INDIAN FRONTIER

Hokitika Guardian, 10 August 1932, Page 6

INDIAN FRONTIER

. . .»««»—' - ■ LAND OF WARLIKE URIBES. army OFFICER’S ’ OBSERVAT- ONS. A - WELLINGTON, August 9. • Rom on the 'lndian North-West Frontier, and having spent many years 'pf ibis life stationed in the Army there, Captain R. fl. B. Falcon, who arrived ijn. Wellington by ' the Rangitatu on furlough, is one whose comments on conditions ’in that turbulent • region must be listened to with interest. Captain Falcon, when interviewed on board ship yesterday, said that things on the frontier were quiet at present; any isolated uprisings were .purely local. The tribes, he said, were very pleased with their new system of government. They wer 6 governed by • a (British Army officer. The reason for the long history of trouble on the frontier could be Explained by the natural desire of the tribes to fight. They could- not- -help it; it was more or le»s inherited. They were always fighting;, an.d they were, always 'looting. The' disturbances that had taken place were merely ordinary occurrences in f the normal lives of the tribes. These, rather naturally perhaps, had; been exaggerated in the eyes of the public, by reason of the fact that India, where there was serious trouble at times', was apt to- be contused with the border region. Any recent raidings in the border Were purely normal happenings. The tribesmen, Captain Falcon added, were very fierce, bearded and warlike, men. They were very treacherous, and were always ready to plunder, or to kill or murder. They needed to be dealt with firmly.

Captain Falcon is well-known in Auckland, where be delivered a number of lectures on conditions in Afghanistan and surrounding country some years ago. After some time spent, in the northern city, he is returning to his Army job at Poona,