The Light Railway Transport League, 1976), page 11.



attached to European cars

“Town Council”, The Transvaal Leader, February 15, 1906. The system did deploy a few special trailer cars. Five small tram cars, converted from their previous use as horse-drawn cars, were in service between 1906 and 1910. By contrast, there were over 100 tram cars for whites in operation by 1911. Martin Pabst, Tram and Trolley in Africa (Rohr Verlag, 1989), page 97.

absurd”

“The Colour Question”, The Transvaal Leader, February 16, 1906.



given the roofs

“Letter to Town Clerk”, February 10, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 186 (1961 edition). The Indians’ criticism came before the Committee’s formal report; the Indians became aware of the Committee’s recommendations in advance through the tram’s manager.



to carry the day

An amendment to expand Indian ridership rights failed on a 15 to 6 vote. An amendment to establish a blanket prohibition on Indian use also failed on a lopsided vote, 18 to 5.



committee’s recommendation unchanged

“Town Council”, The Rand Daily Mail, February 15, 1906.



from using the trams

“British Indians in the Transvaal”, February 22, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 198 (1961 edition).



Page 182

on European cars

“A Reply to ‘The Leader’”, February 16, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 191 (1961 edition).



more fully operational

“Johannesburg Trams and Indians”, February 17, 1906, CWMG, 5, p.194 (1961 edition); see also “Notes & Comments: The Electric Trams”, The Johannesburg Star, February 2, 1906.

coloureds”

“Johannesburg Letter”, February 26, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 206 (1961 edition).



Ebrahim Saleji Coovadia

Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1985), page 7.



William J. MacIntyre

“Johannesburg Letter”, February 26, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 206 (1961 edition). MacIntyre, a native of Scotland, was a theosophist whom Gandhi had earlier taken into his office. Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), page 306; “Letter to W.J. Macintyre”, November 2, 1906, CWMG 6, p. 67 (December, 1961 edition). MacIntyre also identified himself as a book-keeper in Gandhi’s office. “Trial of Daya Lala”, July 27-29, 1908, CWMG, 8, p. 416 (December, 1962 edition). Coovadia was, notably, also the treasurer of the British Indian Association at this time. “Traffic By-Laws”, The Transvaal Leader , May 19, 1906.



European accompanying him

“Johannesburg Letter”, February 26, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 206 (1961 edition).



filed by Coovadia

“Johannesburg Letter”, March 3, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 212 (1961 edition).



the traffic bye-laws

See “Indians on Trams”, The Rand Daily Mail, May 19, 1906.

and the Coloured

“Johannesburg Letter”, March 10, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 230 (1961 edition).



Page 183

reversed that decision

“Johannesburg Letter”, March 31,1906, CWMG, 5, p. 258 (1961 edition).



April 7

“Johannesburg Letter”, April 7, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 269 (1961 edition); “Johannesburg Letter”, after May 18, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 322 (1961 edition).



the Crown prosecutor

“Johannesburg Letter”, May 5, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 305 (1961 edition).



May 18

“Johannesburg Letter”, after May 18, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 322 (1961 edition).



in South Africa

Naomi Musiker and Reuben Musiker, Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg (Lanham and Oxford: Scarecrow Press, 1999), page 130.



Page 184

paid a small fine

“Traffic By-laws”, The Transvaal Leader , May 19, 1906; “Indians on Trams”, The Rand Daily Mail , May 19, 1906; “Johannesburg Letter”, after May 18, 1906, CWMG 5, p. 322 (1961 edition).



were to be integrated

“Unless the large cars are kept exclusively for white people the electric system will be boycotted by them and be a colossal failure.” “Indians on Tram Cars”, The Transvaal Leader , May 19, 1906.



the tramcar

Welch was charged with “contravening Article No. 5, page 23, of the Traffic By-Laws of Johannesburg Municipality, made under Proclamation 16, 1901.” See “A Tram Car Case”, Johannesburg Star, May 18, 1906.



without exception

“A Tram Car Case”, Johannesburg Star, May 18, 1906.



reserved for Europeans

The regulation stated “[N]o coloured person shall be allowed to be conveyed in any hired vehicle designated for white persons, and the conveyance of coloured passengers shall be allowed only in trams and omnibuses specially and exclusively licensed therefor.” See “A Tram Car Case”, Johannesburg Star, May 18, 1906.



