Madhusudan_Das

154 Madhusudan Das:
A man who believes that progress of Orissa lies in her
industrial development, should devote his labour, intelligence
and wealth to it. Let him give up the hope of profit. May be, he
will die a poor man but the fruits of the seed sown by him will be
enjoyed by the future generations of Oriya people. If the value of
the hand of a craftsman once increases, it will never again fall;
the number of such hands will continually increase. In the death
of an individual, the life of the nation increases. This is the law of
nature.
If in the present condition of Orissa, any one believes that
national development lies in industrial progress, let him treat his
industry as his own child and nurse it in infancy. Later on. Orissan
industrial products will earn name and fame in the world and
Oriya workers will be prosperous. The kings of Orissa had built
the temple of Lord Jagannath for the good of India by spending
crores of rupees. Let me hope that there are such philanthropist
in Orissa today and let them not falter in doing their duty to their
motherland. 17
Madhusudan Das was not content with only speeches and writings,
he followed up his advocacy by personal efforts for the realisation of his
goal. For the purpose of amalgamating the Oriya speaking tracts, he
negotiated with Viceroys Lord Curzan and Lord Harding and succeeded
in getting Sambalpur for Orissa from Central Province and Berar and
making Orissa a division in the newly created sub-province of Bihar and
Orissa. He had also met Mr. E.S.Montagu, the Secretary of State and Mr.
C.R.Attlee, the Chairman of the Orissa Committee of the Simon
Commission to press his demand and was a member of the Orissa
Administration Committee under the Chairmanship of Sir John Hubback
after it was announced in the White Paper of the British Parliament that
Orissa would be made a separate province in 1936. He lived long enough
to hear this announcement but died on February 4, 1934, just two year
before his brain-child was born.
He had gone to England twice, and once in 1897, and once again
in 1907 to press his claims for Orissa and industrialism. In 1897, he met
Sir George Hamilton, the Secretary of State for India to argue his case. In
1907, he circulated a memorandum entitled Discontented India among
the members of the British Parliament and read a paper on British Influence
on Indian Industry which was greatly admired by the Press. He met Mr.