Page:The empire and the century.djvu/717

 Madras soldier, whether Tamil (Hindu) or Mohammedan, is no longer the soldier of our early history in India. When we think of all that these men have done for us—of how Wellesley's Madras battalion fought at Assaye, of the story of self-devotion at Arcot, and of 'Who will follow a damned black fellow?' as the little Madras Sepoy shouted when he dashed over the ground swept by the storm of battle—it is impossible not to regret the decay of the military spirit But peace and civilization, as well as our own neglect, have been the contributory causes, and we have to face the situation. To some the solution would be to have none in our ranks but Patháns, Sikhs, Punjabis, and Gúrkhas. To others this seems to be a most dangerous doctrine, and probably the true remedy is to be found in steering the middle course, and by careful selection endeavouring to get the best men from the areas longest under our rule, as well as from the northern countries. Of one thing we may be quite certain—we can never have material of a uniform standard of excellence, and what we have to do is to look to it that we improve what we have got.

Now, these classes and races group themselves naturally into the northern, eastern, western, and southern areas of India. The key of the policy which, after many years, led to the reorganization of 1895 was decentralization, power of mobilization, with the more complete segregation of the races. It was to be one army divided into four watertight compartments—the Punjab, Bengal (or Hindustan), Bombay, and Madras. It was found by experience that, for example, Sikh regiments degenerated, and were prone to assimilate with other elements, when quartered long away from their homes. There was to be no 'localization' in the exact sense, but so far as was practicable the troops were to be stationed in the main area from which they were drawn. The idea was not merely the preservation of the balance of power, which all history has taught is necessary in dealing with mercenary Asiatic armies, but to introduce a simpler and decentralized system; not to focus every-