INDIA SAFE.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 October 1920, Page 5

INDIA SAFE.

MENACE OF BOLSHEVISM. RIDICULED BY THE TIMES. U/ telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright, Received October 2, 2.5 p.m. London, Oct. 1. The Times, in a leader, says, aa regards the Bolshevists' recurring threats of invasion of India, the hogey is raised ■with the idea of bringing pressure against Britain, and that the development of modern war, with the huge transport involved, made an invasion impossible without efficient railways, unless the defensive system internally collapses. Moreover, Bolshevist armies, although numerically powerful, are rarely willing to engage ia hard fighting. "As for the announcement, repeatedly circulated, that Kuropatkin is commanding forces which are concentrating in Central Asia, we regret to see a good soldier ia had company, but assume he accepted the post with the secret comforting thought that he may as well try to seize the moon as march with such a rabble," adds the Times. It took the Bolshevists two years to capture and sack Bokhara with the aid o'f railways. Now, the routes southward are through a desolate waterless waste, railway-less, and barred by formidable ranges of hills. At this rate the date of arrival in India could easily be calculated. Moreover, they committed folly by overthrowing the independent Mussulman State, and alienating the Afghans, who know what to expect if the Beds cross the Oxus. Bolshevists, probably, do not dream of moving towards India, but they know how subtle and potent is the weapon of propaganda allied to secret bribery.— Times Service. i« A.——— i NEW WAR CENTRE. MOVED FROM WEST TO EAST. Received Oct. 3, 5.5 p.m. London, Oct. 1. Soma newspapers criticise the Esher Committee's report on the Indian Army on the ground that it aims at putting the Indian Army under the War Office. The report states that the centre of gravity of probable military operations lias shifted from the west to east, and Britain must contemplate the possibility of our armies operating in the Middle East, based partly on India and partly on Home. < The report urges the necessity of decentralisation, especially decreasing detailed control by the India Office, and proposes that an Indian territorial force should be established.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.