Imperial Valley press., 1919-01-13
Communicated

My Dear Fellow Countrymen:
1t is with great sorrow that l ven-
ture to pen this letter to you. The
reason why l publish tin the news
paper instead of sending it by mail
is three-fold: 81
First-I do not know of your ad-
dresses. ssi
Second-Not being from your prov
ince in India, cannot write III your
language. 7y#s y
Third-Even if the preceding two
reasons were not true, it would re-
ouire much time ard money to send
letters individually to number of
people at one time.
About a month ago | came into I'M
perial Valley from Chicago, and ever
since that time | have been reading
in the newspapers and hearing from
different people much against the
"Hindus" here.
After deeply thinking over the sub
ject and discussing it both with the
Americans and with the Indians. L
have arrived at the conclusion that
both parties concerned misunderstood
each other l will not take time to
discuss the understanding on the
part of the Americans as | am TAX
ing that up separately, but / do like
to write to you my thoughts frankly.
In order that you may not mlsunder-
stand me, l want to assure you that
/ am not appointed or authorized by
any person or society or even by any
government. to take the steps that
am taking in this matter, but as
fellow-citizen of our nlotherland, IN
dia, and without any selfish motive, l
venture to do this for our common
welfare.
While we are in this country we
represent not only ourselves indivldu-
ally. but also our beloved country;
j. e.. 315.000,0 900 men and women, our
flesh and blood. Therefore, our un-
worthy actions. whatever they may
be. bring reproach upon our country.
Let me beg of you in the name of our
motherland to swatch our steps"
There is absolutely no doubt that
we deserve a living in this country
lust as much as the others 90 VINO
represent various other countries OF
the world. But in order to carry on
our business and earn money let US
employ only the fair means. Let not
"dollars and cents" make US act un-
worthily and unmanly. Let not luster
of dollars" blind US. Remember what
our great writer has said, "Zar, Zan,
zamin" (money, land, womenl," are
the root of all evil" After all, when
We shuttle off this mortal coil we
u;,, leave all eve are worth" behind
ms. But. remember, our conduct or
character is immortal. The echo OF
what we do. either good or evil, never
dies.
Furthermore. let US not imagine
ourselves q different people even II
we art often pushed aside by some IN
significant individuals: we are all one
whether Americans, Indians or what-
not. Try to get acquainted Win the
people and remove MISUNDERSTANDING.
Let cleanliness be our motto. 1or
This year-cleanliness of actions:
cleanliness of speech, cleanliness OF
thoughts, cleanliness of BODY anu
cleanliness of dress. , -
I suggest that we start scnools aO
different centers and employ Amen-
can teachers to teach us English Ian
o,,aoe and American ideals. Ihe
tnowledge of the English language
will viii immensely help US in our bust
ness; will enable us to impart our
tbonobts to English speaking people;
viii enlarge our knowledge and vision
ond will make us see things IN dl1-
ferent light. a,o,.
Wishing you a happy and prosper
ous New Year. | am
Your fellow w-countrymanl,,