To The Right Reverend Henry Codman Potter,
Bishop of New York
May 14, 1900.
In a t e l e g r am f r om N e w Y o r k y o u are r e p o r t ed to have said,
at a me e t i ng h e ld at the C h a m b er of C o m m e r c e, t h at " t he
f ami ne was in one sense due to g o od g o v e r n m e n t. Gr e at B r i t a in
had s topped t r i b al wa r f a re and slaughter a n d, in consequence,
p o p u l a t i on increased.'* T h i s, Sir, is the usual A n g l o - I n d i an
r oma n c e. T he r e a l i ty is q u i te d i f f e r e n t—n ame l y, t h at the f u n d am e n t al cause of " t he e x t r eme p o v e r t y " of Indi ans, w i t h its n a t u r al
consequences of famines, plagues, and e v e ry k i n d of mi s e r y, is the
de s t ruc t ive system of g o v e r n m e nt of a b l e e d i ng f o r e i gn d o m i n a t i o n.
Bishop of New York to Dadahhai
May 2 8, 1 9 0 0.
I am b o u nd to add t h at I do n ot f i nd m y s e lf in agreement w i t h
the positions y ou m a i n t a in w i t h reference to the E n g l i sh o c c upancy of I n d i a. T h e re was no o r d e r, n or safety f or l i fe or p r o p e r t y,
n or f r e e d om of person in I n d ia u n t il E n g l a nd
w e nt there. As a
n a t i ve I n d i an of h i gh r a nk r e c e n t ly said to me in Madr a s, " W e
have a ll t h at y o u Ame r i c a ns f o u g ht f o r — l i f e, l i b e r ty and t he
pi f r suit of happiness; and if B r i t i sh p o w er we re to take i t s e lf
away f r om I n d ia t o - m o r r o w, we s h o u ld have b l o o d s h e d, chaos
and int e rne c ine warfares in endless v a r i e t i e s ." I confess, f or
mys e l f, t h at the people w h o are saved f r om these t h i n gs s h o u l d,
in my j u d g m e n t, pay the b i ll f or t h e m.
Dadahhai to Bishop of New York
June 10, 1900.
B o t h y o u and the Ma d r a si g e n t l eman do n ot seem to have
s tudi ed and considered the o t h er side. I mu st say a f ew w o r ds
of facts w i t h reference to y o ur statement t h at " we s h o u ld pay
the b i l l . " We s h o u ld pay f or h a v i ng been for c ed to p ay eve ry
f a r t h i ng ( e x c e p t i ng a v e ry f ew p a rt payments f or v e ry shame)
f or a ll the wa rs a nd o t h er circumstances f r om the v e ry b e g i n n i ng
of the E n g l i sh c o n n e c t i o n, f or b u i l d i ng up and m a i n t a i n i ng the
B r i t i sh I n d i an E m p i re e n t i r e ly at o ur o w n cost and m a i n ly w i t h
o ur b l o o d . . . w i t h the r e w a rd of b e i ng reduced to h e l o t r y ^ a nd
b e g g a r y! We s h o u ld pay f or b l e e d i ng us and c a r r y i ng away
clean o ut of the c o u n t ry hundreds of mi l l i o ns and continue to
dr a in incessantly and unceasingly, or we should pay for w h at
the Viceroys and Famine Commissioners sanction. . . . We
should pay for impove r i shing us to an extent to w h i ch probably
no na t ion has impoverished another! We should pay for a ll the
consequences of such "other improvement s" as famines, plagues
. . . and a chronic state of starvation . . . ! We should pay f or
the security of our p r o p e r ty w h i c h, in the most ingenious,
scientific and unseen w a y, is taken away f r om us by the p r otectors! We should pay for the security of our lives, w h i ch are
n ot left w o r t h l i v i n g, by p r o v i d i ng us w i t h starvation, famines,
pestilence, etc.! We should pay for the f u ll l i b e r ty we enjoy to
starve and perish. . . ! We should pay for official Europeans
bleeding us, and non-official Europeans e x p l o i t i ng our land and
labour and natural resources. . . ! In short, we should pay for a
destructive and dishonourable system of government v i o l a t i ng
Acts of Parliament and the most solemn pledges that ever a people
gave to another.
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