CHAPTER XI.England’s Domain in 1999.England Rules Supreme in Africa in 1999. Electric Railroads Built by American Engineers Cover the Dark Continent. France Suffers Two Waterloos. England’s Rule in India Unshaken in the Twentieth Century.In 1999 England was the ruler of Africa and her domain over the Dark Continent was indisputable. From the Delta of the Nile to Cape Town, from Abyssinia to Liberia, the British lion was free to roam and roar throughout the enormous, heart-shaped African continent. From Alexandria to Cape Town became, in 1999, a comparatively short journey over the electric railroads which in that year traversed the entire length of the Nile basin, with important stations at Berber and Khartoum, Uganda, Zambo to Pretoria, thence to the Terminal of the roads at Cape Town. This electric railroad through the Nile basin, the lake regions and heart of the African continent, was completed and in operation in 1930, after a sacrifice in its constructionIt Reduced the Census.of 19,000 lives and an outlay of $152,000,000. It proved to be, however, the backbone of Africa, the vertebral column from which scores of other electric railroad branchesreached out both east and west, like the ribs of a mastodon.THE BEST OF FRIENDS.THE BEST OF FRIENDS.The great presiding genius and leading spirit in African railroads was Cecil Rhodes, the same who was regarded as being the most prominent colonial Englishman. It was through his perseverance and untiring energy that the great system of African railroads was created in 1930. Rhodes was a really great man. Thousands courted his favor and smile, and tens of thousands trembled at his frown. Throughout Southern Africa so great in 1899 was his power and influence that he was called the “Deputy Almighty.”In the construction of these African electric railroads America played an important rôle. Cecil Rhodes was at first inclined to award the contracts for rails, copper wires, cars and general equipment to English manufacturing firms but his worthy patriotic sentiments soon vanished when it was demonstrated clear as sunlight, even early as 1898 that America could produce a far superior grade of machinery in much less time and at much less cost. In 1901 Cecil Rhodes awarded all his heavy contracts to American firms. In other words, England furnished the capital and America practically built the entire system of African railroads in 1930.The first “eye opener” in the line of American competition against British machinery came into prominence in the springof 1899, when work had already commenced on the north division of the great trunk line through Africa. The Atbara bridge and the first lesson in industrial economy that it taught, will not soon be forgotten. Bids were invited from British and AmericanAmerica Leads the World.bridge builders in April, 1899. It was represented to all competitors that the proposed bridge must be completed in the shortest time possible.When the bids were opened it was discovered that the English engineers required seven months to complete the work, while their American competitors guaranteed to complete and deliver the bridge in forty-two days from date of signing the contract and the work was to be completed for a much less sum than the price demanded by the English builders.The lesson of the Atbara bridge was not lost upon the great “Deputy Almighty” of South Africa and Cecil Rhodes became theA Peaceful Victory.means during the first quarter of the twentieth century of securing many million dollars to the American trade. Africa’s most urgent needs in 1900 were railroads and missionaries. England supplied a very superior article of the latter, while in the railroad field no country could equal the American output.In the nineteenth century it had been the unpleasant experience of France to suffer at the hands of England two Waterloos.France Eats “Humble Pie.”One was the great and only Waterloo, which drenched the soil of Belgium with the blood of many brave men. Waterloo, Jr., overtook the French soldiers at Fashoda, on Africa’s soil in 1899. When in that year England ordered France to leave Fashoda without any further ceremony a victory was won by England, bloodless, but none the less effective.After the Fashoda incident France gradually lost her African provinces, leaving England in undisputed sway over a continent that in wealth and resources proved far superior to her great Indian Empire. In 1999 Alexander II, of Great Britain, ruled over a mighty empire. In the nineteenth century British kings and queens were just plain, every day royalties, transacting a legitimate business in that line and otherwise enjoying the respect and confidence of their patrons. It was generally understood that the “king can do no wrong.” This was indisputable for the simple reason they never did anything at all. But when great Africa became a British province, it was then felt necessary to add still another title to the British Crown and in 1999 Britain’s Sovereign became known to his chums and acquaintances as King of Great Britain andIreland, D. F., Emperor of India, Mogul of Africa and Right Bower of the Americas, because, in 1999 none of England’s important deals were regarded as complete without a Yankee plum in the pie. Sometimes England contrived, as the phrase goes, to “get her foot in it” but cousin Jonathan across the salt pond, always managed to yank her out.In 1999 England still held a firm grip upon India. The secret of Samson’s