Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches/Future Work
FUTURE WORK
But I do not wish to be understood to mean that nothing further remains to be done in South Africa, or that everything has been gained. We have only fought for the removal of legal disabilities as to immigration, but administratively we have taken note of the existing conditions and prejudices. We fought to keep the theory of the British Constitution in tact so that the practice may some day approach the theory as near as possible. There are still certain laws in South Africa, for instance, the law of 1885, the trade license laws of the Cape and Natal, which continue to cause worry. The administration of the Immigration Law is not all that it should be. For these, however, passive resistance is not applied and is at present inapplicable, its application being confined to grievances which are generally felt in a community and are known to hurt its self-respect or conscience. Any of the grievances referred to by me may, any day, advance to that stage. Till then, only the ordinary remedies of petition etc., can be adopted. Letters received from South Africa, show that difficulties are being experienced in some cases acutely by our countrymen, and if much has not been heard of them in India just now, it is because of the extraordinary self-restraint of our countrymen in South Africa, during the crisis that has overtaken the Empire.