The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-03-23
The COMING STRUGGLE.
RUSSIA'S AGENTS MAKING THE
PATH STRAIGHT,
By Which the Gar Is to Push The
Empressi.HiRd From the
Throne OF India.

nifty Oh hearing what some oil the Tor
eign officers present at the recent In
dian military maneuvers have to say
on that subject and the position in
general OF the British in their Asiatic
Empire. Mai. Won Hagenon and Baron
Helm of the German staff are enthusi-
astic in their praise of the cavalry, not
hesitating to declare the men equal in
point of training and equipment, while
superior in physique, to any of the
mounted troops to be found in Euro
pean armies. The men are all over six
feet high, yet of very light weight, be-
ing long of limb and spare Of flesh.
These, OF course, are the most desira-
BILE qualities in a trooper, who must
have length of arm to deal effective
strokes while possessing nothing be-
yond muscle to o%vercharge his horse
with weight. To this great physical
qualification must be added that OF a
most perfect seat. An empty sad
die was never seen throughout the
whole OF the maneuvers, an al
most incredible circumstance, con-
sidering the great amount of hard
riding and the %unfavorable nature at
times of theground forcavalry maneu-
vers. The German officers found the
men also in a high state of training,
and consider that England need never
be afraid to place such troops in the
fed, even in u European Col.
Tremling of the Russian staff, who
went to sheer, came away admiring,
although it was anything but a pleas
ant surprise to that able critic to find
the men he had expected to be able to
place on his report as about equal in
military value to his own Cossacks 50
very superior to the cavalry at the
disposal of the Gar. The native in
fantry did not come in for quite such
unqualified praise, and of the native
contingents the foreign officers thought
nothing at all.
RIFT IN II INDIAN ARMOR.
The little rift in the Indian armor
spied out by the searching eyes of
German criticism is the paucity in
number OF the British officers and the
inability of their native subordinates
to take the place in case of need. The
latter appeared to possess littls or no
self-reliance. The company officers
always seemed, when giving the
slightest order, to be mutely seek ing
the appreciation of the white superior,
as if fearful of committing a mistake.
And then, again, the majority of them
looked too well stricken in years and
round in person to be able to stand
much work in the field. There are
only six British officers TO a native
regiment, and were these all to TALL
beneath the fire of the enemy, as
might well happen in these days of
sharpshooting with weapons of precis-
ion, seeing that they are all mounted,
the men would be as much lost as a
flock OF sheep without the bellweath-
ers.
OFFICERS AND MEN
The British officers are on the best
of terms with the men, and, possess
ing their confidence in a high degree,
are able to get out of them the very
utmost effort of which they are capa-
BILE. This is not the case with the ma
tive officers, who, while making the
best of subordinates, are unequal to
taking any command, as was fully
proved during the mutiny.
SITE OF THE MANEUvERs.
The maneuvers were held between
Delhi and Umballa, a great sham
fight taking place on the plain of
Paniput, where the fate of India has
been more than once decided by a
great battle fought in vain with her
invaders. Over 10000 men of all
arms were present, among them being
a few small contingents sent by the
rulers of native States. Badly armed
and without training, these last at the
present moment are OF small account,
although they undoubtedly would
form in the hands Of British officers
the nucleus of a valuable reserve
force. The Indian government has
hitherto systematically discouraged
all attempts on the part of the
feudatories to establish proper military
organizations within their dominions,
and thus obsolete weapons only are to
be found in the hands of their men.
The Cashmere contingent brought
with it field guns dated 1924 and with
the crown of Portugal, silent witnesses
of the bygone magnificence and power
of both the monarchies.
sCINDIAH.
The troops of Scindiah are under
stood to be the best drilled and or
ganized of all the native contingents.
None of them, however, were present
at the m~anenvers, although Scindiah
w,oo tbara binoooH onI att.ooAoI ,o,o1
attention by his military bearing. He
probably kept his troops away from
motives of policy, not caring to excite
the jealousy Of the British by a dis
play of their efficiency.
A POSSIBLE NAPOLEON.
Scindiah undoubtedly possesses the
military instinct very strongly, and
half a century ago he would probably
have given much trouble to the Brit
ish authorities. The foreign office
found him well versed in military
matters, and consider him by far the
most capable among the native Princes
they came across. He has, however,
one great defect in his character that
removes from the sphere of proba-
bility any danger OF his ever becoming
a powerful ruler in India. After
IL o'clock in the morning Scindish is
never visible. He is too fond of cham
payne and brandy, and mixing them
together his favorite drink-they
have him fast in their clutches before
the day is half through. The German
officers found much evidence of Rus
sian intrigue, and in their opinion the
long foretold struggle between Eng
land and Russia for empire in Asia
must take place within the next three
years.
LOSS OF PRESTIGE.
Whatever the English may think,
there has undoubtedly been a great
loss of prestige on their side during
the last few years. The evacuation of
was agreat mistake, and the
recent surrender to Russia on the
Afghan question a still greater one, as
both have been taken in Asia as proofs
of the superior strength of the Mus
covite Gar to the Empress-i-Hind
Muscovite ~emissaries, we'll chosen from
the Central Asian tribes that have
been brought under Russian sway,