district of Troyeville, to accommodate the whole family. As in Durban, theirs was the only Indian home in a white neighbourhood. The two-storey house was spacious, with eight rooms, balconies and a garden. 1
Gandhi had warned Kasturba that he would spend little time with her in Johannesburg, and so it turned out. He rose early, helped his wife grind flour for the day’s meals, then walked the five miles to his office in Rissik Street, carrying a packed lunch of wholemeal bread with peanut butter and a selection of seasonal fruits. His days were spent taking cases, drafting petitions to government, and writing for and supervising, long-distance, the production of
Indian Opinion
. He walked home in the evenings, where, after dinner, he taught his sons the elements of Gujarati grammar and composition. 2
Hermann Kallenbach was a frequent visitor to the Gandhi household. The boys liked him, not least because he brought gifts of chocolates and toys. They were also impressed by stories of his elegant lifestyle; apparently he had a barber come in every morning to shave him in bed. 3
While the children were being home-schooled, the adult nephew, Chhaganlal, was sent to join the community at Phoenix. His younger brother Maganlal was already working there as a compositor. Chhagan and Magan served as Gandhi’s eyes and ears in a community he had founded and funded, but at this stage rarely visited. The uncle wrote to his nephews at least once a week, asking for reports on the staff and the state of the finances. The young men were advised on how to set Gujarati type and where to look for subscribers.
Indian Opinion
had now expanded from eight pages to thirty-six. The text was printed in three columns instead of six. The end pageswere taken up with advertisements – of, for instance, a ‘German East African Fortnightly Steamer for BOMBAY, Direct’. A Calcutta bookseller took space to publicize his wares, which included a volume entitled
Helps to the Study of English
, and another containing
Select Speeches of the Great Orators
. Most advertisements, however, were (as before) for shops and enterprises in Natal selling cloth, cigars, sweets, rice,
ghee
and real estate.
The reports in the expanded
Indian Opinion
covered a wide range of topics. The rise of other Asian nations was noted and appreciated. After the fall of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War, the journal wrote that ‘the Japanese, by sheer force of character, have brought themselves into the forefront of the nations of the world. They have shown unity, self-sacrifice, fixity of purpose, nobility of character, steel[y] courage, and generosity to the enemy.’ An article in Hindi spoke of a national renewal in China, with moves to create officer corps and military academies on Japanese and Western models. The journal recalled General Gordon’s old prediction that when China awoke, the world would watch with fear and admiration. 4
Indian difficulties in Natal and the Transvaal were written about, but so also was the situation of the other communities in South Africa. A report of April 1905 spoke of a ‘monster native petition’ signed by 33,000 people, addressed to the Imperial Government in London, which asked that when full autonomy was granted to Transvaal, the interests of Africans be kept in mind, and no class legislation introduced which would ‘degrade and suppress all coloured races’. The petition urged the abolition of the death penalty, an end to the practice of whipping Africans, and the granting of permission to ‘respectable natives’ to travel in ‘superior classes’ on railways and to vote in municipal elections. 5
Gandhi’s weekly also carried reports on society and politics in India. A report from early January 1905 summarized the presidential address at the Bombay Congress of the liberal imperialist Sir Henry Cotton. Despite their promises, said Cotton, the British had been harsher on Indians than the Boers. ‘Their little finger had
Gandhi had warned Kasturba that he would spend little time with her in Johannesburg, and so it turned out. He rose early, helped his wife grind flour for the day’s meals, then walked the five miles to his office in Rissik Street, carrying a packed lunch of wholemeal bread with peanut butter and a selection of seasonal fruits. His days were spent taking cases, drafting petitions to government, and writing for and supervising, long-distance, the production of
Indian Opinion
. He walked home in the evenings, where, after dinner, he taught his sons the elements of Gujarati grammar and composition. 2
Hermann Kallenbach was a frequent visitor to the Gandhi household. The boys liked him, not least because he brought gifts of chocolates and toys. They were also impressed by stories of his elegant lifestyle; apparently he had a barber come in every morning to shave him in bed. 3
While the children were being home-schooled, the adult nephew, Chhaganlal, was sent to join the community at Phoenix. His younger brother Maganlal was already working there as a compositor. Chhagan and Magan served as Gandhi’s eyes and ears in a community he had founded and funded, but at this stage rarely visited. The uncle wrote to his nephews at least once a week, asking for reports on the staff and the state of the finances. The young men were advised on how to set Gujarati type and where to look for subscribers.
Indian Opinion
had now expanded from eight pages to thirty-six. The text was printed in three columns instead of six. The end pageswere taken up with advertisements – of, for instance, a ‘German East African Fortnightly Steamer for BOMBAY, Direct’. A Calcutta bookseller took space to publicize his wares, which included a volume entitled
Helps to the Study of English
, and another containing
Select Speeches of the Great Orators
. Most advertisements, however, were (as before) for shops and enterprises in Natal selling cloth, cigars, sweets, rice,
ghee
and real estate.
The reports in the expanded
Indian Opinion
covered a wide range of topics. The rise of other Asian nations was noted and appreciated. After the fall of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War, the journal wrote that ‘the Japanese, by sheer force of character, have brought themselves into the forefront of the nations of the world. They have shown unity, self-sacrifice, fixity of purpose, nobility of character, steel[y] courage, and generosity to the enemy.’ An article in Hindi spoke of a national renewal in China, with moves to create officer corps and military academies on Japanese and Western models. The journal recalled General Gordon’s old prediction that when China awoke, the world would watch with fear and admiration. 4
Indian difficulties in Natal and the Transvaal were written about, but so also was the situation of the other communities in South Africa. A report of April 1905 spoke of a ‘monster native petition’ signed by 33,000 people, addressed to the Imperial Government in London, which asked that when full autonomy was granted to Transvaal, the interests of Africans be kept in mind, and no class legislation introduced which would ‘degrade and suppress all coloured races’. The petition urged the abolition of the death penalty, an end to the practice of whipping Africans, and the granting of permission to ‘respectable natives’ to travel in ‘superior classes’ on railways and to vote in municipal elections. 5
Gandhi’s weekly also carried reports on society and politics in India. A report from early January 1905 summarized the presidential address at the Bombay Congress of the liberal imperialist Sir Henry Cotton. Despite their promises, said Cotton, the British had been harsher on Indians than the Boers. ‘Their little finger had
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