British Labour Party politician (1878-1928). Autograph manuscript signed ("Ben C. Spoor M.P."). Mumbai. 4to (192 x 250 mm). 8 pp. Stored in an archival folder.
$ 5,191 / 4.500 €
(105139/BN66437)
Manuscript for an article that offers the impressions of a first-hand enthusiastic witness to the Nagpur Congress sessions (December 1920 - January 1921), the Indian National Congress meetings at which the programme of non-cooperation was endorsed. The author includes an extensive description of Mahatma Gandhi: "Of course the central figure was Mahatma Gandhi. Who or what is this man of whom it can be said as it was said of one of old that even his enemies 'can find no fault in him'? His bitterest opponents unite in tributes to his transparent sincerity, moral courage and spiritual intensity".
- The article, titled "Impressions of the Congress", comprises six sections: an introduction (p. 1), "Spectacular Effect" (p. 1-3), "Mahatma Gandhi" (pp. 3-5), "The Congress Creed" (pp. 5-6), "Non-Cooperation" (pp. 6-7), and "Unless" (pp. 7-8). By then a member of the British Parliament, Spoor offers an account of the events and the general feeling in India at this critical juncture, only a few months after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre: "All trust in the Government seems to have disappeared in India.".