130Hindu/5
The British Chargé (Chilton) to the Secretary of State
Sir: In my note No. 812 of September 19th last I submitted to you certain considerations regarding the hardship which will be inflicted upon British Indian subjects resident in the United States, and especially in California, if the Supreme Court decision of February 19th last in regard to the ineligibility of British Indians for United States citizenship is to be enforced immediately or made retroactive, and I enquired whether it would not be possible to postpone the date of enforcement in order to minimize this hardship.
His Majesty’s Consul-General at San Francisco now informs me that a report has appeared in the press to the effect that United States Judge William P. James of Los Angeles has already cancelled the naturalization certificate of Mr. Tulsa Earn Mamdal, a Hindu residing in Fresno County, California. On the other hand, information has reached me to the effect that the confiscation, under the terms of the Supreme Court decision, of certain property belonging to a British Indian at Orange Vale Colony, Fairoaks, California, has been postponed until April in order to give the owner more time to dispose of his property.
I have the honour to enquire whether the report as to the cancellation of T. K. Mamdal’s naturalization is correct and, in view of the leniency displayed in the matter of the confiscation of the property mentioned above, which I am sure will be greatly appreciated by His Majesty’s Government, I would express the hope that, in the light of the arguments put forward in my note under reference, it may also be possible to defer the operation of the Supreme Court decision in the matter of the cancellation of naturalizations.
You will appreciate that the present uncertainty as regards the status of these Indians and their property places them in a position of considerable difficulty, and I have the honour to request that you will be so good as to communicate to me, at your earliest convenience, the decision of the United States Government on this question.
I have [etc.]