The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1908-12-08
REVOLT IN INDIA AND
TROUBLE OVER BALKANS
Common People Will Respond to Call
to Arms, but Said to Be Not
Very Enthusiastic
(By William True Hawthorne.)

(By William True Hawthorne.)
LONDON, Nov. 2s. There are
two well defined opinions in Great
Britain-one the well informed opinion
of the governing class and the other
the opinion of the "man in the
street, Well-informed public opinion
has known for months that England
was facing hourly peril of native re-
volt in India, and that all Europe was
facing the almost certainty of war over
the Balkan squabble. So long as it was
able the governing class kept this
knowledge from the governed class, but
a volcano is somewhat difficult thing
to hide. The man in the street" now
knows he is liable at any time to be
called upon to take up arms in a cause
in which he has only the remotest in
terest, and this knowledge doesn't fan
to contribute to his general dissatis
faction with things that are.
Despite his numerous petty wars
with half-clad and poorly armed saw
ages, your average Englishman is not
at heart fighting man. do not mean
to infer that he is a coward or that he
runs away from a fight when the ne
cessity confronts him, but he doesn I
like to fight and doesn't want to.
The despised Chinaman has just as
much stomach for the field of carnage
Nor does the prospect of war arouse IN
England that patriotic fervor that
would at once infame the United
States were hostilities at hand. In.
gland is too nearly engeged in constant
warfare and too many of her picayune
wars are lacking in Justification 70
make war popular with the British
people.
The Balkan quarrel doesn't interest,"
the common people of Great Britail
in the slightest degree, and should the
government permit Great Britain to
become involved in near eastern war
there would be widespread resentment
Yet war in the Balkans undoubtedly
would have more popular support than
war in India. The average English
man is unable TO see where the Hindd
peninsula becomes a desirable posses
sion of Great Britain. 1t gratified the
late Queen Victoria when she was pro
claimed Empress of India and Palmer
son became her favorite statesman be
cause he won the title for her, but the
British rate payer cannot see that he
has been benefited. He knows that
some Of the best blood of Britain has
been poured out in India, to SOY
nothing of the golden sovereigns that
have gone into the same capacious nav
England hasn' t had war in a hun
dred years that has been popular with
the people. The Crimean war was
better supported than any other, but
there was little understanding of or
sympathy even with that conflict. The
war against the Beers in South Africa
was decidedly unpopular, and where
the public has been interested Mt all
in the numerous punitive campaigns IT
generally has been to critieise.
There is general support of the polio,
of two-power navy, Though there is
a huge annual deficit in the revenues,
rate payers are complaining of the bur
den and the problem of the unemployed
becomes daily more serious. But En-
gland doesn't want big navy for the
purposes of war. 1t wants one to pre-
vent war. Should Great Britain be-
come involved in European war tn,
men and the money to carry it on un-
doubtedly would be forthcoming but
Great Britain is no more able finan.
cially to undertake war than is
Japan.