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

G.H. Calpin, Indians in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter, 1949), pp. 2-3; C.J. Ferguson-Davie, The Early History of Indians in Natal (Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, 1977), pp. 2 - 8.

Gandhi would later call indentured servitude “slavery-tainted labour.” “The Aga Khan and Passive Resistance”, February 5, 1910, X CWMG 145 at 146 (September, 1963 edition).

G.H. Calpin, Indians in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter, 1949), p. 6. Maureen Swan, in Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1985), p. 1, notes that the offer of land expired in 1890. By the time Gandhi set up his practice in Durban in 1894, the period of indenture had grown from three years to five years; after the indenture period was completed, “the Indian has to remain in the colony for a futher period of five years, when he is entitled to return to India, a free passage being provided for himself and his family....” “Report of the Natal Government Indian Commission”, Natal Witness, April 20, 1894.

T. J. D. Fair, The Distribution of Population in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press for University of Natal, 1955 ) (Natal Regional Survey, Vol. 3) (1955), p. 11.

G.H. Calpin, Indians in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter, 1949), p. 6.

Mabel Palmer, The History of the Indians in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1957), Vol. 10, Natal Regional Survey, p. 20. Palmer makes a persuasive argument that the depression, not the objections of the Government of India, was the sole cause for the suspension of immigration.

Palmer, History of the Indians in Natal, 20.

Mabel Palmer, The History of the Indians in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1957), Vol. 10, Natal Regional Survey, p. 24.

Quoted in G.H. Calpin, Indians in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter, 1949), p. 7.

By 1894, the year Gandhi established his practice in Natal, the conditions of indenture had changed very little. A report of a government commission described the terms of indenture as of April, 1894: “At present the Indian on arrival in Natal is indentured to an employer for five years. He is paid at the rate of ten shillings per month during the first year, eleven shillings the second, twelve the third, thirteen shillings the fourth and during the last year of the term fourteen shillings. In addition to wages the employer provides the Indian and his family...with rations, lodging, medical attendance, and medicines....On the expiration of the term of indenture the Indian has to remain in the Colony for a further period of five years, when he is entitled to return to India, a free passage being provided for himself and family....” Report of the Natal Indian Commission, “The Indian Commission”, The Natal Witness, April 20, 1894.

Mabel Palmer, The History of Indians in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1957), Vol. 10, Natal Regional Survey, p. 27.

The future attorney general of Natal, Harry Escombe, had this to say: “...unless an arrestation was put upon the introduction of Indian emigrants, the whole of the social polity of this country would be disturbed....Having regard to the character of the people who were coming into the country...it was easy for the whole of the population of this country to be...submerged by the new arrivals, entailing a competition which was simply impossible as far as Europeans were concerned whether in trade or agriculture, on account of the different habits of life.” Quoted in G.H. Calpin, Indians in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter, 1949), p. 13.

See, generally, Chapter XVII, “The Struggle for Responsible Government” in Edgar Brookes and Colin Webb, A History of Natal (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 1965).

Zbigniew A. Konczacki, Public Finance and Economic Development of Natal, 1893-1910 (Duke University Press: Durham, 1967), p. 4, citing Natal Blue Books, Statistical Year Books, and Census Reports of 1891 and 1904.

T.J.F. Fair, The Distribution of Population in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press for University of Natal, 1955 )(Natal Regional Survey, Vol. 3) (1955), p.12.

Zbigniew A. Konczacki, Public Finance and Economic Development of Natal, 1893-1910 (Duke University Press: Durham, 1967), p. 4, citing Natal Blue Books, Statistical Year Books, and Census Reports of 1891 and 1904.

Many Indians found it easy to go into to market-gardening after their indentured servitude. T.J.D. Fair, the Distribution of Population in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press for University of Natal, 1955), p.17.

“There is a considerable number of Arab traders in this Division, and there is a general complaint by European store-keepers that the Arabs are able to undersell them, seeing that they are able to live cheaper than Europeans.” Magisterial Reports, 1885, Klip River Division, p. B.54, cited in Mabel Palmer, The History of the Indians in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1957), Vol. 10, Natal Regional Survey, p. 43. “These people render it impossible for small European store-keepers to make a living, and all the Native Trade off the Colony is getting into the hands of the Free Indians.” Magisterial Reports, 1885, Lion’s River Division, p. B.61, quoted in Mabel Palmer, The History of the Indians in Natal (Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1957), Vol. 10, Natal Regional Survey, p. 46.

Edgar Brookes and Colin Webb, A History of Natal (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 1965) at 86; Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The Indian Experience (1985) at 3.

Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1985), p. 2 et seq.

Konczacki, Public Finance and Economic Development of Natal, 1893-1910, p. 198.

Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1985), p. 26, citations omitted.

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 121.

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 105-106.

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 106.

See, for example, Robert Payne, The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1969), pp. 91, et seq., and Judith M. Brown, Gandhi: Prisoner of Hope (New Haven and London: Yale University Press,1989), pp. 31 and 75.

