means the
immediate and violent emancipation of India from British rule, and
absolute independence. So it is with the term _Swadeshi_, which means
anything from the perfectly legitimate and commendable encouragement of
Indian trade and industry to the complete exclusion of foreign, and
especially of British, goods by a "national" and often forcible
"boycott" as part of a political campaign against British rule.

Political _Swadeshi_ bases itself upon a Nationalist legend that a
"golden age" prevailed in India before we appeared on the scene, and
that British rule has deliberately drained India of her wealth. Even if
we have to, admit that Indian home industries have suffered heavily from
the old commercial policy of the East India Company and from the
formidable competition of the organized and scientific processes of
British industry, this legend hardly deserves to be treated seriously.
The _reductio ad absurdum_ of the argument has certainly been reached
when Mr. Keir Hardie alleges that Indian loans raised in England
constitute "a regular soaking drain upon India because the interest is
paid to bondholders in this country [England], and is not therefore
benefiting the people from whom it is taken." I can only commend this
sapient contention to our self-governing Colonies, who have all had
recourse in turn to British capital for the development of their
resources, and paid interest on their loans to British bondholders
without being apparently conscious of any "soaking drain." The supposed
"drain" is estimated in various ways, but a common method adopted is to
lay stress upon the excess of exports over imports[22]. Lord Curzon has
rightly pointed out that economically this test is quite fallacious; and
that in the richest country in the world, America, the value of the
exports exceeds the imports by over L100,000,000 per annum. Home charges
represent three-fourths of the "drain," and these may be calculated at
about L18,000,000 annually. Of this sum, L6,750,000 is paid in interest
on railway capital; but the railways are a source of profit, and the
payment comes from the railway passenger. Moreover, in course of time,
the Indian railways will become, and are becoming, a property of
enormous value to the State. The interest on India's public debt is
L3,000,000, but it has to be remembered how much India has benefited by
expenditure which has proved reproductive. Sir Bampfylde Fuller has
stated that the lowest estimate