Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26

bay, and through their medium he guides
| the policy and conduct of hundred tribes,
always commanding them to remain friend
| IL with the British.
In his own peculiar way he is an absolute
monarch He Is pope in the Moham-
medan world, and his power is by no means
confined to India. Large numbers of Mos
lens In all parts of Islam own his sway,
and he has always followed the policy OF
| reconciling them politically to the different
governments to which they are subject
Other nations besides England have good
| cause to be grateful to him for this wise
and enlightened policy. Decorations ana
| him not only by Great Britain, but by the
French government, the German emperor.
| the Shah of Persia. the Sultan OF Turkey.
! the Sultan Of Zanzibar and other poten-
tates.
= The Native Princes.
The princes of the native states of India,
| who have armies of their own and are
| merely subject to the suzerainty of Eng
land. are thoroughly loyal A few years
ago, alarmed by some encroachments made
by Russia toward the Indian frontier, the
Nizam of Hyderabad-the premier native
prince-opened. his treasure vault and sent
several barrels full of gold coin to the vice.
roy. The Gift amounted in value to several
millions of dollars
Use every rupee of the money for from
tier Defense" he said In effect, "and II you
want more 1 will even sell the jewels from
when l can lead my troops to fight side by
side with the English against the Rus
SLAMS" -;
L. Other native princes are fully. as loyal.
and their troops have frequently done good
service in frontier fights. Sir Pertab Singh
(Maharajah of Idar) and other Indian
princes DISTINGUISHED themselves with the
British contingent in the Peking relief ex-
petition. but it was hard to keep them and
their men from fighting the Russians whens
the relations between the nationalities be-
came strained after Picking had been oc-
cupied
The secret service of the Indian govern
ment is one of the most active and efficient
Of the world. Kipling drew picture of It
in kim but it was merely an impress
sionstic sketch He only scratched -he
surface: indeed. he could do no more. The
eldest Anglo-Indian officials know little
about that service. unless they have been
connected with it. Even then they do not
know much. There are only four men to
whom all the secret workings of the system
are an open book-the director OF the Indian
survey department, the vieeroy. the foreign
secretary of the Indian government and the
commander-in-chief of the Indian army.
The Survey Department.
There is a so-calied intelligence depart
ment attached to the Indian foreign office.
but it is only a bluff. The work is really
done by the survey department. which
cstensibly has no business except the plan
ming of new roads. railways canals and
the like Hundreds of agents are employed
by the department secretly. Their work is
twofold.- In the first place, they have to
keep track of events and intrigues on the
frontier: in the second place. they must
ascertain the drift Of native feeling toward
British rule. so that another Indian mutiny
will not happen
The reports, maps, secret treaties with
native tribes and other material sent in by
these agents are all filed away in cipher at
the offices of the survey department in a
set of books which are guarded night and
day by a detachment of British soldiers
with loaded rifles.
Always Won Out.
He never took other people with him on
these dangerous expeditions even an
escort of native troopers. He knew that
his only chance Of influencing the tribes
men was to go to them as one of them
selves, alone and trusting them. OF course
he took his life in his hand every time; but
he always won out"
Warburton received many decorations
and honors, and was frequently offered
high promotion in the British army; but
he would never leave his post on the from
tier. He stayed there in harness until he
died. If trouble broke out among the
tribes during his career, thu first remark
of the man in authority ~ Simla or Pesha-
wur was always something like this:
'Warburton couldn't have been in that
district. Find out where he is. and wire
him to go to the Spof at once anu see AZ ne
can patch matters up.
Warburton is dead, but there are scores
of other soldiers and officials who do the
same work. They cannot do it as bril-
liantly as he did for they are not half
Afghans. but they do it wonderfully we'll.
OF all the English "politicals'' who have
done brilliant work on. the frontier in re-
cent years. none has been more successful
than Sir George Robertson, who was one
of the heroes of the Chitral campaign.
Great Achievement
He gained an influence among the tribes
second only to that of Warburton. and
fought Russian intrigue among them for
years His greatest achievement was PEN
etrating into Kafiristan, the unknown
country which Kipling refers to in The
Man Who Would Be King'-a story. by the
way. that is founded on solid basis OF
fact.
Robertson was one of the first English
men the Kafirs had seen. and their nrst
impulse was to roll him over conven .tt
nrecipice He convinced them that that
would be a foolish thing to DO, and In a
few weeks he had got so far INTO tnelr
good graces that he persuaded nan, nan 4. d
dozen Of their leading chiefs to go back TO
india with him and see for themselves
what great people the British were.
After they finished thetS tour. they tolo
trv to pass under the suzerainty or Eng
land. SO that they would be protected from
the AGGRESSION of their dangerous nelgh-
hors Afehanistan and Russia.
All sorts and conditions OF men ana wo-
,,an serve the department. When Chundra
pass one of the most distinguished or Buo-
dbist pundits died a few years ago IL came
ont that he had been secret service agent
for many years. He penetrated 10 Lnasa
in 1881. but told the world practicaliy noun
ing of what he saw. OF course, ne toio the
Jndian government everything, ana ms re-
norts and maps must have been OF lnesu-
mable service to Col. Younghusbands expe-
All May Be Agents.
Women missionaries, zenana workers.
doctors sent to the courts of native princes,
apparently harmless travellers with scien-
tifc regulations that are worldwide, may
all he agents Of the Indian government, and
frequently are.
The late Ameer Of Afghanistan had per-
petual nightmare on the subject He knew
that he was an object Of suspicion because
of the Russian intrigues in his country He
wanted Englishmen to enter his service and
helm him to develop Afghanistan. but as
soon as he got them he would become wor-
ried that they might be spies, and, ten to
one ne would speedily discharge them.
At last he induced an English woman doc
tor to come to Cabul and take charge of his