HAPPY INDIA 167 



a military point of view. Then there were almost 

 no railways, now there are railways all over India, 

 so that troops from all parts can rapidly converge 

 on any district where they are required. Then 

 there was a three months' voyage round the Cape, 

 now in a month's time munitions and re-enforce- 

 ments can come from England through the Suez 

 Canal. Also the change in the armaments makes 

 it impossible for people who have not got control of 

 arsenals where the most modern weapons are stored 

 to fight against the Government troops. Then 

 the ordinary blacksmiths could make guns, bayonets, 

 spears and swords, the ordinary iron-founder and 

 brass-founder could make first-rate cannon, bullets, 

 cannon-balls and shells, and the manufacture of 

 gunpowder was easy and common. Now special 

 tools, special steels, special chemicals are required 

 for a tolerable armament, and no frontier tribes, 

 rebels or mutineers could get these. Then cavalry 

 was the most rapid means of moving troops ; now 

 aeroplanes that move at a speed of more than 100 

 miles an hour can drop deadly bombs on a rebel 

 force that cannot possibly possess similar weapons. 

 So that 50,000 soldiers to-day are at least as effective 

 as 200,000 sixty years ago. 



