Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1885-05-17
Will. ENGLAND LOSE INDIA.

We present our readers to-day with a
political surprise. They have heard the
English side of the Afghan dispute; they
have heard the Russian side. We now
show them, by means of interviews sent
over the Mackay-Be Bennett cable, says the
New York Herald of last Sunday, how
the Afghans, the Persians, the Hindoos
and the Nihilists view the conflict.
The Nihilists may be dismissed at
once. They would be glad of war. They
believe that it would clear the air. They
hope that it would bring Russia nearer
to the Republican ideal, and they talk,
in their loud fashion, Of "giving the
Gar q respite"
But the Hindoos would form an i'm.
p~ortant element in the war. Our Paris
correspondent had a conversation with
Suchet Singh, one of the independent
Princes of the Puniaub, ruling the little
hill State of Chamba, under the shadow
of the Himalayas.
1t was the opinion Of Suchet Singh
that the population of India would be
loyal to England. "They have not
much BRAIN" he said, "but they are very
faithful" Suchet Singh is a young man.
He does not remember the Indian mutiny.
He does not recall the days when the
fery cross was borne from Benares to
Delhi. He does not know how every
hill man on the Himalaya slopes stood
awaiting the signal for a general uprising
in the Northwest.
Indeed, his reasons for believing in
the loyalty of the Indian natives are,
first, that they are fools; second, that
they hate the Russians. Is he certain
that they hate the Russians? What do
they know of Russia? They have bent
the neck to one invader after another.
They yielded to Tamerlane as quietly as
to Mahmud of Ghazni. They admitted
the sway Of Nadir Shah as readily as
that of Genghis Khan. Persian or Tar
tar, Russian of English, the nationality
of the conqueror mattered little if only
he had the force to conquer.
Indeed, the remarks of Suchet Singh
do not strengthen the conviction that, if
Russia invaded India, the natives would
form a strong body of resistance, and the
gist of our correspondents interview
with a Persian diplomatist in Paris was
that Russia wal sure to get Herat.
Whether her object is a seaport; whether
she hopes to command the approaches to
India; whether she wishes to hold a
pledge for the good behavior of the At
ghans, it is Herat to which she tends;
it is Herat which she will ultimately oc.
cupy.
Aud if Russia occupies Herat will
England lose India? It is no good to
palter with this issue. 1t is futile to
make light of it as a day dream. A
great victory over the British in Central
Asia, a speedy march across the Indus
and a series of successful engagements
with Sepoys in the Punjaub would shat
ter the Empire which the genius Of
Robert Give and the wealth of the East
India Company created.
Jemal-u.din, the Afghan exile, sees no
obstacle to the Russian advance. "The
prestige of England is ruined, he said to
the correspondent. Russia grows stronger
every day. All the negotiations which
the timidity of Mr.. Gladstone has in.
vited only serve the purpose of bringing
Russian soldiers nearer Herat. While
the British troops are waiting idly at
Quettah; while Lord Dufferin is chatting
at Simla; while the Anglo-Indian settlers
are straining their ears to catch the first
bugle blast. Mr.. Gladstone is blocking
questions in Parliament and the Russians
are silently making their way to the AT.
CHAN frontier.
Is England alive to the danger? Does
she know that her Indian Empire was
never SO sorely imperiled as now? Her
statesmen may discover their straits in
the interviews mentioned. Our readers,
laying them to heart, will wonder that q
civilized nation can be SO blind.
CANADA.