INDIA'S LOYALTY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 23, 27 January 1914, Page 6

INDIA'S LOYALTY.

WELCOME TO THE TROOPS.

n- JBy (Eeeotrto Telegraph—Copyright] " [Uni'od Press Association.]

.London, January 26

Advices from Calcutta state that soldiers participating in the Eastern Bengal manoeuvres were astonished at the perfervid popular welcome.. Eighty thousnd men are concentrated in and arouid Dacca.

■ Major-General Sir Robert Scallon commands battalions of tbe i Black Watch, Argylls, Sutherhuids, and other British regiments, and four. batteries' of artillery—some of the smartest corps in the British Army, j Very few people in the district had ever set eyes on British soldiers, there .a having been no regulars at Dacca -since the native, detachment garrisoning the fort mutined in 1857. The country is remote from the frontiers, and is cut off by rivers and swamps from the routes frequented by troops, and is the centre of aggressive sedition. : The selection of such an area for 'the manoeuvres is a big" departure. Regiments inarching thither were everywhere welcomed, even small villages erecting arches. Colonels were garlanded and presented with addresses, while fruit, cigarettes, and other gifts were thrust into the hands of the troops. Great crowds are visiting the camps. General Scallon, in order to emphasise the peaceful nature of the proceedings, ordered the Boy Scouts to head the ceremonial march through tbe town. Large numbers of women, throwing aside their veils, watched the march. , UNCANNY AND UNEXPECTED.Calcutta, Jamiar,, 20. ■ ■ The keenest interest was evinced| in ,the sham lighting. An officer des-j cribes the .heartiness of the reception as "almost uncanny." so different was it from what was expected. The effect on the- British Indian soldiers was bewildering. The Standard says it is too soon to ask what the Bengali agitators and sedition-mongers think of the enthusiastic welcome of the troops, in striking" contrast to the sullen reception given the Viceroy at Calcutta. Everything points to the complete success *.. «>f the concentration as a political move. i