herculeanHow England Holds India.strength was due to the fact that a lawn-mower had never tampered with his hair. But the secret of the British lion’s power in India did not consist in the fact that the lordly beast cultivated a full mane.India in 1999, as in the year 1899, still continued to remain the world’s most brilliant illustration that nations which are divided among themselves must inevitably fall. In 1899 the question was repeatedly asked, how can England with a mere corporal’s guard, hold together the vast, mystic India under her sway? How can a nation of 40,000,000 people, like England, hold under her sway a far distant continent like India with its population of 350,000,000 people?In 1999 India still remained a house divided against itself and England was boss of the whole ranch. The eighty different principalities of India, each one speakinga different dialect and governed by alien potentates, fired by mutual hatreds which were fanned by fierce jealousies and the immutable laws of caste, were still as far apart in 1999, in point of harmony and cohesive action, as the Himalayan peaks are remote from the spice groves of Ceylon.Cannot Hold Together.If at any period in the eighteenth, nineteenth or twentieth centuries these principalities of India could have united themselves together in a common cause and arisen in the might of their power against British rule, England would be driven out of India in ten days’ time. India’s 350,000,000 population represents an enormous mass, but, as long as it remains divided into practically eighty different nations, all of them animated by bitter hatreds and antagonisms, England will experience no trouble in retaining absolute control of her large but very acrimonious Indian family.The power and stamina of the Anglo-Saxon race, which already dominated theAnglo-Saxons Rule the World.world in 1999 through the vast Republic of the Americas and the world-wide British Empire, exemplified itself in a high degree in the British government of India. Only one desperate struggle was ever attempted against British rule in India and the disastrous failure of the mutiny in 1857 was yet fresh in the minds of many in 1999.The great, mighty India, the home of mysteries that baffle all reason; the fount which holds the sacred Ganges and boasts of Benares’ holy soil, was still under the lion’s paw in 1999 and bid fair to remain under British rule for many centuries yet to come. Mystic India, the land of the loftiest mountains, deepest jungles and broadest plains; the home of Pharsee and Thug; the lair of lion, tiger, leopard and elephant; the Eden of the deadly cobra, India, the world’s vast and mystic continent, remained a British province throughout the twentieth century.
CHAPTER XI.England’s Domain in 1999.England Rules Supreme in Africa in 1999. Electric Railroads Built by American Engineers Cover the Dark Continent. France Suffers Two Waterloos. England’s Rule in India Unshaken in the Twentieth Century.In 1999 England was the ruler of Africa and her domain over the Dark Continent was indisputable. From the Delta of the Nile to Cape Town, from Abyssinia to Liberia, the British lion was free to roam and roar throughout the enormous, heart-shaped African continent. From Alexandria to Cape Town became, in 1999, a comparatively short journey over the electric railroads which in that year traversed the entire length of the Nile basin, with important stations at Berber and Khartoum, Uganda, Zambo to Pretoria, thence to the Terminal of the roads at Cape Town. This electric railroad through the Nile basin, the lake regions and heart of the African continent, was completed and in operation in 1930, after a sacrifice in its constructionIt Reduced the Census.of 19,000 lives and an outlay of $152,000,000. It proved to be, however, the backbone of Africa, the vertebral column from which scores of other electric railroad branchesreached out both east and west, like the ribs of a mastodon.THE BEST OF FRIENDS.THE BEST OF FRIENDS.The great presiding genius and leading spirit in African railroads was Cecil Rhodes, the same who was regarded as being the most prominent colonial Englishman. It was through his perseverance and untiring energy that the great system of African railroads was created in 1930. Rhodes was a really great man. Thousands courted his favor and smile, and tens of thousands trembled at his frown. Throughout Southern Africa so great in 1899 was his power and influence that he was called the “Deputy Almighty.”In the construction of these African electric railroads America played an important rôle. Cecil Rhodes was at first inclined to award the contracts for rails, copper wires, cars and general equipment to English manufacturing firms but his worthy patriotic sentiments soon vanished when it was demonstrated clear as sunlight, even early as 1898 that America could produce a far superior grade of machinery in much less time and at much less cost. In 1901 Cecil Rhodes awarded all his heavy contracts to American firms. In other words, England furnished the capital and America practically built the entire system of African railroads in 1930.The first “eye opener” in the line of American competition against British machinery came into prominence in the springof 1899, when work had already commenced on the north division of the great trunk line through Africa. The Atbara bridge and the first lesson in industrial economy that it taught, will not soon be forgotten. Bids