Corruption during War Time – Mahatma Gandhi

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

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Corruption during War Time – Mahatma Gandhi

 

It is true that patriotic fervour surges in everyone’s breast during times of war. This fervour is very beneficial. Many a patriot has, under the stimulus of zeal, performed, with only a small army, feats that have astounded the world. While, on the one hand, some people abound with such enthusiasm, hundreds, thousands, nay, lakhs, of lives have, on the other, been lost, ruined or reduced to a state of dependence, through the doings of some selfish people who took advantage of the inability of officials to exercise sufficient control during war. Taking advantage of the chaos, normal persons have added to the prevailing disorder by committing, during war, misdeeds which they will not think of at other times. It seems that the rules of honesty and good conduct are entirely forgotten during times of war.

The violation of these rules is more in evidence during a bigger war than a smaller one. For it is said that it is during a crisis that a man’s character is put to the test. It cannot be claimed that he has been put to the test until he has had the chance successfully of committing a crime but remains steadfast in spite of the opportunity. Such steadfastness at a critical time may be found in a handful of men. It is indeed all too rare. The bigger the war is the bigger the extent of chaos. The fraud and trickery that were exposed during the Crimean War, and other sundry happenings that have later come to light, are most distressing. During that war, a large stock of boots was purchased and dispatched to the front for the use of soldiers, but they all were found to be for the left foot! A large quantity of foodstuff for the army was sent from England; but when it was consumed, instead of helping to feed the army, it proved deleterious being very rotten meat. It was not only merchants who wanted to become millionaires, but even the generals on the front, the politicians who were out to sacrifice a large number of precious lives, and leaders who called themselves benefactors of the state, committed fraud. Large stock of useful medicines sent out for soldiers and officers on their deathbed disappeared mysteriously before reaching the hospitals for which they were bound, and not a trace of them was found. Merchants, the so-called patriotic generals and high Government officials thus went on misappropriating hundreds of useful and valuable articles to fill their pockets at the expense of hundreds of poor soldiers who had gone to the front to fight for their country, leaving their homes and hearths. When a news correspondent sent a full account of this, describing the condition of the army encamped at Sebastopol, the whole nation was so enraged that the ministry in power had to resign. In addition to this, there was a long list of oppressive tyrannies. But all these are insignificant incidents compared to those of the last Boer War. A scrutiny of how contracts, for the supply of provisions, uniforms, etc., to the army, were given and executed during that was has revealed how public money was utterly wasted.

This was due solely to the misconduct of the autocratic officials. Contracts were blindly given by the departments concerned to contractors who were their favorites or were known to them and who made a profit of 50 to 500 per cent on some of the goods supplied. Such corruption was not confined to Great Britain alone. The defeat France sustained in 1879 was due to its officers who had become slaves of mammon. For, at the time of that war, the French Government had kept every necessary article ready. Millions and billions had been spent on these arrangements at the very start, but all that expenditure was incurred secretly. All these things was purchased and stored—on paper only. Although money was spent like water, articles of even ordinary military use ran short at the very outset of the war. The reports of the present Russo-Japanese War, too, are astounding. Last April, a million roubles were given to Duke of Sergius to be spent on feeding and clothing the army in Manchuria. This stock was dispatched to Manchuria in the month of May; but, instead of reaching there, it got transported directly from Moscow to Danzig, and from thence, goods worth thousands of pounds were sold for a song in Germany. Large sums of money were raised through subscriptions for the benefit of the widows of men and officers killed in the war; but not a farthing of that money reached the poor widows. The bags of sugar dispatched to the battle-field were found to contain sand instead of sugar! No trace could be found of millions of roubles that disappeared during the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

But this is not all. Innumerable examples have been recorded of the corruption and bribery practiced in Russia. The conduct of the Japanese affords a marked contrast to all this. No merchant or officer in Japan has entertained any thought of exploiting the war situation, with the result that the Japanese army can secure its needs at a very small cost. The report of the Butler Commission on the war in South Africa, which has been published, tells us that the irregularities and corruption that prevailed during that war were in no way less considerable than in Russia. The way public money has been spent is very much to be deplored. A major part of this waste was due to incompetent officers, who were inexperienced and untrained. The Commission recommends that the officers deserve to be censured for such serious lapses. The country’s wealth that was collected through heavy taxation was abused without limit, and the officers supposed to be responsible for it connived at it. This has cast a slur on the British administration, which has so for enjoyed a reputation for justice and integrity in public affairs. There was no limit to the chaos, corruption and dishonesty rampant at the time. The report of the Commission, it is expected, will open the eyes of the Government, who will do whatever is still possible in the matter.  

 

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Indian Opinion, 24-6-1905