The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-04

troops Is fixed by law as a result of the
indian mutiny ct one to two. Such an
army would rot be nearly strong enough
to maintain order among popula ton Of
over 9OOOO0,000 and the native army can
not be increased without increasing the
British forces in due proportion. which
would be out of the question. The diff
Guilty was got around by organizing a new
army, 10000 strong, under the guise of
an armed police force. II is composed of
men drawn from the northern tribes, the
very pick of the population of India and
Is, on the whole, a better fighting ma
chine than the native Indian army, re-
crulted as it is, in part from the Southern
provinces, the natives of which make very
inferior soldiers.
The armies maintained by the Indian
Princes aggregate 1856 900 men, including
over $4,000 cavalry and 1900 guns These
armies have been offered to the British
government for service in any part of the
world, the Princes even offering to pay
the expenses of their contingents them
selves, but from prudential motives the
government has always refused the Of
Ter As mark of appreciation of the Of
Ter 1t was agreed to accept 10000 of these
men as imperial service troops These
troops are differed by British, and are as
ethclent as any in India.
Indian VOIunte ers.
or the purposes of defense there ara
5000 European and Eurasian volunteers
and large but indefinite force of 'front.' n
militia and local levies. These Ievies con-
sist for the most part of warlike tribes in
! biting the mountainous region along the
Northwest frontier. Each tribe receives
an annual subsidy from the Indian govern
ment for guarding the mountain passes
and protecting the trade routes, but no one
can tell how effective would be their as
Gi 1ar. J, 10 H.
cast upon the wisdom of this policy since
the outbreak of the Afridis a few ye1rs ego,
a rising which it took an army of 70 600
men to quen. A new policy is being put
in operation by which each tr.pe is 10
supply a certain number of men for To-
cal militia under British officers. 1t will
take many years to work ont this schema,
but in the end it will provide a bic
frontier force to cope with a possible
Russian advance. The armies available
for the defense of India aggregate nearly
100000 men, but not half of these are
match for an equal number of white
troops.
For the defense of other dependencies
there is heterogeneous collection of
troops numbering a trifle over $1,000. They
comprise all races, black, white, brown.
and yellow. Some of these are under the
control of the foreign Office, more of the
colonial office, a few of the war part
ment and the remainder are paid by the
chartered companies. For the recent Nj
ger expedition troops were contributed by
the war department, the Niger Coast
Protectorate and the Royal Niger Com
pany. while the navy department lent
contingent of bluejackets. The war Of
flee is now considering a scheme for the
consolidation of ALI these forces.
Colonial Defense.
The self-governing colonies provide a
militia of their own for home defense
Canada has a regular army of 1000 men,
including the Northwest Mounted Police
and a militia force of $4,000 strong, about
half of it fairly well trained. Australia
and New Zealand have a rather smaller
militia. but spend vastly more on naval
defense. Cape Colony and Natal have
thoroughly efficient force of regulars and
militia well seasoned to warfare. In the
event of a war with a first-class Power
Britain guarantees it's dependencies from
an attack in force, but expects them TO
protect themselves from flying attacks by
ehips that may manage to evade the Brit
ish fleet.
The chief defensive force of the Empire
&c the navy, which is manned by 5000
seamen and 1900 marines. Behind this is
a naval reserve of 10000 sailors and fisher
men who undergo an annual training. But
for the navy CONSUMPTION would have had
TO be resorted to long ago. As IL is, the
law provides for CONSUMPTION for the MI
litia wherever a country fails to furnish
its nroper quota, but there has never been
any occasion for putting the law in force