were invited from British and AmericanAmerica Leads the World.bridge builders in April, 1899. It was represented to all competitors that the proposed bridge must be completed in the shortest time possible.When the bids were opened it was discovered that the English engineers required seven months to complete the work, while their American competitors guaranteed to complete and deliver the bridge in forty-two days from date of signing the contract and the work was to be completed for a much less sum than the price demanded by the English builders.The lesson of the Atbara bridge was not lost upon the great “Deputy Almighty” of South Africa and Cecil Rhodes became theA Peaceful Victory.means during the first quarter of the twentieth century of securing many million dollars to the American trade. Africa’s most urgent needs in 1900 were railroads and missionaries. England supplied a very superior article of the latter, while in the railroad field no country could equal the American output.In the nineteenth century it had been the unpleasant experience of France to suffer at the hands of England two Waterloos.France Eats “Humble Pie.”One was the great and only Waterloo, which drenched the soil of Belgium with the blood of many brave men. Waterloo, Jr., overtook the French soldiers at Fashoda, on Africa’s soil in 1899. When in that year England ordered France to leave Fashoda without any further ceremony a victory was won by England, bloodless, but none the less effective.After the Fashoda incident France gradually lost her African provinces, leaving England in undisputed sway over a continent that in wealth and resources proved far superior to her great Indian Empire. In 1999 Alexander II, of Great Britain, ruled over a mighty empire. In the nineteenth century British kings and queens were just plain, every day royalties, transacting a legitimate business in that line and otherwise enjoying the respect and confidence of their patrons. It was generally understood that the “king can do no wrong.” This was indisputable for the simple reason they never did anything at all. But when great Africa became a British province, it was then felt necessary to add still another title to the British Crown and in 1999 Britain’s Sovereign became known to his chums and acquaintances as King of Great Britain andIreland, D. F., Emperor of India, Mogul of Africa and Right Bower of the Americas, because, in 1999 none of England’s important deals were regarded as complete without a Yankee plum in the pie. Sometimes England contrived, as the phrase goes, to “get her foot in it” but cousin Jonathan across the salt pond, always managed to yank her out.In 1999 England still held a firm grip upon India. The secret of Samson’s herculeanHow England Holds India.strength was due to the fact that a lawn-mower had never tampered with his hair. But the secret of the British lion’s power in India did not consist in the fact that the lordly beast cultivated a full mane.India in 1999, as in the year 1899, still continued to remain the world’s most brilliant illustration that nations which are divided among themselves must inevitably fall. In 1899 the question was repeatedly asked, how can England with a mere corporal’s guard, hold together the vast, mystic India under her sway? How can a nation of 40,000,000 people, like England, hold under her sway a far distant continent like India with its population of 350,000,000 people?In 1999 India still remained a house divided against itself and England was boss of the whole ranch. The eighty different principalities of India, each one speakinga different dialect and governed by alien potentates, fired by mutual hatreds which were fanned by fierce jealousies and the immutable laws of caste, were still as far apart in 1999, in point of harmony and cohesive action, as the Himalayan peaks are remote from the spice groves of Ceylon.Cannot Hold Together.If at any period in the eighteenth, nineteenth or twentieth centuries these principalities of India could have united themselves together in a common cause and arisen in the might of their power against British rule, England would be driven out of India in ten days’ time. India’s 350,000,000 population represents an enormous mass, but, as long as it remains divided into practically eighty different nations, all of them animated by bitter hatreds and antagonisms, England will experience no trouble in retaining absolute control of her large but very acrimonious Indian family.The power and stamina of the Anglo-Saxon race, which already dominated theAnglo-Saxons Rule the World.world in 1999 through the vast Republic of the Americas and the world-wide British Empire, exemplified itself in a high degree in the British government of India. Only one desperate struggle was ever attempted against British rule in India and the disastrous failure of the mutiny in 1857 was yet fresh in the minds of many in 1999.The great, mighty India, the home of mysteries that baffle all reason; the fount which holds the sacred Ganges and boasts of Benares’ holy soil, was still under the lion’s paw in 1999 and bid fair to remain under British rule for many centuries yet to come. Mystic India, the land of the loftiest mountains, deepest jungles and broadest plains; the home of Pharsee and Thug; the lair of lion, tiger, leopard and elephant; the Eden of the deadly cobra, India, the world’s vast and mystic continent, remained a British province throughout the twentieth century.
