M. K. Gandhi
indignation aroused that, when the famous Fourth Resolution was put, committing all present, and those they represented, to go to gaol, if the measure should become law, until such time as it should be repealed or disallowed, the whole vast audience of three thousand persons rose as one man, and shouted a solemn "Amen," when the oath of Passive Resistance was administered. Simultaneously, however, and as a last effort to avoid a terrible conflict, a deputation to England was arranged for. The delegates proceeded there to interview the Imperial authorities and arouse public opinion, and their efforts resulted in the suspension of the Royal Assent to the measure owing to the imminence of the inauguration of self-government in the Transvaal, and in the formation of the famous South Africa British Indian Committee, with Sir Mancherji Bhownaggree as its Executive Chairman, Mr. L. W. Ritch as its Secretary, and, subsequently, Lord Ampthill as its President.
The disallowance of the measure was, however, merely a temporary respite, for, taking umbrage at what was thought to be an impertinent intrusion on the part of the Imperial Government in the affairs of a practically self-governing British Colony, the European section of the population angrily demanded the immediate re-enactment of the ordinance, and almost the first action of the new Parliament was to
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