THE INDIAN ARMY.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPEOTATOR:1 SIR,—In his able letter on " Our Indian Wars," Colonel Meadows Taylor has certainly proved, if any proofs, indeed, were needed, that a small English force can dispose of a host of native warriors, and that we have no reason to fear that any native combination could prove too strong for us. There is one question, however, that he has not touched upon, and that is the financial one. It would be difficult, I grant, to find anyone who doubts that we could, if necessary, retake India from one end to the other, and with a much smaller force than we have there at present ; but it would, I conceive, be quite impossible to find anyone who could tell you how the bill is to be paid, should we ever have to put down another rising. The alarmists, then, are perfectly right to see that we have a very strong force in India, not because it is needed to put down an insurrection, but because a small force might tempt the disaffected to rise against us. Were our Indian financial affairs in a healthy condition, we might risk the chance of another rising, but till they are, I am afraid we must keep a strong force in the country.—I am, Sir, &c., 24 Park. Lane, February 5, 1872. ROBERT H. ELLIOT.
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