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367. In my last Annual Administration Report, I stated that the importers
of the Northern Horse class asked that they might be brought into direct contact
with the buyers, i.e., that the Native Cavalry should buy from them direct and
not through dealers in India. The complaints on these grounds are greater this
year then ever. I know the argument advanced will be that Native Cavalry do
not like the Northern Horse, but against this I urge that they will buy
them from the dealer, as otherwise the dealers would not invest in this class of
horse as they do now. The result must be that if the importers do not derive
the benefits from the full price that can be paid by Native Cavalry, or, in other
words, if the profits are to go to the dealers, this trade must ultimately suffer,
as the importers will find that it does not pay them.
368. The demand for country-bred horses, outside Military Circles, is in-
creasing annually. We know that all Tramway Companies are buying largely
and, owing to the improvement in country-bred horses, a large trade is springing
up in Calcutta and as the improvement becomes more marked, the demand
may be expected to increase. We cannot therefore allow a single market that
promises well to fall off, and this will most certainly be the case with the trade
in Northern Horses at Quetta if the importers find that Cavalry Officers do not
attend.
369. The Agent to the Governor General in Baluchistan, in forwarding the
reports of the Political Agent and the Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Depart-
ment, on this Show, remarks as follows, with reference to the absence of
Native Cavalry Officers:—
"In my opinion, there is strong evidence to suppose that the fairs of 1892, 1893 and 1894 represented honest,
praiseworthy efforts on the part of the Herati, Kandahari, Pishin, and Baluch horse-dealers to bring suitable
horses within the reach of cavalry and remount officers ; but that the fair of 1895, by its reduced numbers,
clearly pointed to the fact that those dealers had now come to recognise their efforts and trouble as wasted,
owing to the apathy of cavalry officers."
"The fact that scarcely one cavalry officer appeared from outside the Quetta military district as a pur-
chaser, and the fact that from the 16th Bengal Cavalry at the adjacent Cantonment of Loralai no British officer
could be spared to attend this fair, are, to the most casual observer, to say nothing of such acute and interested
men as Afghan and Baluch horse dealers, obvious signs of the absolute indifference of cavalry officers to the
fair."
"I anticipate that the Quetta Horse Fairs of the future will go from bad to worse and thus add another
to the long list of once promising markets which owe their collapse to the want of co-operation, mutual con-
fidence and business capacity, which characterizes the attempts of cavalry officers to provide their regiments with
remounts."
"These attempts contrast most unfavourably with the co-operative business capacity of the native dealers,
who make large purchases by commission, carry off valuable branded mares and sell horses to Cavalry regi-
ments in India at far higher prices than the same horses could be bought for at Quetta."
"Political Agents will be directed to advertise more freely, in future, the dates fixed for the Quetta Fair,
and every effort will be made to maintain the institution. It seems very strange, however, that ample inform-
ation as to the date of the fair should have been available for horse-dealers at Meshed, Herat and Maimena,
where there are no newspapers, while it is suggested that such information was not available to cavalry officers
at Multan, Rajanpore, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan and other places. Although the Baluchistan Agency
is willing to do its best to give " eclat " and " go " to the fair, a Herat or Meshed horse-dealer thinks much
more highly of the sale of his horses at a fair profit to a cavalry buyer, than of a cheap lungi or of a cheaper
paper certificate given by a Political officer."
370. With reference to the Northern Horse, I can add but little to what I
have said on previous occasions. Those bought this year were, generally speak-
ing, fine upstanding horses with good girth and up to great weight. They showed
more breeding than hitherto and many were good in neck and shoulder,
although there were still a few of the old stamp, viz., short neck with heavy
and straight shoulders. I am certainly of opinion that the Quetta market
is advancing with the times and that the importers are bringing more horses of
the right stamp.
371. The Director, Army Remount Department, has expressed an opinion
that these horses, at the prices at which they can be bought, are of better value
than the Australians that are bought in Calcutta or Bombay. At first sight it
would appear that the cost of transit from Quetta, say to Lahore, is prohibitive,
but, as I stated last year, owing to concessions made by the North-Western Rail-
way, remounts can be railed from Quetta to Lahore at a cost of Rs. 20 or Rs. 25
according to whether 8 or 10 are carried in each truck, and when the new line