Letter to Raja Hutheesing

Summary

This three-page English-language document, dated 20 August 1959, consists of a typed letter addressed to Raja Hutheesing, a handwritten note referring to an article on trusteeship, and an enclosed list of five principles attributed to Gandhian economic thought. The correspondence expresses hope that the recipients will live up to the concept of trusteeship and points the reader to an article by Pyarelal, “The Last Phase,” in volume II of a source identified in the handwriting as “Harijan.”

The enclosed principles present trusteeship as a route from the existing capitalist order toward an egalitarian society without assuming that the owning class is beyond moral reform. They subordinate private ownership to social welfare, reject the use of wealth for selfish purposes, propose limits on maximum incomes alongside minimum living wages, and argue that production should be determined by social necessity rather than personal whim or greed.

Key points

• The document is dated 20 August 1959 and includes a typed letter addressed to Raja Hutheesing.
• The correspondence discusses trusteeship as conceived by Mahatma Gandhi.
• The enclosed principles describe trusteeship as a means of transforming capitalism into an egalitarian social order.
• Private ownership is recognized only insofar as society permits it for its own welfare.
• Trusteeship would restrict the use of wealth for selfish satisfaction or against society’s interests.
• The principles advocate both a decent minimum living wage and a socially reasonable maximum income.
• Production in a Gandhian economic order would be guided by social necessity rather than personal whim or greed.
• The handwritten note cites Pyarelal’s “The Last Phase,” volume II, as a source for the principles.