The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-18

no more thrilling event in Eng lf64I fish history than the loyalty of
 the Indian princes. The an- nouncement in Parliament last week that bf the TOO native princes not one had failed voluntarily to place himself and his troops at the disposal of the King Elm peror and that 70.ooo of the pick of the Indian army was then on it's way created something of a sensation here By the kh&e this Is printed they will probably have taken their place in the fighting line. Instead of holding back. as was expected, we now know that the princes pf India and their people clamored for the privilege of serving the Emperor and that the difficulty of the Indian govern- nent has not been to suppress disloya1ty, but so to arrange matters that the men whom 1t Is impossible to accept for sery- Ice at present shall not feel disappointed.
 From the outbreak of the war the viceroy and his council have been over shelmed with telegrams and letters of- Ierrng men money and personal service, hnd these offers have come not only from tiie princes of British Indian. but from he independent and semi-independenr rulers all around her borders. Even the 5rand Llama of Thibet, with whom the |British were fighting two or three years hgo has offered a thousand Thibetan sol diers and ''the prayers of countless uamas."
 The spirit of India is we'll illustrated by pne of the first telegrams received by the viceroy. It came from the Maharajah pf Rewa, a great native prince, and was vtidierly in its directness and simplicity. It read: ''WhAt orders from his majesty for me and my men?" 'Ail that possess for the Emperor was the message of the Ratah of Pudukota and ''the whole res sources of my state from the Maharajah pf Bharatpur.
 Perhaps India's loyalty is best shown. however, by the action of Sir Pertab Singh. the Regent of Jodhpur. Sir Pertab 1s 70 years old and his nephew the Maha- rajah. is 16 They offered their troops land themselves and when the Indian gov ernment accepted the troops, but explained khat the regent was too old and the Maharajah too young for service in the Held they hurried to Simla and demanded to see the viceroy. He tried to explain |to them that they could do as good work for the empire at home as in Europe, But Sir Pertab replied, we insist on our right to lead our troops against the Elm peror's enemies" It Is no dlsparagement of Sir Pertab's loyalty to say that he has a personal score to settle with the Germans. He accompanied the Indian contingent in the Boxer campaign in 1China in 1900 and Sir Valentine Chirol, the foreign director of the London Times, whose personal friend he Is, tells how he resented the conduct of the Germans in that campaign. Officers and men alike missed no opportunity of insulting the Indian troops, whom they referred to as 'coolies." At Bikanir, couple of years ago. Count Wolff Metternich, then the German ambassador fin London, arrived there, and although unwelcome had to be sreated with courtesy. Sir Pertab showed |all the qualities of great gentleman in 6ealing with this unwelcome guest, but when he had gone, he said to Sir Valen- tine: "I like meet German on horseback sword in hand, not salaam in drawing room. Show him then Rajput no coolie. .
 British military experts declare that the Indian troops who are coming now to fight for the empire are the finest soldiers in the world. and that behind them they have reserve of incompar-