Gilpin observer., 1915-12-23

All the English and the Indian sol.
, dier knows Is that his dead comrades
bodies are stripped and sometimes
mutilated. that If trooper lose his
way alone he is little likely to return.
that perhaps a bullet has sung past
his own topi or puggaree from mud
wall above which fiutters white
flag, that he has now and again found
dear loved friend lying, an offense
against the morning light. with throat
cut from ear to ear; consequently for
good or Ill the word Arab is not one
to evoke the gentlest feelings in our
soldiers breast
This digression is necessary to ap-
preciate the manner of the occupation
of Kut-the Turks had fed In haste.
our men, both horse and foot, reached
the town soon after they had gone.
For the last week the Turkish COM
mander had been maintaining his pres
tige by daily hangings and shootings.
his last act before leaving had been
to shoot six individuals for desertion,
spying or cowardice.
Enter the victors; within an hour
the women wer- chaffering milk, dates
and sweet lines, the merchants were
offering contracts. policemen were pa
trolling the dirty little streets, gov
ernor was established in an Office
tired troops were standing in the sun
while billets were sought for them.
and most unbelievable of all the Arab
cultivators were dropping in to COM
plain of certain horseman who had
ridden through a crop of beans. and
of supply and transport officer who
had parked his belongings in gar
den.
The Rule of Terror.
1t must not be supposed that our
coming evokes enthusiasm. nor our
justice, gratitude, nor our discipline
admiration; to the Arab mind these
are not the qualities of "kingliness -
a king must rule by terror and be
guided by caprice-read the chronicles
of Tabari and you will there see what
kingliness was in Ommayad and early
Abbasd days. Hajjaj when he ruled
Irak said no man must be abroad after
sundown, and presently they brought
to him certain Bedawi who had been
found asleep in the market place-"I
live in the desert and | knew not of
the order, o most auspicious Gov
ernor." III you are telling lie you
| will be executed and burn in hell. and
if you are telling the truth you will
die martyrs death and dwell in
paradise replied Hajjaj, and they
hewed the Bedawi in pieces. Now.
that sort of justice is the zenith of
traditional government in Irak. and
when people come with policemen and
low taxation and quiet. then they will
| be regarded rs persons whose motives
are as inscrutabe as their actions.
| kut is a dirty, tumble-down, insani-
| tary little town, but the minaret and
the portals are signs of grace. They
are not very old. vet in design and
line they are as perfect as the best
work of ancient times. and they signi-
fly that under the crust and filth of
ages OF neglect and mismanagement
the Arab fires of intellect, poetry and
art survive-where the land is not
sodden with marsh or parched for
want of water it is as fertile as in
the days when the worlds civilization
radiated from its prosperity-so with
the people deep down under the vii.
derness and chaos induced by cen.
turies of evil rule and poverty there
lies the capacity which made Nineveh
Babylon. Persia. Parthia, and again
Persia. and lastly the Caliphate. the
center OF Asiatic culture. progress and
wealth