The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1909-02-26
OPEN LETTER TO
THE PRESIDENT

1
lly informed himself before undertak-
ing to speak on a subject affecting
the interests of some three hundred
millions Of people. Adequate infor
matlon is available The English
Labor Party is taking up the wrongs
of India, determined that they shall
no longer be ignored Distinguished
and able Englishmen. many OF them
members Of parliment who have also
had long service in India. are in in
creasing numbers, espOusing the
cause OF. india, resolved that the truth
shall be known. Sir Henry Cotton.
NJ. p. is quoted: Indian admins
tration as carried on today is sys-
tenn OF pure Absolution from the Vic
eroy downwards, as autocratie as that
OF the Car OF Russia" The idea
that the Indian people have any real
share in the government Of their own
country. he pronounces absolutely
illusory."
The letter insists that to assert, as
the president did, that India is incap-
able Of governing herself is to fly in
the face OF history India governed
herself for thousands of years. In
the history Of India, we find empires
as illustrious and well ordered as any
in Europe. "The same objections were
made by the supporters of Lord Nor
! this government regarding the Ameri-
can colonies--that "if left to their
own4direction they would speedily fan
into mutual strife, anarchy and ruin.
IN like manner when Japan began
her modern career il was generally
predicted that. she could not carry
on a government under modern condi-
tions.. AT the time England first en-
tered India, three hundred years ago,
the old Mogul Empire was breaking
up, new political and military adjust
ments were forming and the country
was in a state of unusual turmoil,
which gave the English their oppor-
tunity. But this was temporary
condition, and would have passed as
similar periods in other countries
have passed. For two thousand years
India has been far more peaceful than
Europe There is no record of Indian
wars worse than the Wars of the
Roses in England or so bad as the
Thirty Years War in Germany, and
none that compare at all in loss of
life with the wars of Napoleon; neith-
er does Indian history show anything
that inAanarchy and violence equals
the Reign of Terror in France" AS
to disturbances between Hindus and
Mohammadans, these have lived side
by side Without conflict for hundreds
Of years at a time, it is asserted, I'M
der both Hindu and Mohammedan
rulers, and there has at no time been
any greater hostility between them
than between Roman Catholics and
Protestants in Europe
The letter goes on 20 fatty contra
dict the presidents claim that Eng
land does not draw penny from In
dia for English purposes, and likens
the presence of Englishmen in India
to that of the "capet-baggers" in the
South "Englishmen in India often
speak of themselves as birds of pas
sage Edmund Burke, that great and
just Englishmen, called them birds
of passage and prey The people thus
plundered and deprived of the rights
which in justice belong to all civiliz-
ed men. are not barbarians, obscure
people without a past They are one
of the great nations of history. Many
of them are Aryans, of the same race
with Greeks and Romans, Germans
and Englishmen. Their civilization is
one of the most ancient in the world.
They have given to the world two of
the great historic religions and philos-
ophies as profound as any that have
proceeded from the mind Of man.
They have created a literature Which
ranks with the literature of Greece
and Rome. England and Germany AS
Lord Curzon himself said Powerful |
empires fiourished in India while En-
glishmen were still wandering paint
ed in the woods. India has left a
deeper mark upon the history, philos-
ophy and religion of mankind than
any other territorial unit in the uni
verse"
These are the people who year af- |
ter year are forced TO contribute of
their property to England's wealth
Avenues through which the tribute is
drained are enumerated as Q) Rich |
pensions received by retired English
officials; (2) Salaries of English ON |
cials in India, the highest paid in the
world; go Business profits sent to