ENGLISH PRESTIGE IN INDIA.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12657, 20 November 1905, Page 4

ENGLISH PRESTIGE IN INDIA.

Sib Thonxas Holdich, who evidently possesses a pretty close and practical ac quaintance with the northern boundaries of India, contributes to the "Fortnightly Review" an extremely valuable* estimate of England's strength in India r in which he shows how small is the probability of any successful invasion of it from the otiher side 6f its great mountain barrier in one direction, or of itsi more;westerly barriers, which gradually increase in- altitude and difficulty ia another, the only weak point being from? Herat southward-"-to Kandahar or Sirdar, so that it is in that direction that", our military defences should be strengthened. ~ As ,: to Afghanistan, "it is absolutely certain," we aire assured, "that she would 'declare war against the first invader who violated the Afghan border,, no matter who the invader mayr b«W* And the Ameer could put 100,000 nM of all arms dnto the field; and so far from resenting British assistance in the way of skilled officers of engineers,-the Afghan would be dangerously indignant if we,did not offer it, the danger being that he would give us up as hopeless, arid finally- combine witin Russia J. Sir Thomas Holdich cherishes the hope, however, that oW future relations with that power will be of such a friendly character as will: be mutually advantageous, and will secure the peaceful develop-ment-of their respective commercial in terests in Asia. Episodioally the writer mentions the little known fact thai throughout India the prestige of om late Queen is immense. In the jungle* of Central India the famished woman kind of the Gond aborigines "daily plare their little "savings of twigs and sticks by the wayside to "propitiate the great mother, who comes into their houses and parries away, gently and happily the child who has died of small-pox" mad even in Thibet " Queen Victoria « an incarnation. She still lives there at a t-r»ily beneficent influence, albeit undei an unpleasant form." In fact, adds S-] Thomas Hoidich, " there is persona loyalty in India, deep aud strong, buthere is beyond that loyalty a pnaotica faith in-the length and strength of En© land's arm, mingled with a contemptV|oi the might of other nations which is noi always shared by Englishmen."