The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-10
BRITISH FRONTIER POLICY IN

BRITISH FRONTIER POLICY IN
 INDIA.
 The recent plain speaking of certain high officials at Simla opens out new aspect of frontier policy. The argu- ments for and against the forward movement have long been before the British public. They are arguments which, in the judgment of the majority of Englishmen, depend largely on the weight of expert evidence, and with re- gard to which the ordinary lay mind hesitates to pronounce a too definite opinion. On the one hand, those who are responsible for the safety of India would fail in their duty if they did not recognize an clement of danger in Rus sia's advance through Central Asia, or if they shrank from taking the needful precautions. On the other hand, it is evident that the cost of these preeau- tions has for some time burdened India with military expenditure which she can with difficulty sustain.
 These two views are always present with fair judging critics. At one mo- ment the sense of danger is uppermost in the public mind, at another the financial difficulties have the greater force Two facts are, however pretty generally recognized. The defense of the frontier, if it Is to be effective, must be maintained, not spasmodically, but as fixed principle in our management of India, however great may be the temporary financial strain, Yet in the long run the financial capacity of In- dia must dominate the possibilities of permanent frontier defense. Between these points of agreement stretches a wide area, which forms the battle ground for the advocates and the oppo- nents of the forward policy It is a question less of principle than of de- gree, and one which can only be decid- ed by those who have a special knowl- edge of the subject and a direct respon- sibility for the results. It has long been suspected that a divergence of opinion exists in this matter between the government of Punjab, with whom rests the civil responsibility for the frontier province, and the military au- thorities in the government of India, with whom rests the responsibility for frontier defense. The somewhat ami mated discussion which lately took place at Simla between distinguished officers of the two governments gave publicity to anlopen secret.
 But it did more than this. It has raised the question whether, apart from military exigencies or financial possi- bilities, the present administration of the Punjab frontier is one which really meets the necessities of the case and gives the largest return for the money spent upon it. Whatever may be it's merits, it is certainly not the system which reduced the frontier to British control after the annexation of the Punjab. In the discussions which have filled the Indian press since the pas sage at-arms at Simla this doubt pain fully emerges. Representative officials, whether in the government of India or in the government of the Punjab, did not refrain from putting their views in very distinct language in the presence of the lieutenant governor and of the vnceroy, and their plain speaking has been initiated by their critics. For the moment the forward policy" has giv- en place to the previous question as to whether the existing system of frontier administration gives that or any other policy a fair chance.-London Times.