and oppression came pouring in daily from the Punjab, but all I could do was to sit helplessly by and gnash my teeth.
Just then Mr. Horniman, in whose hands the Bombay Chronicle had become a formidable force, was suddenly spirited away by the authorities. This act of the Government seemed to me to be surrounded by a foulness which still stinks in my nostrils. I know that Mr. Horniman never desired lawlessness. He had not liked my breaking the prohibitory order of the Punjab Government without the permission of the Satyagraha Committee, and had fully endorsed the decision to suspend civil disobedience. I had even received from him a letter advising suspension before I had announced my decision to that effect. Only owing to the distance between Bombay and Ahmedabad I got the letter after the announcement. His sudden deportation therefore caused me as much pain as surprise.
As a result of these developments I was asked by the directors of the Bombay Chronicle to take up the responsibility of conducting that paper. Mr. Brelvi was already there on the staff, so not much remained to be done by me, but as usual with my nature, the responsibility would have become an additional tax.
But the Government came as it were to my rescue, for by its order the publication of The Chronicle had to be suspended.
The friends who were directing the management of The Chronicle , viz. , Messrs. Umar Sobani and Shankarlal Banker, were at this time also controlling Young India . They suggested that, in view of the suppression of The Chronicle , I should now take up the editorship of Young India and that, in order to fill the gap left by the former, Young India should be converted from a weekly into a biweekly organ. This was what I felt also. I was anxious to expound the inner meaning of satyagraha to the public, and also hoped that through this effort I should at least be able to do