The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-05 00:00:00

BRITISH POLICY IN INDIA.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sta,—The lead which The Sun takes in all that con-
cerns our foreign relations, and the zeal with which its best
energies are displayed in attempting to arouse the Govern-
ment from its lethargy to a sense of the dangers which sur-
round us, induce me to trouble you with some observations
on the recent intelligence from India.
A question is now agitated in military circles whether or
not it is prudent to push our whole disposable force, con-
sisting of but 30,000 or 40,000 men, into Affghanistan,
whilst disaffection and revolt are in our rear, and we are
threatened simultaneously by the Nepaulese, 40,000
strong, in the east ; by the military tribes of Rajpoots in
the west ; and by the Burmese on our north-eastern fron-
tier. These several states are arming, and only await the
issue of events to the north of the Indus to declare hostili-
ties. Intercepted despatches evince how hollow are their
professions, and how widely spread are the seeds of disaf-
fection.
The Nepaulese frontier extends more than four hundred
and fifty miles, and they threaten us at three points—Dar-
jeling, on the Himalaya—the district of Goruckpoor—and
Kumdon, which is also in the Himalaya, and was the
province wrested from the Nepaulese in the war of 1615.
Darjeling is garrisoned by a weak detachment ; in Goruck-
poor we have but a single native regiment and two six
pounders ; and Benares and Dinapoor, where our troops
are assembling, are at a distance of 200 miles from the
frontier, where the Nepaulese are in force. In Kumdon
we have only one native regiment, besides the provincial
corps, and of the former 350 men are at Al-
morah, the capital of the province, two companies
at Pitoragurh and two at Lohoogat, which are
twenty-five miles asunder, and more than double the dis-
tance from Almorah, and separated from each other by
high ranges of mountains. There are no better nor braver
troops in the world than the Nepaulese, and we had infinite
trouble to subdue them in the last war ; with their habits
of enterprise and daring, they may pour into our provinces,
and cut our detachments in pieces, long before reinforce-
ments can come up.
The points immediately threatened on our north, east,
and west frontiers are many hundred miles apart. Neither
Nepaul nor Rajisthan are approachable by rivers or mili-
tary roads, and from the extent of the force likely to be
brought against us, a prompt and vigorous display of power
is requisite. Rajisthan has a population of about eight mil-
lions, and our force consists of 10,000 infantry (including
the new levies), 2,500 cavalry, and a proportion of artillery,
centoned at Mow, Neemuck, and Nusseerabad—stations
respectively 150 miles apart. On the Burmese frontier we
have but 900 men, including provincial troops, stretching
along a line, from Suddya in Assam to Tavoy, of 1,200
geographical miles, broken into separate forces, and with
imperfect means of communication. A partial defeat in
any quarter at this moment would, besides giving confidence
to the enemy, and drawing thousands of warriors to his
standard, occasion revolt and insurrection throughout the
extensive regions which otherwise may continue faithful to
our sway. This it is which renders it essential that any
displey of force on our part against the Affghans should be
such as to ensure victory.
The brilliant careers of u Wellesley and a Hastings, the dif-
ficulties they surmounted, and the efficiency the army attained
under their effective Administration, makes the contrast
the greater in the present deplorable state of our military
force. Lord Auckland certainly is not to blame for this ;
it is on his prerlecessors that we must rest the charge. The
timorous and terniserising policy of Lord Amherst involved
India in a war with the King of Burmah. Instead of
resenting tthe first outrage cornizqed by that haughty po-
tentate, recourse 14,7;15 had to treaty, aaegetiation, and re-
monstrance—a course ,cet-tr regarded by the heir civilized
wna4tABi
joy:
ssemda
as
byl
la signnduetnal
cbotefi
numbers,
she enemy, over-
,a4.L.sseetint't inapn:ieinns'tes, and see.ecely a man
escaped to recount the extent of our folly. The fame of a
victory, trivial ki itself, shot with incredible rapidity from
one end of India to to ether, and thousands of our troops
perished in the marshes and the jangles of Arracan, and ten
millions were
,added to the Public debt before we regained
the Erouga we h lgst in pative Ou: inotive