CHAPTER XI.England’s Domain in 1999.England Rules Supreme in Africa in 1999. Electric Railroads Built by American Engineers Cover the Dark Continent. France Suffers Two Waterloos. England’s Rule in India Unshaken in the Twentieth Century.
England Rules Supreme in Africa in 1999. Electric Railroads Built by American Engineers Cover the Dark Continent. France Suffers Two Waterloos. England’s Rule in India Unshaken in the Twentieth Century.
England Rules Supreme in Africa in 1999. Electric Railroads Built by American Engineers Cover the Dark Continent. France Suffers Two Waterloos. England’s Rule in India Unshaken in the Twentieth Century.
In 1999 England was the ruler of Africa and her domain over the Dark Continent was indisputable. From the Delta of the Nile to Cape Town, from Abyssinia to Liberia, the British lion was free to roam and roar throughout the enormous, heart-shaped African continent. From Alexandria to Cape Town became, in 1999, a comparatively short journey over the electric railroads which in that year traversed the entire length of the Nile basin, with important stations at Berber and Khartoum, Uganda, Zambo to Pretoria, thence to the Terminal of the roads at Cape Town. This electric railroad through the Nile basin, the lake regions and heart of the African continent, was completed and in operation in 1930, after a sacrifice in its constructionIt Reduced the Census.of 19,000 lives and an outlay of $152,000,000. It proved to be, however, the backbone of Africa, the vertebral column from which scores of other electric railroad branchesreached out both east and west, like the ribs of a mastodon.THE BEST OF FRIENDS.THE BEST OF FRIENDS.The great presiding genius and leading spirit in African railroads was Cecil Rhodes, the same who was regarded as being the most prominent colonial Englishman. It was through his perseverance and untiring energy that the great system of African railroads was created in 1930. Rhodes was a really great man. Thousands courted his favor and smile, and tens of thousands trembled at his frown. Throughout Southern Africa so great in 1899 was his power and influence that he was called the “Deputy Almighty.”In the construction of these African electric railroads America played an important rôle. Cecil Rhodes was at first inclined to award the contracts for rails, copper wires, cars and general equipment to English manufacturing firms but his worthy patriotic sentiments soon vanished when it was demonstrated clear as sunlight, even early as 1898 that America could produce a far superior grade of machinery in much less time and at much less cost. In 1901 Cecil Rhodes awarded all his heavy contracts to American firms. In other words, England furnished the capital and America practically built the entire system of African railroads in 1930.The first “eye opener” in the line of American competition against British machinery came into prominence in the springof 1899, when work had already commenced on the north division of the great trunk line through Africa. The Atbara bridge and the first lesson in industrial economy that it taught, will not soon be forgotten. Bids were invited from British and AmericanAmerica Leads the World.bridge builders in April, 1899. It was represented to all competitors that the proposed bridge must be completed in the shortest time possible.When the bids were opened it was discovered that the English engineers required seven months to complete the work, while their American competitors guaranteed to complete and deliver the bridge in forty-two days from date of signing the contract and the work was to be completed for a much less sum than the price demanded by the English builders.The lesson of the Atbara bridge was not lost upon the great “Deputy Almighty” of South Africa and Cecil Rhodes became theA Peaceful Victory.means during the first quarter of the twentieth century of securing many million dollars to the American trade. Africa’s most urgent needs in 1900 were railroads and missionaries. England supplied a very superior article of the latter, while in the railroad field no country could equal the American output.In the nineteenth century it had been the unpleasant experience of France to suffer at the hands of England two Waterloos.France Eats “Humble Pie.”One was the great and only Waterloo, which drenched the soil of Belgium with the blood of many brave men. Waterloo, Jr., overtook the French soldiers at Fashoda, on Africa’s soil in 1899. When in that year England ordered France to leave Fashoda without any further ceremony a victory was won by England, bloodless, but none the less effective.After the Fashoda incident France gradually lost her African provinces, leaving England in undisputed sway over a continent that in wealth and resources proved far superior to her great Indian Empire. In 1999 Alexander II, of Great Britain, ruled over a mighty empire. In the nineteenth century British kings and queens were just plain, every day royalties, transacting a legitimate business in that line and otherwise enjoying the respect and confidence of their patrons. It was generally understood that the “king can do no wrong.” This was indisputable for the simple reason they never did anything at all. But when great Africa became a British province, it was then felt necessary to add still another title to the British Crown and in 1999 Britain’s Sovereign became known to