THE SWADESHI VOW

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09415777229, 094055338

E-mail- [e-mail];[e-mail]

 

 

THE SWADESHI VOW

 

 

We advisedly deferred issuing this leaflet so long, for the reason that we thought it necessary to make some provision for the supply of cloth to intending signatories before giving the vow wider publicity. Mr. Naranji Purushottam has succeeded in securing the cooperation of Mr. Vithaldas Jerajani, lately manager of the Swadeshi Co-operative Stores, and has invested his own capital in starting a Pure Swadeshi Cloth Store, the opening ceremony of which will take place on Wednesday next. Any person will be able to get at this Store pure swadeshi cloth woven from yarn spun out of indigenous cotton, wool or silk. Messrs Narandas and Jerajani have vowed not to charge more than 5 per cent on cost price as profits. A fixed rate of prices will be strictly observed. These gentlemen have also vowed not to charge anything by way of profits on hand-woven cloth out of hand-spun yarn. Pure swadeshi cloth within the meaning of our vow, as also cloth which alone can be called pure swadeshi, but which is not yet available enough for a large number of vow-takers, will thus be obtainable at this Store from Thursday next. As this Store is going to be run on purely patriotic lines, and not on business lines, nothing but cloth necessary for swadeshi vow No. 1 and No. 2 will be sold at the Store. Only shops run on these lines and a hearty public response to them can materially promote swadeshi. We hope other liberal-minded merchants will copy Mr. Naranji Purushottam example, and provide facilities for these taking the swadeshi vow. But it must be fully borne in mind that merely opening swadeshi stores will never satisfy the objects of swadeshi. One great object of the propagation of swadeshi is to prevent the country’s wealth from going out of it. And this can be attained only if import of foreign cloth is stopped and more cloth produced at home. The thing to be borne in mind in this connection is not that swadeshi cloth produced in the country remains unsold for want of buyers. The fact is that we do not produce enough cloth to meet our needs. Every man and woman taking the swadeshi vow must therefore keep one aim in view, viz., that he or she should produce, or get somebody to produce, cloth necessary for his or her requirements. If lakhs of men and women were to do this, much of the money going out of our country would remain here, and the exorbitant prices of cloth our poor people have to pay would be saved. In view of these considerations, it is clear that he helps swadeshi more who produces or helps to produce more swadeshi cloth, than one who simply rests satisfied with using swadeshi cloth. Let us now consider how production of cloth can be increased in the country. I here are three ways of doing this:

(1) by starting more mills; (2) by purchasing foreign yarn and weaving it on handlooms; (3) by weaving oneself or getting woven cloth out of yarn spun by oneself or by someone else in one’s own country. Now apart from any views against machine-made cloth, it will be seen that it is no easy thing to start mills as quickly as we would it certainly takes some time to erect buildings for the mill, to get machines from abroad and to procure labour. Assuming, therefore, for a moment that there would be no difficulty in obtaining capital, it is not possible for us to add to the stock of our cloth by means of having new mills. It is no doubt possible to weave cloth from yarn obtained from abroad, and the second swadeshi vow was devised with the view that it is far better to use cloth woven in our country out of foreign yarn, and thus to save some money at least going out of the country, than not to use swadeshi cloth at all. But the more I think, the more I see dangers in this. Our demand for foreign yarn in a quantity sufficient for cloth necessary for lakhs of men is likely to send up the prices of foreign yarn to such an extent that the rise will be equal to the wages we have to pay for labour here, which would mean that we had gone ahead, only to fall back. If, therefore, we could find some way out, we would not have to depend on foreign yarn. This brings us to the third way, viz., to get yarn spun here, and to get it woven on handlooms. This is the royal road, and the surest to lead us to the goal. If this is adopted by the people, the goal will be reached with the least possible labour and in the shortest possible time. This would also provide thousands of men with an independent calling, and hundreds of thousands of poor women and widows with a means of livelihood to be pursued in their own homes. The experiment does not require any very large capital, but it does require two things to be successful. The first thing necessary is a number of volunteers. They need not be highly educated or highly intelligent. Honesty and perseverance are indispensable. Education and intelligence cannot be had at will, but honesty and perseverance can be had if one but makes up one’s mind for them. The volunteers can be useful in two ways:

 (1) They can learn spinning and/or weaving and can dedicate some hours of their labour to the country, or (2) they can find out men knowing spinning and weaving and introduce them to the public. If a number of such volunteers came forward, we would within a very short time produce cloth worth thousands of rupees. But of more importance than even the volunteers is pure love of country, a sacrifice of some luxuries which it entails. It will take a long time, of course, to raise the art of spinning to its original level and to produce yarn sufficiently fine to weave fine muslin out of it. At the present moment, numerous men and women can learn the art of spinning to start with. Spinning fine yarn is a matter of practice and careful effort. In the meantime, people will have to be satisfied with what cloth they can get made out of hand-spun yarn. If they are not ready even for this little sacrifice, it will not be possible for us to fulfil a great pledge like the swadeshi. We hope to consider this third method of increasing the stock of our cloth at some more length in our next leaflet.