Madhusudan_Das

His Life and Achievements: 53
My next intimate contact with Mr. Das was made when he
became my colleague in the Government of Bihar and Orissa as a
Minister under the first Reforms in 1921. His tenure of office was
marked by the passing of the 'B & 0'. Municipal and Local Self-
Government Acts and I had his close cooperation when piloting the
Village Administration Bill through the Council. He resigned his office
as Minister in 1923 , but continued to be a member of the Legislative
Council till a much later date.
Throughout his public life, Mr. Das stood up for the rights of
Orissa as against what he deemed to be the encroachments of Bengal
and Bihar. He did not live to see his championship on an independent
Orissa crowned with success, but this happy consummation followed
soon after his passing at the ripe old age of 85 and the new province
of Orissa remains his most eloquent memorial.
• • •
(3)
AN APPRECIATION
COURTNEY TERRELL
Madhusudan Das was one of the rarest products of Indian social
life for he loved his fellow-men. His moral and intellectual stature
was far higher than that of his countrymen and his whole life was
devoted not to the emphasis of that fact, nor to realising a personal
ambition based on his superiority, but to the effort to raise his people
to a higher level. And yet rarer was the vision which enabled him
to see that this ideal could best be achieved by effecting improvement
in their material welfare. He had a practical sense of reality and strove
valiantly against the mental darkness (and what is to many others
the hopeless conservatism) of Orissa. He saw that these people had
qualities which, if their minds would only permit, could raise them
to a happier life and he struggled with the obstinacy which binds them
hand and foot. His life was an heroic conflict with the Oriya demons
of sloth and stupidity, and the Oriya devils of jealousy and intrigue
for the rescue of an Oriya nation. He was a very brave man, for he
realised the strength of his adversaries and yet strove undaunted. He