The Alaska daily empire., 1916-06-23
INDIA NOW SAFE TO ENGLAND SAYS
 BRITISH OFFICER

LONDON, June 16. (Speclalj. - The chance for Q successful Invasion of India by the Germanlc allies, fl ever there was time when such an enterprise could have been attempt ed with any hope of success, Is past; an unprecedented opportunity. which was given the Germans early In the war, to try their hand at causing dis affection among the natives and to attempt the launching of an attack through the tribesmen from the northwest, was seized upon and fail ed of the desired results, and there now is no fear that the vast Indian empire will be lost to Great Britain by an invasion through Afghanistan.
 These views were expressed by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Younghusband, leader of the mission 10 Tibet in 1904, and for many years in the Government service in India. who described at length the situation in India. particularly during the early period of the war
 "When the Viceroy or India. early in the war. sent out of the country almost all the British troops. in or der Co reinforce the hard-pressed on. tente allies in the various theatres of operations. he created a unique situation in which the loss or reten- tion of India by Great Britain de- ! pended upon the continued loyalty of the natives said Sir Francis
 Tt was a bold move. but Lord Hardinge. then Viceroy, had his hand on the pulse of the country. He felt that he knew the temper of his peo- pie, and he believed in them.
 Had revolt unexpectedly devel- oped. the blame would have fallen on the shoulders of the Viceroy but Lord Hardinge's confidence in the natives was justified"
 Sir Francis then outlined the sit uation In India at the outbreak Of the war and told of the German at. temps at a conquest
 "On the far side of the northwest frontier of India" he said. "are warlike and hot-blooded races. It is from that direction that all con querors ef India except the British have broken through. India at the commencement of the war dispatched far greater number of both Brit ish and Indian troops than had ever before been sent from India.
 At this very time. too. the Ger mans were pressing hard toward Ca lais to strike at the very heart of the Empire There was Q revolt en- gineered by Germany in South Afri- ca. Indians were returning from America with German aid to stir up revolution in India itself. The Crui- ser Emden was bombarding the coast towns of India and marrying mer- chants on the sea routes. The Turks were preparing to cut the Suez Canal and sever India from England What more fitting opportunity could be found for striking a blow at Brit ish power In India by launching the fierce tribesmen against 1t.
 "Our enemy. of course. saw this Of recent years the Amir of Afghan istan had employed Turkish officers for the instruction of his army. More Turkish officers appeared in his country Germans also arrived, with money and masses of inhamma- tory literature. There is always in Afghanistan section bitterly and fanatically opposed to any friendship between Afghanistan and Britain. Both Turks and Germans set to work on this material. magnifying our re- verses, glorifying their own success es.
 They tried to raise jehad, a holy war. They made these wild hill men believe that the German En- peror was a Mohammedan and the divinely appointed protector of Is- lam. And they hoped to start on these Afghans and with them thous- ands of headstrong tribesmen, in the wake of the great conQuerors of the past in one great avalanche of invasion upon the open plans Of India
 Tt was a very obvious project for an enemy to form. But nearly % months have gone by and it has not yet materialized. There have been raids and fights upon the frontier seven serious attacks by independ- ent tribesmen. But there are no two years when there are not raids and fights. And the great outstand- ing fact is that the Amir of Afghan istan has stood steadfastly by the assurance of neutrality which he gave Lord Hardingc at the outbreak