his chums and acquaintances as King of Great Britain andIreland, D. F., Emperor of India, Mogul of Africa and Right Bower of the Americas, because, in 1999 none of England’s important deals were regarded as complete without a Yankee plum in the pie. Sometimes England contrived, as the phrase goes, to “get her foot in it” but cousin Jonathan across the salt pond, always managed to yank her out.In 1999 England still held a firm grip upon India. The secret of Samson’s herculeanHow England Holds India.strength was due to the fact that a lawn-mower had never tampered with his hair. But the secret of the British lion’s power in India did not consist in the fact that the lordly beast cultivated a full mane.India in 1999, as in the year 1899, still continued to remain the world’s most brilliant illustration that nations which are divided among themselves must inevitably fall. In 1899 the question was repeatedly asked, how can England with a mere corporal’s guard, hold together the vast, mystic India under her sway? How can a nation of 40,000,000 people, like England, hold under her sway a far distant continent like India with its population of 350,000,000 people?In 1999 India still remained a house divided against itself and England was boss of the whole ranch. The eighty different principalities of India, each one speakinga different dialect and governed by alien potentates, fired by mutual hatreds which were fanned by fierce jealousies and the immutable laws of caste, were still as far apart in 1999, in point of harmony and cohesive action, as the Himalayan peaks are remote from the spice groves of Ceylon.Cannot Hold Together.If at any period in the eighteenth, nineteenth or twentieth centuries these principalities of India could have united themselves together in a common cause and arisen in the might of their power against British rule, England would be driven out of India in ten days’ time. India’s 350,000,000 population represents an enormous mass, but, as long as it remains divided into practically eighty different nations, all of them animated by bitter hatreds and antagonisms, England will experience no trouble in retaining absolute control of her large but very acrimonious Indian family.The power and stamina of the Anglo-Saxon race, which already dominated theAnglo-Saxons Rule the World.world in 1999 through the vast Republic of the Americas and the world-wide British Empire, exemplified itself in a high degree in the British government of India. Only one desperate struggle was ever attempted against British rule in India and the disastrous failure of the mutiny in 1857 was yet fresh in the minds of many in 1999.The great, mighty India, the home of mysteries that baffle all reason; the fount which holds the sacred Ganges and boasts of Benares’ holy soil, was still under the lion’s paw in 1999 and bid fair to remain under British rule for many centuries yet to come. Mystic India, the land of the loftiest mountains, deepest jungles and broadest plains; the home of Pharsee and Thug; the lair of lion, tiger, leopard and elephant; the Eden of the deadly cobra, India, the world’s vast and mystic continent, remained a British province throughout the twentieth century.
In 1999 England was the ruler of Africa and her domain over the Dark Continent was indisputable. From the Delta of the Nile to Cape Town, from Abyssinia to Liberia, the British lion was free to roam and roar throughout the enormous, heart-shaped African continent. From Alexandria to Cape Town became, in 1999, a comparatively short journey over the electric railroads which in that year traversed the entire length of the Nile basin, with important stations at Berber and Khartoum, Uganda, Zambo to Pretoria, thence to the Terminal of the roads at Cape Town. This electric railroad through the Nile basin, the lake regions and heart of the African continent, was completed and in operation in 1930, after a sacrifice in its constructionIt Reduced the Census.of 19,000 lives and an outlay of $152,000,000. It proved to be, however, the backbone of Africa, the vertebral column from which scores of other electric railroad branchesreached out both east and west, like the ribs of a mastodon.
THE BEST OF FRIENDS.THE BEST OF FRIENDS.
THE BEST OF FRIENDS.
The great presiding genius and leading spirit in African railroads was Cecil Rhodes, the same who was regarded as being the most prominent colonial Englishman. It was through his perseverance and untiring energy that the great system of African railroads was created in 1930. Rhodes was a really great man. Thousands courted his favor and smile, and tens of thousands trembled at his frown. Throughout Southern Africa so great in 1899 was his power and influence that he was called the “Deputy Almighty.”
In the construction of these African electric railroads America played an important rôle. Cecil Rhodes was at first inclined to award the contracts for rails, copper wires, cars and general equipment to English manufacturing firms but his worthy patriotic sentiments soon vanished when it was demonstrated clear as sunlight, even early as 1898 that America could produce a far superior grade of machinery in much less time and at much less cost. In 1901 Cecil Rhodes awarded all his heavy contracts to American firms. In other words, England furnished the capital and America practically built the entire system of African railroads in 1930.