traffic bye-laws

Graham Cross, the Magistrate in the second case, appears to have rested his decision not only on the notion that the Boer rule had been displaced by the current traffic bye-laws, but also on the notion that Coovadia was not the type of “coloured” person contemplated by the Boer rule. See “Indians on Trams”, The Rand Daily Mail , May 19, 1906.



repealed the bylaws

“Addendum to Statement Presented to Constitution Committee”, June 2, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 335 at 340-341 (1961 edition).



by force of law

“Johannesburg Letter”, after May 18, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 322 (1961 edition).



submit to this defeat

“Johannesburg Letter”, after May 18, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 322 at 323 (1961 edition).



whites in this country

Cited in “Johannesburg Trams and Coloured People”, Indian Opinion , February 24, 1906.



H.S.L. Polak

Polak had also recently passed his law certificate examination and was an associate of Gandhi in his law office. See “Facts and Comments”, Indian Opinion , February 3, 1906. Polak would later serve as acting secretary of the British Indian Association while Gandhi was in London lobbying against the Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance. “A Noteworthy Appointment”, Indian Opinion , October 6, 1906.



Page 185

if they wished

“Johannesburg Letter”, after June 6, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 350 (1961 edition).



first half of 1906

This approach was contemplated by Gandhi in the matter of the railway workers’ strike. See Chapter Six.



ended in complete failure

As of October of 1906, the situation had not changed. Indians were still prohibited from riding in normal tram cars in Johannesburg. “Interview to ‘The Morning Leader’, October 20, 1906, CWMG, 6, p. 2 (December, 1961edition). Later that year, while Gandhi was representing the Indian cause in England, the British Indian Association petitioned the Transvaal Supreme Court, seeking a judgment declaring the city’s segregated tram system to be unlawful. The Court, however, found that the Association lacked standing to be before the court and dismissed the case. African Political Organisation and The British Indian Association v. Johannesburg City Council, 1906 Transvaal Reports 962 (December 13, 1906). See also, “African Political Organisation and The British Indian Association v. Johannesburg Municipality”, The Johannesburg Star, Dec 17, 1906 and “British Indians and Coloured People vs. The Johannesburg Municipality”, Indian Opinion , December 22, 1906. The Indians had allied themselves with the African Political Organisation (“APO”) for purposes of this case. (The APO represented native Africans who were also barred from use of the trams. See “A Tram Case”, The Rand Daily Mail, November 22, 1906. Advocate Gregorowski and Attorney Lichtenstein, each of whom had been unafraid to represent Indian interests in the past, represented the two organizations.) Finally, in May of 1907, the Government published tram regulations that firmly established a segregated system. See “Johannesburg Letter”, May 25, 1907, CWMG, 6, p. 495 at 499 (December, 1961 edition). These regulations received the approval of the Governor soon afterwards. See “Johannesburg Tramway Bye-Laws”, Indian Opinion, June 1, 1907. The new order would maintain the segregated system with all regular tram cars reserved for Europeans and with Indians and others restricted to separate cars that ran on a less-frequent schedule. See “A Reply”, Indian Opinion, July 6, 1907. General Jan Smuts, the Colonial Secretary, would later defend this policy of segregation as “absolutely necessary.” “Letter Addressed to the Secretary of the South Africa British Indians Committee by the Colonial Secretary” [dated June 27, 1907], The Johannesburg Star , August 14, 1907. Perhaps reacting to Smuts’ comment, a Labour member of the British Parliament questioned whether Johannesburg had the power to discriminate against Indians. His inquiry was met by the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, Winston Churchill, who defended the decision. “Imperial Parliament”, The Transvaal Leader, August 9, 1907.



would be welcome

“Those Tramway Bye-Laws”, Indian Opinion, May 25, 1907.



Page 186

undersold Europeans

A white businessman at a Chamber of Commerce meeting explained what he meant when he charged the Indians with engaging in “unfair competition.” “...[I]t was unreasonable to expect a white man, with his various requirements, to compete with an Asiatic, whose requirements were infinitely fewer.” “Monthly Meeting of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce”, The Transvaal Leader, September 21, 1906.



for white enterprise

“Asiatic Policy”, The Rand Daily Mail , September 11, 1906.



Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance

Transvaal Government Gazette, August 22, 1906.

in the country

“Johannesburg Letter: Sir Richard Solomon’s Speech”, February 2, 1907, CWMG, 6, p. 309 (December, 1961 edition); “Johannesburg Letter”, July 6, 1907, CWMG, 7, p. 83 (July, 1962 edition). See also, “Legislation for Asiatics”, The Rand Daily Mail , August 6, 1906.



all ten digits

See “Legislative Council: Further Rebukes To Mr Hull: Asiatic Ordinance Passed”, The Johannesburg Star, March 22, 1906.

“No regulations were issued under the Ordinance of 1906, but the Transvaal Government had announced their intention of adopting finger-print impressions as regards means of identification.” “Reply given in the House of Commons by the Under Secretary of State to Sir William Ball’s question inquiring in what respects the regulations published in the Transvaal “Gazette” of the 28th June, 1907, differed from those appended to the Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance, 1907", The Johannesburg Star , August 14, 1907.



Peace Preservation Ordinance of 1903

Law 38 of 1902. The Peace Preservation Ordinance prevented certain persons from entering or residing in the Transvaal without a permit.



class of common criminals

“Letter to Prime Minister’s Secretary”, September 21, 1907, CWMG, 7, p. 248 (July. 1962 edition).



only from criminals

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, trans. V.G. Desai (Stanford: Academic Reprints, 1954), page 101. Colonial Secretary Jan Smuts did not read the Henry text in the same way Gandhi did. “Letter addressed to the Secretary of the South Africa British Indian Committee by the Colonial Secretary”, The Johannesburg Star , August 14, 1907. Gandhi took the position later that it was not so much the fingerprints themselves that the Indians resented but the very idea of forced registration. See “Smuts’ Speech”, October 12, 1907, CWMG, 7, p. 279.



a large protest meeting

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa , trans. V.G. Desai (Stanford: Academic Reprints, 1954), page 101.



Page 187

do our true duty

“Russia and India”, September 8, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 414 (1961 edition).



free of charge

“Speech at Hamidiya Islamic Society”, September 9, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 418 (1961 edition).



Page 188

and attend it

“Speech at Hamidiya Islamic Society”, September 9, 1906, CWMG, 5, p. 418 (1961 edition).



two hundred Indian leaders

“British Indians: Mass Meeting Yesterday”, The Rand Daily Mail , September 12, 1906.



that decorated it

“Some Notes on the Meeting”, Indian Opinion , September 22, 1906.



Pretoria lawyer

The opinion was rendered by Reinhold Gregorowski who had first come to the public’s attention as a special judge sitting on the cases that stemmed from the Jameson Raid. He would also serve as a judge of the Transvaal Supreme Court and as Attorney General of the Transvaal. At the time of the Empire Theatre meeting he had a practice in Pretoria. de Kock and Kruger (eds.), Dictionary of South African Biography (Cape Town and Johannesburg: Human Sciences Research Council, 1972), Vol. II, page 274.

more intolerable than before”

“British Indians: A Mass Meeting”, The Johannesburg Star , September 11, 1906.



would be called men

“British Indian Protest”, The Rand Daily Mail , September 12, 1906.



Page 189

for the meeting

Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1985), page 120.



new permit

“British Indians”, Transvaal Leader, September 12, 1906.



those in attendance

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, trans. V.G. Desai (Stanford: Academic Reprints, 1954), page 102.



sinner

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, trans. V.G. Desai (Stanford: Academic Reprints, 1954), page 103.



carefully-chosen language

“Some Notes on the Meeting”, Indian Opinion , September 22, 1906.



Page 190

submit to the law

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, trans. V.G. Desai (Stanford: Academic Reprints, 1954), pages 104 - 107.



while Gandhi spoke

Gandhi was described as speaking in “clear, low tones.” “Some Notes on the Meeting”, Indian Opinion , September 22, 1906.



Page 191

Ramsundar Pundit

In Indian Opinion his name is variously given as Ramsundar Pandit (“Mass Meeting of Transvaal Indians”, Indian Opinion, April 6, 1907) and Ram Sundar Pundit (“Ram Sundar Pundit Interviewed”, Indian Opinion, November 16, 1907). In Satyagraha in South Africa, it is given as Pandit Rama Sundara. Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, trans. V.G. Desai (Stanford: Academic Reprints, 1954), page 137. When he himself writes to the Rand Daily Mail, his name appears as Ramsundar Pundit. “Asiatic Registration”, Rand Daily Mail, October 3, 1907. The English word “pundit” is derived from the Hindu word for learned person, “pandit.”




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