Subramania Iyer was
appointed as a Judge of the Madras High Court
in January 1895. He succeeded Sir T. Muthuswami
Iyer who held that position with great distinction.
In an Editorial, The Hindu expressed the hope
that "�it may be Mr. Subramania Iyer's good fortune
during the time he may hold the high office to
be instrumental in furthering so far as it lies
in the sphere of a High Court Judge the cause
of Hindu social advancement."
During his tenure as a Judge of the High Court,
he delivered several judgements which considerably
improved the status of women in society. He presided
over the insolvency court which investigated into
the crash of a Madras Bank known as Arbuthnot
and Co. He acted as the Chief Justice of the Madras
High Court in 1899, 1903 and 1996.
The Government conferred upon Subramania Iyer
the Knighthood on the New Year Day of 1900. After
serving the High Court for 12 years, he retired
on 13 November 1907 on account of failing health.
Subramania Iyer was one of the "Brave 72" who
founded the Indian National Congress. He led the
Madras contingent to the first session of the
Indian National congress held in Bombay in December
1885. He seconded a resolution proposed by K.
T. Telang urging that the elective element should
be increased in the Legislative Councils and the
councillors should be given real and effective
powers.
He used to attend sessions of the Congress until
he became a Judge of the High Court and contributed
in no small measure to the strengthening of the
congress organisation in the Madras Presidency.
As Chaiman of the Reception Committee, he welcomed
the delegates to the 29th session of the Indian
National Congress held at Madras in 1914.
He presided over a huge public meeting at Madras
in 1915 which was organised to welcome M. K. Gandhi
who had just then returned from South Africa.
Welcoming Gandhi, he suggested the lines on which
national work in India should proceed. "We want
the soul-force which Mr. Gandhi is trying to work
up. Soul-force consists in a man being prepared
to undergo any physical or mental suffering, taking
the precaution that he will not lay a single finger
to inflict physical force upon the other side.
It was that soul-force that was manifested by
the South African Indians and it is the same force
that should be developed in this country."
Subramania Iyer was a great admirer of Mrs. Besant,
leader of the Theosophical Movement in India and
founder of the Home Rule League in Madras. He
agreed to serve as the Hon. President of the All
India Home Rule League established in Madras on
1 September 1916. When Mrs. Besant started a movement
demanding self-government for India, Lord Pentland,
Governor of Madras, ordered on 16 June 1917 the
internment of Mrs. Besant and her colleagues.
As Hon. President of the League, Sir S. Mani Iyer
took up the cause of Mrs. Besant and her colleagues
and started a movement for their release. From
16 June 1917 to September 1917, for 65 days, he
became the leader of what may be called a liberation
movement-liberation of Mrs. Besant and her colleagues
from the tyranny of the British bureaucracy.
|
It was at this critical
moment, immediately after Mrs. Besant was interned,
that Sir Subramania Iyer wrote a letter to Woodrow
Wilson, President of the U. S. A., describing
the British rule in India and appealing for the
sympathy and support of the American Government
and people.
He wrote in the letter: "Officials of an alien
nation, speaking a foreign tongue, force their
will upon us; they grant themselves exorbitant
salaries and large allowances;they refuse us education;
they sap us of our wealth; they impose crushing
taxes without our consent; they cast thousands
of our people into prisons for uttering patriotic
sentiments-prisons so filthy that often the inmates
die from loathsome diseases."
Subramania Iyer was subjected to scathing criticism
in the House of Commons and House of Lords and
by the British Government for writing the letter.
The Secretary of State, Edwin Montagu, and the
Viceroy, Chelmsford, rebuked him when he met them
in Madras in 1918 to make a representation on
the proposed political reforms, but Subramania
Iyer strongly defended his position in addressing
Wilson. A few days later, Sir Subramania Iyer
renounced the Knighthood and returned the insignia
to the Government.
Subramania Iyer was nominated as Senator of the
Madras University in 1885 and he continued to
be connected with that institution till 1907.
As a member of the Senate, he pleaded for many
reforms in education. He was a member of the Syndicate
for the University for some time. He was appointed
Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1896.
The Madras University conferred on him the Honorary
degree of Doctor of Laws in 1908. He presided
over the Madras Students' Convention in 1916 and
delivered an inspiring Presidential Address. He
also served as the Chaiman of the Council of Native
Education for two years. He extended his co-operation
to Mrs. Besant in the establishment of the Central
Hindu College at Benares which subsequently became
the nucleus for the Benares Hindu University.
He was the President of the 'Dharma Rakshana Sabha'
which strove hard to prevent mismanagement of
the funds of Hindu Religious Endowment and Charitable
Trusts. He also worked for the promotion of Sanskrit
study and presided and impressed upon the Pundits
assembled the need to shed religious prejudices
and to develop a rational outlook. He was also
the President of the 'Suddha Dharma Mandali' which
published important Hindu religious works.
Even though he retired from service in 1907, he
kept himself quite busy and active till the last
days of his life. In fact, it is no exaggeration
to say that Sir. S. Mani Iyer was the most dominant
public figure in Madras for more than three decades.
He rendered invaluable services to his countrymen
as a legislator, lawyer, judge, Congressman, educationist,
social reformer and Theosophist.
The death of the Grand Old Man of South India
on 5 Decemeber 1924 was mourned by a grateful
public who regarded him "as the soul of honour,
as a man who had absolutely no personal ends to
serve, and who devoted his great abilities solely
to the public good." |