THE LOYALTY OF INDIA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1547, 6 May 1916, Page 4

THE LOYALTY OF INDIA.

“We may have our differences with the Government—and what people have not ? —but in the pre-

sence of ;i common enemy he it Germany or any other Power, we sink our differences, we forget onr little quarrels and close our ranks, and offer all that we possess in defence of the great Empire to which we are all so proud to belong, and with which the future prosperity and advancement of our people are bound up.” These were the words of an Indian newspaper—glorious words, nobly hacked by the people’s action. We will show the enemy, said another native journal, that Britain does not stand alone in this conflict which has been thrust upon her ; but “that the vast people of an Empire on which the sun never sets stand behind her like ‘one man, ready to place at her disposal the last gun, the last man, and the last penny they possess.” There has been nothing finer in history than utterances like these ; they bring a thrill to the heart, and perhaps a dimness to the eye ; they stir us with a longing that we may be indeed worthy of such devotion. “Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time,” says an old Indian maxim of the ’Dhammapada ; “hatred ceases by Jove.” It may be that love'has not always been the keynote of our rule in India, but at least our prevailing ideal has been justice ; so that by much justice and some love we have won “a glory exceeding that of pitched battle and overwhelming victory.” to quote the expression of Admiral Mahan. We learn lessons slowly, but the present war is a teacher in no dilatory method ; and it will to a. certainty have (aught ns 11.;.; there must be grateful love blended with our justice for (he future. We have seen abundantly, says Mr Arthur L. Salmon, that the justice itself has wrought its splendid consequences, mixed with it has reaped a. thousandfold reward. “What orders and such tenderness as has been form His Majesty for me and my troops was the immediate message from one brave Maharajah ; and it was in this spirit that India met the call. What orders “I —what can we do how many men shall we send ? —what treasure shall we give ? Britain replied that she wanted India’s help, and India was proud to be wanted. She sent many of the linest men of her finest races —men of an immemorial aristocracy beside which Norman blood looks parvenu. Censorship prevents our knowing exactly how many or where they are operating ; and we know that however great the numbers may be there is still a huge reserve, there are still thousands thirsting to follow, hundreds of thousands eager to carry loyalty into action.