The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-21
SOLDIERS OF THE ORIENT
ENGLAND WILL USE ASIATIC
 AND AFRICAN
Troops i'm Europe if She Ever Thinks

Troops i'm Europe if She Ever Thinks One of the most important announce ments that have been made in the Brit ish parliament for many years IS the declaration of Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial secretary, that the Engllsh government will not hesitate hence- forth to employ in Europe or elseWhere her Indian and African troops, It IS an announcement of the most profound interest to the entire civilized world, but more especially to the great pow CTS, such as the United States, Russia, France and Germany, which have mil lions of semi -barbarous races subject to their rule. Uncle Sam alone has some S,0O0O00 Filipinos in whom the military instinct Is strongly deVeloptd. the males preferring warfare to lnous- try. With a characteristic orlental ols- regard for death or injury, and pos- sessing almost incredible powers of en- durance. they would rather fight than
 work. Indeed, the Philippine Islands
 will furnish to the United States a
 practically inexhaustible recruiting ground for its army, now that the com pact, which has hitherto existed De-
 tween civilized nations against the use of oriental or African troops in clVlll%ed warfare is to be broken by Great Brit ain, So sensational, indeed, is the an- nouncement made by the English gov it,tn a tinn9l congress is likely to be summoned to discuss the matter.
 Curiously enough, the peace confer ence at The Hague two years ago, when the rules of war were subjected to re- vision, carefully avoided any reference to the matter. No steps were taken toward specific engagement by treaty to refrain from the employment of Asl- attic and African trops in civiliZed War fare, and the only action by the de'e- gates that can be considered as in any way bearing upon the question was the declaration of their adhesion to the
 accepted laws of warfare among civil ized nations.' These laws include re- striction prohibiting the use of bodies of troops composed of individuals of sav- age or semi-civized races. Neither England, Russia, nor yet France, is de- sirous of binding herself to abstain from the use of dusky soldiers in the event of war in which national exist ence was likely to be at stake The matter, by sort of tacit government,
 was therefore kept out of the discus- siona at The Hague
 It has until now been genrally under stood, however, by these three powers that if native troops were employed 1t would be only in the last extremity. This,view has been strengthened by the extraordinary pains which the English government has taken 70 prevent the warlike Basuto, tribes. who are under British rule and most loyal to the Eng fish flag, taking part in the war against the Boers In the war of 1870 the French brought a few native regi- ments of Turcos from Algeria. But so great was the outcry raised, not only in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, but even in France against their em- ployment that they were hastily ship ped back to Africa, long before the close of the war, although they were magnificent fighters, and, from mfli- tary point of view, of infinitely greater value than the untsained levies of "Moblots," the majority of whom had never handled a gun.
 This shows better than anything else how strong has been the prejudice in the past against the use of semi-civil~ ized races in the wars of Christian states with one another, and the ex- tent to which the practice has been con- demned by that species of unwritten and undefined code known as "the law of nations" It is a sentiment that found expression in the 18th century at Westminster when the great Lord Chatham denounced with such elo- uuent indignation the employment If the British commanders In this coun- try of Red Indian tribes against the American revolutionary forces. There are few newspapers, either in the Unit ed States or in Europe, that did not eX- press their abhorrence of the use of Cossacks and Circassians by Russian in suppressing the Hungarian insurrec- tion of 1S4S and of the sultan's action in endeavoring to put down the rising in Bulgaria in 1876 by means of irregu- lar Bash- Bazouka, recruited from the most barbarous portion of his Asiatic dominions
 Several years afterward, at the time when England seemed to be on the verge of war with Russia, small con- urgent of Indian cavalry was brought to Malta, which created such an outcry and storm of protest, even in Great Britain, that the men were quickly shipped back to Bombay. Their visit to Malta however, served to remind con tinental Europe of the fact that the military resources of England were not restricted solely to her standing army at home, and that her forces in India must be taken into account. This Is probably all that Lord Beaconsf1eld had in view when he brought the Indian contingent to the Mediterranean.
 It Is to Japan in great measure that must be attributed the very recent re- moval Of lhis prejudice against tha em- pioyment of oriental troops in warfare among Christian nations, and the de- termination of the British government to dispense with all restrictions which have until now prevented the Use of her Indian and African soldiers in con- ,,I,