Indians, for example, were prosecuted for breaking into not simply the homes of Europeans, but the homes of Indians, as well. See, e..g., “Durban Circuit Court”, Natal Advertiser, June 6, 1893.

“a la English”

Gandhi, Letter to the Editor, Natal Advertiser, May 29, 1893.

“misdirected zeal”

M.K. Gandhi, Letter to the Editor, Natal Advertiser, May 29, 1893.

“white elephant”

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments in Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 105.

legal fraternity

Natal Mercury, May 30, 1893, p. 3.

help work on it

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 109.

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 119.

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 109.

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 111-117. For other recountings of the train incident by Gandhi, see “Discussion with John R. Mott”, on or before December 4, 1938, CWMG 68, p. 165 (January, 1977 edition) and Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, trans. V.G. Desai (Stanford: Academic Reprints, 1954), pp. 42 - 43.

“An Indian Case”, The Press, June 9, 1894.

“Alleged Perjury,” The Press, July 20, 1894.

“High Court Roll”, The Press, February 9, 1893.

Thomas Hugo and George Bindon.

“Dada Abdulla and Others vs. Tayob Khan and Co.”, The Press, February 13, 1893; “An Indian Case”, The Press, June 9, 1894; “Alleged Perjury”, The Press, July 20, 1894.

“High Court of Justice: Ex Parte Abdoola Hajee Adam”, The Press, April 27, 1894.

Baker had been admitted as an advocate of the Natal Supreme Court on March 15, 1883. He had been admitted as an attorney on January 8, 1880. See “Attorneys of the Supreme Court (Corrected to 31^st December, 1895)”, Natal Law Reports, 1896 and “Advocates of the Supreme Court (Corrected to 31^st December, 1895)”, Natal Law Reports, 1896.

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 119.

Tayob Hajee Khan Mahomed. Given the modern ethical stricture against communicating with an opposing party represented by counsel, few lawyers today would feel comfortable with Gandhi’s seeking out of, and eventual collaboration with, Mahomed.

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 125-127.

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 129-131.

Baker was conducting these services in the midst of his work in Abdulla. “Local and General: Cape General Mission”, The Press, May 7, 1894.

A.W. Baker, Grace Triumphant: The Life Story of a Carpenter, Lawyer and Missionary in South Africa from 1856 to 1939 (London: Pickering & Inglis Ltd., 1939), pp. 47, 80 and 84.

Their names were Uekerman, Fischer and Norman.

“A Little Sensation: The ‘Tecs and the Attorney”, The Press, April 26, 1894; “High Court of Justice: Ex Parte Abdoola Hajee Adam”, The Press, April 27, 1894.

When the Baker case was called the day after the seizure, the court took no evidence inasmuch as the prosecutor asked for a continuance, “pending instructions from the State Attorney.” “The Baker Case”, The Press, April 27, 1894. On Thursday the 26^th of April, the court did hold a preliminary hearing in regard to the lawfulness of the seizure as Mr. Wessels, Abdulla’s attorney in this matter, sought and obtained an order on the Public Prosecutor to show cause why he should not be directed to return the seized materials. “High Court of Justice”, The Press, April 27, 1893; “Ex Parte Abdoola Hajee Adam”, The Press, April 28, 1894. The rule was returned the next day. Mr. Jacobsz took the position for the Public Prosecutor that the hearing should be postponed in order to give him more time to prepare his case. Mr. Wessels for Abdulla stated that the affidavit upon which the warrant was based “contained nothing to justify an attachment of Abdulla’s books.” Mr. Coster, also for the Public Prosecutor, countered by saying that there was statutory authority to the effect “that where a contravention of the Customs Law is under inquiry, the revenue officer may without further authority seize books, papers, etc.

“Mr. Attorney Baker’s Arrest”, The Natal Advertiser, June 11, 1894.

“A Big Arbitration Case”, The Press, May 16, 1894.

“High Court of Justice: Ex Parte Dada Abdoola and Co.”, The Press, May 21, 1894.

Some of the satellite litigation spun off by the case continued, however. Abdulla Hajee Adam, a managing partner in the Dada Abdulla firm, accused Ujamshi Mulji Sheth, the person whose affidavit the police had relied upon for their warrant, of perjuring himself on behalf of Mahomed’s cause. “An Indian Case”, The Press, June 9, 1894. While the unlicenced Gandhi did not play a formal role in this matter, he did render advice to Abdulla during the course of the proceedings. Supplementary CWMG 1, p. 10. The case came on for trial beginning on July 19, 1894 before H.W. Zeiler, the same judicial officer who had found Baker guilty. See, “Alleged Perjury”, The Press, July 20, 1894. After a series of on-again, off-again hearings in which a “voluminous” amount of evidence was taken, including the testimony of Baker, the State Attorney announced he would not continue the proceedings against the defendant. Ujamshi was free. See, “Local and General: Alleged Perjury”, The Press, September 18, 1894 and “A Thankoffering”, The Press, November 19, 1894.

