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THE
whatever we like. If we admit the Japanese and Chinese on more advantageous terms than the Hindus, it is because we think they are not so help- less as the Hindus.' Considerations of right or justice or morality or British Empire citizenship do not enter into the question at all."
RETALIATION THE REMEDY.
At the last session of the India National Congress a resolution was moved urging the Government to enact retaliatory measures against the Colonies which deny us our birthright as British subjects (says the Tribune, Lalore). The press has cried hoarse for such legislation, and it is but right and proper that the national assembly should register the will of the nation. The obstinate perversity of the Colonies has fully roused the nation to a sense of its humiliation; and men, women and children are smarting under the indignities heaped upon them by the un-British conduct of Colonials. Never- theless we prefer that the action of the national assembly and that of the Government should be de- fensive and not retaliatory. After all, the Colonials are also British subjects. It is a most painful spec- tacle that one part of the British Empire should re- taliate against another. But we are free to adopt the policy of the Colonies to defend our internal inter- ests. Why, for instance, should we permit the emi- gration of Indian labor for the benefit of alien cap- italists? We want the manhood of India for the de- velopment of India, and we must set our face against all forms of emigration, whether "indentured" or not. That should be the first and foremost duty of the Congress and of the Government. We are at present not only depleting our labor reserve, but are inflicting upon a number of our countrymen' the greatest of injuries imaginable. By allowing them to submit to the treatment of the Colonies we are letting them humiliate themselves. Secondly, as regards the language test and productive duties, the practical difficulties are great unless the Govern- ment can be induced to undertake them purely as retaliatory measures. That India cannot erect a colour bar as the Colonies are doing must be clear to the commonest understanding. But at the same
ARYAN
time we have as much right as the Colonies to ex- clude those who compete with us unfairly as whose presence here we consider undesirable. It would be remembered that only the other day the new Gov- rnor of Madras, Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael, said that the spirit of the British statesman was to give every encouragement to "our fellow-subjects," meaning Indians, "wherever they are, to develop to the full the resources of their own portion of the empire, to make the fullest use of their abilities and talents in the development of that part." If this is the spirit of British statesmen it must be possible for the Government of India to exclude unfair com- petition from all outsiders, particularly Colonial sub- jects, natural born or domiciled, in activities which
should be reserved for the sons of the soil.-Indian Opinion, Natal.
LAW-MAKING EXTRAORDINARY
A Hindu asked a friend of ours to write to Messrs. Thos. Cook & Son, the well-known passen- ger agents at Calcutta, for a son of his to be brought into this country for studying in a college in Can- ada. The reply which we print below is very in- teresting:
Dear Sir:-
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We are in receipt of your favor of the 12th ult, and in reply beg to state that if the young man whose passage to British Columbia you wish us to arrange is an Indian we regret we cannot undertake same owing to the very strict immigration laws which have been passed recently. There is no direct steamer service to Canada from here and it is there- fore impossible for us to issue a through ticket as required by the immigration law. If, however, the young man is European, we shall be pleased to arrange his passage, the second class fare from Cal- cutta to Vancouver by Apcar line to Hongkong, thence per Nippon Yusen Kaisha to Victoria being Rs 515- or £34:6:8. These services are fortnightly and monthly respectively.
Yours faithfully, (Signed) THOS, COOK & SON.
THE GOSPEL OF GURU NANAK.
(Continned from Inside Front Cover.)
"Wash your mind rather than the stone images,"
Here then is the summing up of the teachings of Guru Nanak. Love God and love the God in man, Love God and show forth your love to Him by lov- ing those who come in contact with you. Our na- tion needs this Gospel: it is the gospel which binds together, unifies, harmonizes, makes for peace and love it is the gospel of harmony, of good-will to all and hatred to none, the gospel of peace. We stand on the threshold of a New Age which is destined to witness important reconstruction in world rela- tions. Shall India play her part in these reconstruc- tions. Then must you, young men and to you, young men, my words are especially addressed- keep alive the sense of the Unseen. Remember the piteous need of our civilization is God-realization. Remember our urgent need is the restoration of our spiritual perspective. Remember no civilization can endure without religion. And my weary hopes try to realize the happy day when the prèsent decay of religious desire shall give way to rational Faith, when the sense of social injustice shall assert itself, when life beyond this life shall be discerned as the dominant idea of thought and deed, when the mate- rial will be used as a sacrament of the spiritual, when the religion of Bhakti shall be lived by men of the world and the Gospel of Guru Nanak be enthroned in our hearts again.
There is a suggestive little story in the Sikh
scriptures. We read that Guru Nanak was one day invited by a poor man to dine at his house, and the Teacher of mercy accepted the invitation. A day was fixed; and on that day the Teacher moved out towards the house. He knocked at the door but it was some time before the door was opened. When the poor man came out, he said to Guru Nanak: "Master, forgive me, I did not open the door in time."
The Teacher asked: "What were you do- ing?" The man replied: "Master! I was driving nails into the wall." The Teacher looked into the eyes of this poor man with love and compassion and said: "Brother, what are you doing? Driving nails into the walls? Follow me." The poor man an- swered: "Master, as thou doth order. I follow thee." Forthwith, the man left his all, he followed the Teacher, and became a disciple of Guru Nanak. Think you the Voice of the Teacher is silent now? Methinks even at this moment the loving voice of the compassionate Tacher comes to you and to me and asks: "What are you doing? Driving nails into the wall? What are you doing? Still immersed in the maya of lower life? What are you doing? Still oblivious of the sacred meaning of life? Still uncon- scious of the supreme Realities of the Unseen?" The Teacher tells us all today "Brothers, what are you doing? Driving nails into the wall?" What shall be your answer? What shall be my answer? Shall we not say as did the dear disciple of old- shall we not say in accents of faith, of love and rev- erence?—Master, we are poor and weak; our faith is dim: our hearts are dull: yet we, too, shall follow thee."-Prof. Vaswani.
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