PREFACE XV That was how it began. On the following Saturday we had a meeting, followed by another, and yet another--but the story will be found in the book. I agreed to the publication of my speeches and the narrative of the struggle-a struggle which is not over, nor is it likely to be for some time yet. We have not included the history of the work and progress of the first Trade Union in India since my return from abroad in August 1920. The wonderful unity and solidarity displayed by the textile workers of this city, the resort to Passive Resistance, the unjust lock-out of 5500 men from the Buckingham Mills, the effort on the part of the employers to break the Madras Labour Union as it is constituted now, the lawsuit against myself and nine other leaders for malicious conspiracy and alienating the affection of the work people, the order of injunction stopping our mouths, and destroying our liberty of speech and action—all that is well known to the Indian public. The strike is still on ; the lock-out is not over on the 88th day as I write ; the whole story must be told elsewhere on some future occasion. This volume gives the story of the early beginnings of the Labour Movement in India and some immediate resultant factors. In this preface, however, I should like to indulge in the expression of a few thoughts as to its future and as to the methods of advance.