The first “eye opener” in the line of American competition against British machinery came into prominence in the springof 1899, when work had already commenced on the north division of the great trunk line through Africa. The Atbara bridge and the first lesson in industrial economy that it taught, will not soon be forgotten. Bids were invited from British and AmericanAmerica Leads the World.bridge builders in April, 1899. It was represented to all competitors that the proposed bridge must be completed in the shortest time possible.
When the bids were opened it was discovered that the English engineers required seven months to complete the work, while their American competitors guaranteed to complete and deliver the bridge in forty-two days from date of signing the contract and the work was to be completed for a much less sum than the price demanded by the English builders.
The lesson of the Atbara bridge was not lost upon the great “Deputy Almighty” of South Africa and Cecil Rhodes became theA Peaceful Victory.means during the first quarter of the twentieth century of securing many million dollars to the American trade. Africa’s most urgent needs in 1900 were railroads and missionaries. England supplied a very superior article of the latter, while in the railroad field no country could equal the American output.
In the nineteenth century it had been the unpleasant experience of France to suffer at the hands of England two Waterloos.France Eats “Humble Pie.”One was the great and only Waterloo, which drenched the soil of Belgium with the blood of many brave men. Waterloo, Jr., overtook the French soldiers at Fashoda, on Africa’s soil in 1899. When in that year England ordered France to leave Fashoda without any further ceremony a victory was won by England, bloodless, but none the less effective.
After the Fashoda incident France gradually lost her African provinces, leaving England in undisputed sway over a continent that in wealth and resources proved far superior to her great Indian Empire. In 1999 Alexander II, of Great Britain, ruled over a mighty empire. In the nineteenth century British kings and queens were just plain, every day royalties, transacting a legitimate business in that line and otherwise enjoying the respect and confidence of their patrons. It was generally understood that the “king can do no wrong.” This was indisputable for the simple reason they never did anything at all. But when great Africa became a British province, it was then felt necessary to add still another title to the British Crown and in 1999 Britain’s Sovereign became known to his chums and acquaintances as King of Great Britain andIreland, D. F., Emperor of India, Mogul of Africa and Right Bower of the Americas, because, in 1999 none of England’s important deals were regarded as complete without a Yankee plum in the pie. Sometimes England contrived, as the phrase goes, to “get her foot in it” but cousin Jonathan across the salt pond, always managed to yank her out.
In 1999 England still held a firm grip upon India. The secret of Samson’s herculeanHow England Holds India.strength was due to the fact that a lawn-mower had never tampered with his hair. But the secret of the British lion’s power in India did not consist in the fact that the lordly beast cultivated a full mane.
India in 1999, as in the year 1899, still continued to remain the world’s most brilliant illustration that nations which are divided among themselves must inevitably fall. In 1899 the question was repeatedly asked, how can England with a mere corporal’s guard, hold together the vast, mystic India under her sway? How can a nation of 40,000,000 people, like England, hold under her sway a far distant continent like India with its population of 350,000,000 people?
In 1999 India still remained a house divided against itself and England was boss of the whole ranch. The eighty different principalities of India, each one speakinga different dialect and governed by alien potentates, fired by mutual hatreds which were fanned by fierce jealousies and the immutable laws of caste, were still as far apart in 1999, in point of harmony and cohesive action, as the Himalayan peaks are remote from the spice groves of Ceylon.Cannot Hold Together.If at any period in the eighteenth, nineteenth or twentieth centuries these principalities of India could have united themselves together in a common cause and arisen in the might of their power against British rule, England would be driven out of India in ten days’ time. India’s 350,000,000 population represents an enormous mass, but, as long as it remains divided into practically eighty different nations, all of them animated by bitter hatreds and antagonisms, England will experience no trouble in retaining absolute control of her large but very acrimonious Indian family.
The power and stamina of the Anglo-Saxon race, which already dominated theAnglo-Saxons Rule the World.world in 1999 through the vast Republic of the Americas and the world-wide British Empire, exemplified itself in a high degree in the British government of India. Only one desperate struggle was ever attempted against British rule in India and the disastrous failure of the mutiny in 1857 was yet fresh in the minds of many in 1999.
The great, mighty India, the home of mysteries that baffle all reason; the fount which holds the sacred Ganges and boasts of Benares’ holy soil, was still under the lion’s paw in 1999 and bid fair to remain under British rule for many centuries yet to come. Mystic India, the land of the loftiest mountains, deepest jungles and broadest plains; the home of Pharsee and Thug; the lair of lion, tiger, leopard and elephant; the Eden of the deadly cobra, India, the world’s vast and mystic continent, remained a British province throughout the twentieth century.