BEFORE me coum us 1907 53 Mr. Gandhi : Very well, sir, then I have nothing emore to say. The Magistrate then ordered Mr. Gandhi to leave the country in 48 hours. On the 11th January 1908 Mr. Gandhi appeared before the Court. and he pleaded guilty to the charge of disobeying the order of the Oourt to leave the Colony within 48 hours. Mr. Gandhi asked leave to make a short statement and having obtained it, he said he thought there should be distinction made between his case and those who were to follow. He had just received a message from Pretoria stating that his compatriots had been tried there and had been sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labour, and they had been fined a heavy amount in lieu of payment of which they would receive a further period of three months` hard labour If these men had commit· ted an offence. he had committed a greater offence, and the asked the magistrate to impose upon him the heaviest penalty- Mr. Jordan : You asked for the heaviest penalty` which the law authorised ? Mr. Gandhi: Yes, Sir. Mr. Jordan: I me-at say I do not feel inclined to ac- cede to your request of passing the heaviest sentence which is six months’ hard labour with a fine of £500. That appears to me to be totally out of proportion to the offence which you have committed. The offence practi- cally is contempt of Court in having disobeyed the order sf December, 28» 1907. This is more or less a political offence, and if it had n0t been for the political defiance set to the law, I should have thought it my duty to pass the lowest sentence which I am authorised by the act;