In the meantime, Mahomed found himself in court when one of his expert witnesses from the Dada Abdulla case, William Cooper, sued Mahomed for his fee. See, “Civil Term: W. Cooper vs. Tayob Hadjee Khan Mahomed”, The Press, August 13, 1894.

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 132-133.

Gandhi may be mistaken about this figure. A contemporaneous news account of the case indicates that while the purchase price of Abdulla & Co.’s Transvaal interests was near this figure (£40,000), the amount in dispute was £18,000. “Natal: A Pretoria Case”, The Press, January 9, 1894.

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), pp. 133-134.

“highly romanticized”

Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (1985), p. 48.

and other subjects

Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (1895), p. 41, quoting CO 179/183/16781, Dep. Gov. To Col. Sec. 25 July 1892, encl. Haji Mohamed Haji Dada and others to Sec. St., n.d.

M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 140.

Editorial, The Natal Witness, September 5, 1894.

The Natal Mercury took pains to reprint an article from The Times in which it was reported that the Asiatic population numbered 41,000 while the European population stood at 45,000. “The Asiatic Franchise Question”, Natal Mercury, September 15, 1894. Shortly afterwards the Indian Immigration Trust Board of Natal reported an Indian population of 42,967. “Our Indian Population”, The Natal Witness, October 27, 1894.

Maureen Swan points out that with fewer than 300 Indian voters on the rolls at the time of the Franchise Amendment Bill, the “real significance of the franchise question lay in the fact that it reflected the hostility of the ruling white minority towards Indians.” Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press,1985) at page 45.

“Petition to Natal Assembly”, June 28, 1894, CWMG 1, p. 92.

Many colonists who read the petition had, not unexpectedly, a different view. “The petition from Durban caused some amusement by reason of the stilted language used in two or three places, and the numerous quotations from the classics.” “Sammy in the Gallery”, The Natal Advertiser, June 29, 1894. The Natal Witness and The Natal Mercury took a more neutral view; see “Indian Franchise”, The Natal Witness, June 29, 1894, reprinting a story from The Natal Mercury.

“Questions for Legislators”, July 1, 1894, CWMG 1, p. 100.

“Letter to Dadabhai Naoroji”, July 5, 1894, CWMG 1, p. 105.

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957 ), p. 143. Citing Colonial Office records, Maureen Swan puts this figure at “some 9,000.” Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1895), page 61, fn.103.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), pp. 142-143.

After considerable hesitation associated in part with a change of leadership in the office of Secretary of the Colonial Office, the home government took the position that it would agree to a franchise bill only if it did not specifically mention Asiatics (as Indians were then called by the European colonists) and if the legislation did not disenfranchise the few current Indian voters. Finding these limitations acceptable, the Natal legislature passed a revised bill that accomplished the same end as the previous bill. The bill became law when the Colonial Office approved the bill in the summer of 1896. See Maureen Swan, Gandhi: The South African Experience (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1985) at page 67.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), p. 143.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), p. 144.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), p. 144.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), p. 145.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), p. 145.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), pp. 143-145.

Supplementary Volume, CWMG 1, p. 5.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), p. 144. Elsewhere in his autobiography, Gandhi echoes this feeling: “...The expense [of the house] was solely for the sake of prestige. I thought it necessary to have a household in keeping with my position as an Indian barrister....” Id., at page 162.

Peter Spiller, A History of the District and Supreme Courts of Natal (1846-1910) (Durban: Butterworth, 1986), pp. 60-61.

I am indebted to Burnett Britton for Paul’s full name.

See, for example, In re: Intestate Estate of Hassan Dawjee, 15 Natal Law Reports 211 (1894) and Moosajee v. Randles Brother and Hudson, 15 Natal Law Reports 223 (1894). Shortly after coming to agreement with Gandhi, Coakes was in court arguing on behalf of franchise rights of Indian voters; see “Indians and the Franchise”, The Natal Mercury, August 10, 1894. See also, “Insolvency Court”, The Natal Mercury, August 31, 1894. While Coakes advocated as an attorney for the Indian community, he was not yet prepared to be identified with the movement as a political matter. “Diary, 1894", August 22, 1894, Supplementary Vol. CWMG 1, p. 11.

See “Advocates of the Supreme Court (Corrected to 31^st December, 1894)” and “Attorneys of the Supreme Court (Corrected to 31^st December, 1894)”, Natal Law Reports, 1894.

“Durban Circuit Court”, The Natal Mercury, October 11, 1894. Earlier in the same year The Natal Advertiser reported that the legal profession was “becoming overcrowded in Natal....” “A New Solicitor”, The Natal Advertiser, June 5, 1894.

“show over-anxiety to Coakes.”

CWMG, Supplementary Vol. I, p. 7.

Page 54

Dada Abdulla

Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Boston: Beacon, 1957), p. 145. Escombe was indebted to the Indian community. Prior to the introduction of the Franchise Bill Indian merchants had registered to vote in order to help their advocate, Escombe, win a hotly contested election. Ibid., at 139.