late to mend. And you can help if you will, as no other
body or bodies can.

And now for the last division of Swadeshi, much of the deep poverty of
the masses is due to the ruinous departure from Swadeshi in the economic
and industrial life. If not an article of commerce had been brought from
outside India, she would be today a land flowing with milk and honey.
But that was not to be. We were greedy and so was England. The
connection between England and India was based clearly upon an error.
But she does not remain in India in error. It is her declared policy
that India is to be held in trust for her people. If this be true,
Lancashire must stand aside. And if the Swadeshi doctrine is a sound
doctrine, Lancashire can stand aside without hurt, though it may sustain
a shock for the time being. I think of Swadeshi not as a boycott
movement undertaken by way of revenge. I conceive it as religious
principle to be followed by all. I am no economist, but I have read some
treatises which show that England could easily become a self-sustained
country, growing all the produce she needs. This may be an utterly
ridiculous proposition, and perhaps the best proof that it cannot be
true, is that England is one of the largest importers in the world. But
India cannot live for Lancashire or any other country before she is able
to live for herself. And she can live for herself only if she produces
and is helped to produce everything for her requirements within her own
borders. She need not be, she ought not to be, drawn into the vertex of
mad and ruinous competition which breeds fratricide, jealousy and many
other evils. But who is to stop her great millionaires from entering
into the world competition? Certainly not legislation. Force of public
opinion, proper education, however, can do a great deal in the desired
direction. The hand-loom industry is in a dying condition. I took
special care during my wanderings last year to see as many weavers as
possible, and my heart ached to find how they had lost, how families had
retired from this once flourishing and honourable occupation. If we
follow the Swadeshi doctrine, it would be your duty and mine to find out
neighbours who can supply our wants and to teach them to supply them
where they do not know how to proceed, assuming that there are
neighbours who are in want of healthy occupation. Then every village of
India will almost be a self-supporting and self-contained unit,
exchanging only