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352 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
treat these Indian soldiers ?
" I once asked some German
officers.
" We arrest them," one answered, and another added :
" It’s not necessary, they soon freeze to death in the
trenches."
When I admit that I myself had been guilty of stupidity in
thinking that the Indians could be employed in Tibet, I think
I am entitled to say that Lord Curzon, who really is a man
of character, made a mistake seven times greater when he
expressed the hope " that he would see the Indian Lancers
clear the Berlin streets, and the little brown Ghurkas make
themselves at home in the park at Sans Souci."^ But as
regards the actual performance of carrying this importation
into effect, I consider it more than an act of stupidity—
I
consider it a crime.
Great Britain has for nearly 150 years superbly acquitted
herself of the task of acting as India’s guardian, and I doubt
whether any other nation would have succeeded in so gigantic
an undertaking. Indian troops have fought with honour
against many neighbouring peoples, and have helped to
maintain order among the three hundred millions. But never
before—until the present Liberal Government tried it—had
it occurred to a British Government to employ coloured
heathens against Christian Europeans. Such an act is a crime
against culture, civilisation and Christendom, and if the English
missionaries approve it, they are Pharisees and dishonest
propagators of the Gospel—^what the German missionaries in
India think does not now matter, for they are under arrest.
India’s British masters rightly despise all matrimonial bonds
between the White Man and the Hindoo, and children of such
marriages are indeed to be pitied. They are regarded as, and
often called, mules ; they are neither horse nor donkey, they
are " half-castes." In Calcutta they have their own quarters,
and must not live in any other part of the town. But when
the question arises of crushing the German barbarians, co-
operation with the bronze-coloured peoples of India becomes
good enough even for the Englishman.
Is it perhaps thought a fitting act of culture and civilisation,
worthy of the twentieth century, to convey the unsuspecting
Indians thousands of miles over land and sea to throw them
^ Quotation taken from Professor Steffcn’s book on " War and Culture."
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