The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1912, THE BALKANS AND INDIA.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1566, 9 October 1912, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1912, THE BALKANS AND INDIA.

Sir Edward Grfa-'s opinion that f peace should be broken as between he Balkan States and Turkey, none f the great Powers would be inolved- is reassuring so far as it oes; but that perhaps is not very ar. It may, however, be taken t6 adicate that at-the present time the reat 'Powers arc in accord as to the' □urse that it is desirable for thcrii j 3 pursue; and so. long as such' nanimity exists the risk . of emroiiment is minimised. But should ostilities break out and assume tho jrious proportions it is pretty coram they would assume in a very ittle time, the same happy agrcclent between the Powers might not ontinue. There are conflicting invests involved which the successes of nc side or the other in tho war right bring into dangerous prominncc. A cablegram which we pubish this morning may be taken_aa n illustration of tho far-reaching lossibilities of the situation. An normous meeting of Moslems, at Calcutta, wo are told, adopted viojnt resolutions regarding the posiion in the Balkans. Speakers acused the Christian Powers of conpiring to rob the Moslems of their erritories, and added: "Let the cry illah Akbar' resound throughout the forld." Too much importance, pcrlaps, should not bo attached to tho ncidont, but it cannot be ignored u the indication it of possible rouble arising both in India and in Egypt, out of any concerted moveneiit against the Turkish Empire. So far as India is concerncd an clmirablo article in the current lumber of The Hound Table makes lcar sonic of the causes which miliate against,the great uprising of he native, population which oceaional outbursts of feeling have led orno people'to look forward to with ;loomy apprehension. _ The writer if'the article in question,_ after renarking on'the unique position oceulied by the British in India as disilosod.'"by the astounding moral asftfiflaney of ,a handful of Englishivn, numbering but a few tliousma.i', who absolutely dominate by heir pipsonce a country containing 115 million souls, goes on to say: But tho British are also indispensable >ecause India is still divided within itelf: To tho outside eye India may seem mo country. In reality it is as divided is Europe. According to the census there iro in India 43 races. There aro 21 languages in everyday use. . . . Thero ire two chief religions bitterly hostile to me another. There are five others each vith more than a million adherent-s. Phere aro 2378 main castes and tribes, :ach of which is debarred from marriago jeyond its own Tanks. . . . Out of the otal population only ono man in ten and mo woman in one hundred and forty-four :an read and write. If tho British were o leave, not orfly would tho machinery >f government decay; tho discord of race, angungo and religion'would instantly re,'ivo tho old conditions of riot, rcvoluion, and war. [t does not follow that because Bri:ish rule may be indispensable to the velfaro oE 'India, that the people of India will ignore appeals to their ■cligious fanaticism or to their na,ional prejudices which may from ;ime to time be raised. There may lot be serious danger of any general listurbance, -for reasons clearly itated by the writer of the article in The Bound Table, but the_ sectional inrest which from time to time manifests itself 'as the result of internal conditions is a grave enough responsibility in a country counting its population by hundreds of millions. And now is added the menace of outside influences appealing to the religious prejudices of a large part of the people. ' Probably it will be found tnat behind the movement arc the mischief-makers who have been attempting for some time past-to'fo-ment trouble amongst the native population;" and who no doubt include Britain in their denunciation as a Christian Power anxious to despoil the Moslems. But whoever maj be at tho bottom of the.trouble, tht incident serves to illustrate the dan gcrs attendant-on the Balkan situa tion, however willing and anxioui tho great Powers may be-to confine the .area of conflict to the Balkar States and Turkey.