Hindu-German Conspiracy Trial - Harcharan Das Court Testimony

Trial Log

Transcription of court testimony. Page numbers and transcript volume references (pp.) from the original dataset are preserved.

Direct Examination

001 - Transcript pp. 909-993
1. HARCHARAN DAS
2. Called for the United States
3. Testified as follows: Direct Examination
4. I am 27 years of age. I arrived in Vancouver on
5. September 1st, 1906. I came to Seattle on September 13th,
6. 1906. (pp. 909-910)
7. I lived in the United States until 1911 when I
8. returned to Canada, staying there until November, 1911, when
9. I returned to the United States. (990)
10. I know Ram Singh. From 1911 to 1914 he was living
11. in Vancouver. He is one of the defendants in the courtroom.
12. (990)
13. In 1910 I met Munshi Ran in Portland. He is also
14. one of the defendants. (991)
15. I resided in Canada at the time of the "Komogata
16. Maru" incident. (991)
17. Before that, in December, 1913, I heard of the Ghadr.
18. I saw it in Vancouver. (991)
19. I heard Bhagwan Singh lecture in Victoria in 1913.
20. He referred to the fact that Canada belonged to the British
21. government and they were not allowing our people to come
22. there. He said: "This is our own weakness, and if we had
23. our own government then nobody could prevent us." (992)
24. I also knew a man in Canada named Balwant Singh. (992)
25. I remained in Seattle one month and arrived in San
26. Francisco December 10, 1914. I remained here until April 12,
27. 1915. (993)
28. I stayed by my master, Ram Chandra, who sold me to
29. the Germans for $2,000. (993)

002 - Transcript pp. 993-998
1. at 1234 Valencia Street in the printing office. (993)
2. I was employed at the Yugantar Asram by Ram Chandra.
3. I lived there and worked on the paper. I got my board, my
4. bed and $2 a month. (994)
5. The following worked on the paper: Ram Chandra; he
6. was the master; Godha Ram was his secretary and wrote articles
7. against the British government; (994) Gobind Bahari Lal was
8. special correspondent and also wrote articles; Sundar Singh
9. was working on the printing press with me. (995)
10. Sundar Singh and Munshi Ram were honest. (995)
11. Gopal Singh was the Gurmukhi copy writer. (996)
12. Khem Chand and Mangu Ram also worked there. (996)
13. The paper was published only in Urdu and Gurmukhi,
14. but Ram Chandra wrote the headlines in ten or twelve different
15. languages; he was just telling lies. (996)
16. I don't like Ram Chandra very well. When he put us
17. in trouble for nothing and sold me, then he can't expect any
18. thing better. (996)
19. They published the Fatwa in one of the papers, half
20. in Urdu and half in Pashtu, for those from Turkey and between
21. Afghanistan and India. (997) The Fatwa was the decree for a
22. holy war. (997)
23. Each week there was published in Urdu sometimes 1800
24. to 2000 copies; in Gurmukhi 2200 to 2400 copies; to outside
25. people sometimes went 5,000 or 10,000 copies. They were sent
26. through the mails. (997)

003-019 - Transcript pp. 999-1100 (selected excerpts)
Ram Chandra told me that Har Dyal was the founder of the paper;
that he was arrested and turned its charge over to Bhagwan Singh,
Barkatullah and Ram Chandra. (1004)

Ram Chandra showed me rules for the government of the Asram and
the Gadar, including restrictions on disclosure of secrets,
membership conditions, and collection of funds. (1007-1010)

Mangu Ram told me there was 140,000 in the fund. Ram Chandra told
me Bhagwan Singh collected money at Manila and disputes arose over
its use. (1011-1013)

They published circulars saying: "Don't fight with the Germans,
they are our friends; the British are our enemies..." and said
these would be sent to Germany and dropped to Indian forces.
(1019-1021)

The five men sent on the Maverick were: Mangu Ram, Gambhir Singh,
Hari Singh, Harnam Chand and myself. (1022)

At Socorro Island we heard of a schooner with ammunition that
failed to meet the Maverick. Literature was burned after searches
by warships. (1075-1079)

I was later detained in Bangkok, then Singapore, then Calcutta.
I testified after detention and said I was paid 50 rupees a month
by the British government after release. (1096-1098)

020 - Transcript pp. 1101-1102
The letter is as follows:
"Dear Sir:
I have not received a letter from you for some time.
If there is any news in Manila P. I. papers about home
(India) please send it in my name to P. O. Box 16.
Other important correspondence should be addressed to
P. O. Box 392. Also write about Bhai Hari Singh Faqir and
Mangu Ram. Where are they. Convey my best compliments to
all patriots.
Yours sincerely,
Ram Chandra." (1101-2)

Witness continuing:
United States Exhibit 12 is in the handwriting of Ram Chandra.
                              

Harcharan Das - Cross-Examination

021-028 - Transcript pp. 1109-1206 (selected excerpts)
I left the United States on April 22, 1915, and returned May 25,
1917. I arrived in Canada on June 25, 1917, accompanied by British
police officials. (1109-1112)

My father and many relatives were employed by the British
government. I was released after testifying at Lahore. (1118-1121)

I was in solitary confinement in Singapore and later confined in
Calcutta before making statements. (1142-1146)

The British government paid me 50 rupees per month starting
December 5, 1916. I am a police officer. (1147)

Before sailing, I was told the vessel was going to Borneo and was
not told arms or ammunition would be loaded on the boat. (1163)

I was sincere in working on the Gadar at the time and thought the
others were sincere when we departed. (1170-1171)

A search was made of the Maverick before departure from San Diego;
no arms or ammunition were found. (1194)

Source: United States v. Hindu-German Conspiracy Trial transcript.
Harcharan Das testimony (Direct Examination and Cross-Examination).
                              

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