The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-27
A JUST RETRIBUTION.
weapon

1t would be a fine example of the
! the report that the sultan of Turkey
has been largely instrumental in STIR
ring up the revolt against British au-
! thority in India While the suggestion
seems to be purely hypothetical, yet it
is not beyond the bounds of possibility
that religious and race fanaticism, and
the bitter hatred of the English felt in
! every part of the sultan's dominions,
should have sent a wave of feeling
across the border, and helped to stir
revolt into the fierce flame that is now
| burning through northern India. That
| the sultan has any power for evil to-
! day, that there is any sultan at all,
| or a remnant of Mohammedan author
| ity at Constantinople, or in Europe, is
| primarily the fault of England. She
! has purchased length of days for his
accursed rule at the price of the lives
! of hundreds of thousands of innocent
people, solely because she believes that
her selfish interests would be served
thereby. The cry of blood-submerged
Armenia fell upon her needless ears,
and the guns of British ironclads were
turned upon the Christians of Crete,
| lest, perchance, there might be dis
| turbance in the balance of power and
an increase of the territory Of her ira
ditional foes.
| If there be anything at an in the
! theory of retribution; if actions having
a moral bias carry with them in this
world any assurance of rewards and
punishments. dire calamity ought to
| fall upon the British nation for it's
! share in the outburst Of atrocity that
marks the close of this century. For
every British soldier that might fall
! in India, for every post sacked and
! burned, there are thousands of name
! less graves whose occupants sleep
! there because of British Indifference.
| Never was a great nation falser to its
! trust than England. Powerful as she
is in the East, and able as she has
ever been by a word to check the flow
of blood and to stem horrid Moslem
atrocity, she has made no sign. Now
| it may be that her crime is laid at her
own door and the hour of her punish
ment has come. We do not think it
probable that the origin of the Indian
! disturbance can be traced to Constanti-
nople. 1t is much more likely that the
| theory of the new mutiny which we
advanced a few days ago on the
strength of statements made by those
| familiar with the facts is the true one;
and that the attempt to overthrow En-
| glish power indicates an economic,
rather than religious movement In
either case, however the fault is Great
! Britains. and retribution has fallen
upon her.
1t now begins to appear that the
situation is far more serious than it
was at first supposed to be. There is
a singular repetition of the situation
! and the events of forty years ago. At
I! first there are only murmurs and dis
content, with sporadic outbreaks here
and there, quickly suppressed and sup
posed to indicate nothing more serious
than a mere local difficulty. Time
creeps on and the government rests in
fancied security; and it is a far cry
from Calcutta and Bombay to Downing
street. The nature and extent of the
! danger are realized only when whole
provinces are in rebellion and great
| armies of fierce fanatics are in the
| field. Even as matters now stand,
Great Britain cannot suppress this in
| surrection without great loss of blood
! and treasure. 1t is not to be imagined
j for moment that British rule in India
! is in any danger 1t is apparent that
the work of restoring peace will be
! difficult and costly, and the whole
! world must agree that England has
we'll deserved and richly earned
severer punishment than she is likely
! to receive.