Source: Das Nordlicht, 8 December 1921 · 📰

From: Balmas, Bessarabia
3 November 1921

Dear Nordlicht:

I am taking the liberty to write to your esteemed paper again. The editor should not be surprised at my cautious opening, but one has to be ultra careful about what he writes these days so the publisher/editor does not feel offended.

A short while ago, I wrote a letter to the Staats-Anzeiger, with the purpose of cheering up the folks across the big water. I wrote that our American brethren are not that low on money that they couldn’t afford the few cents it took to write a letter. It would bring rays of hope to us here in our misery. The need here is great and discontent among people is on the rise. I did not ask for monetary donations just some words of good cheer. The editor took offense with my well-meant words. I was informed that even in America the money wasn’t lying in the streets and that America had more than it’s share of misery, poverty and troubles. The farmers in America are not exactly reposing on a bed of roses, although some are doing very well. One has to live by his means and stretch for the ceiling in America as well as in Bessarabia. So much for the words of the Staats-Anzeiger editor.

If I had thought about my report a little more before writing it, I would not have been hit on the nose like this. However, I have learned my lesson and will no longer step on any editor’s toes. So, I am proceeding with caution in my report today because I do not want to add a slap in the face from the Nordlicht to my hit on the nose from the Staats-Anzieger. I would like to tell you how miserable things are here, but I do not dare. (*Editor’s note: Go right ahead. The Nordlicht does not practice backlashing at people for telling the truth. There is no law against showing the plight of other nations and countries. We have shown the misery in Germany over the past, and our readers from Bessarabia and Russia are not at all upset about hearing of the plight of their former countrymen. No, they are more than happy to help when they can. Especially, since the Russian and Bessarabian Germans are of the same nationality and clan, whereas the Germans of the Reich were more strangers to them.)

We still did not have any rain and it doesn’t look like we are going to get any, so there will be no winter crop. The ravens are devouring the little that was sown as the soil is frozen close to the ground and the seeds could not get planted deep enough. There is not so much law and order in the village right now as opposing factions take to brawling in the streets. Order should be maintained in all things; schools, church and city hall. The leadership however, should be order-minded. Unsuited personnel often are more a hindrance than a help to the law. Therefore, a Christian should not strive for a worldly office for which he is not suited. Such folks should take their lessons from Moses who did not insist on being the leader of the Israelites. The Lord appointed him. Even then, he did not want the job, thinking he was not qualified. He often tired of his office and wanted the Lord to take it back.

It is sheer brazenness then, for some to strive for an office they cannot handle without being called to it by a higher authority (God). Such a person is like the man who never had a steering wheel in his hand, but grabs hold of one and tries to drive a straight course. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Such folks usually do not fulfill the obligations that come with the job.

Perhaps I am stepping on toes again, so I better get off my podium and close this report with greetings to all who know me in the New World, especially my benefactors and the editor.

Sincerely,
Romuald Dirk