xiv LABOUR IN MADRAS TY agitate for gaining them. Who amorg us, who went to them, bad any ir kling of the culture inherent in the labourers, who had any idea of their political instinct and practical sagacity? The Movement, I believe, has come to stay. It cannot be killed, nor can its swift growth be checked for any length of time. A ti y seed sown at Perambur has sprouted and the winds of the world and national circumstances have swept some of its early seeds to other places. How well I remember the forenoon when two men, unknown to me, whom I had never seen before, came and told me something about the "suffering labourers”. They referred to the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills, of which I had vaguely heard, but of which I knew less than little. They referred to “ a few minutes for food," "swallowing a few morsels," "running lest they be shut out. It was at New India office, where I was t en working under my beloved and respected Chief, Mrs. Besant. She was not in office that day, and I was loath to leave it in her absence even for a couple of hours. But my Theusophical spirit got the better of my political duties. I immediately ordered my car, took the tu o strangers, and went to Perambur and watched outside the Mills where I saw the poor labourers at their noon-day meal. It was quick work. They cane, they gol bled, they · returned.
