The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-10-11
New Facts From India.
Daring Deeds of the Mohmands Prove tho
Cause of the Great Arid Uprising.

Special to the Globe.
BOMBAY, Oct. 8.-At last the secret
Of the Afridi uprising stands revealed
1t is the daring act of the Mohmands
in burning the village Of Shankarghar.
within touch of the British garrison at
Shabkadr, towards the beginning Of
August. This was a stroke which the
most sanguine of tribesmen could
scarcely believe possible. Such a sue
cess had not been scored by hostile
trfbesmen in forty years. The enter
prise displayed upset the equilibrium
Of the adjacent tribes at moment
when their fanaticism was already
aroused on account of their sentiment
Of generation for the Swat valley.
This fact can hardly be termed the
primal cause The injustice which has
brought about state Of feeling which
rendered the tribesmen like tow which
only needed the match to blaze has al
ready often been told. There seems
to be no doubt that the incident de-
scribed is exactly what may truthfully
be declared to have been the last straw
which broke the back Of the traditional
camel. This action has at various
times been followed by successes which
have only served to inf1ame the spirit
of the spirited Afridis, until now they
consider themselves a match for any
body of English troops ever drilled.
That the English government Is pre-
pairing for war in vigorous fashion is
apparent on every side. When Sir Will
liam Lockhart was delegated to take
command in what will be known to his
tory as the Afridi campaign, that was
prima facie evidence of the govern
ment's serious alarm. officers of his
Tx are not called in for tupenny
service. The troops are not going out
in large bodies nor is any effort at
mobilization apparent, but they are
steadily moving in all directions, and
so confidently, that it is clearly evident
every march is merely in accordance
with a general plan. There is general
ship at work, and it is likely that be-
fore long there will be signs of it thai
he who runs may read.
I have seen no explanation of the
situation which indicates more strong
ly the actual facts, as they are open
to the perusal of man of good 1udg-
ment, than the statement made by Sir
Auckland Colvin, whose long conCec-
ton with India as member OF the vice
nor of the northwest Indian provinces,
gives great weight to his words. This
is what he says after the disturb
ances have been put down the ques
ton of the merits of the frontier pol
icy adopted in recent years will pre-
sumably be thoroughly overhauied
and examined. Its weak point has Al
ways seemed to me to be, apart from
all questions of right or justification,
hot in RI affQctiVP
ouired a much larger military force
than we have at our disposal in India,
or that Indian revenues could pay for
should the army be raised to the figure
necessary to provide the further troops
required Any extension of that policy,
such as by taking up points in the
Afridi country, for instance, or under
taking to subjugate and to keep in
subsection all or any Of the tribes now
ranged against US, would prove so
! costly as practically, in my Judgment,
to make it quite impossible. No policy,
in my Judgment can be, in the long
run, wise or successful which is not
firmly based on such considerations as
those which Lord Lawrence placed on
record as ndamental-namely, that it
should not either Immediately or in
visible future compel US to impose adj
ditional taxation on the people of In
dia; that it is calculated not to lessen
materially the contentment of the
masses in India; that it is not opposed
to the policy of outstanding the
finances of India and consolidating and
multiplying our resources therein.
Roughly speaking, until 1885 and
until the Penjdeh affair, the military
authorities of India, as a whole, were
able to judge pretty effectually of any
| measure that might be proposed to
that end, and were able so to speak, to