ut the sensible passenger may, though he knows the difficulties of the
voyage and the dangers of the sea, fairly ask the man at the wheel to
keep a true and constant course. He may with reason and justice insist
that, whatever the delays which the storms or accidents may cause, the
head of the vessel shall be consistently pointed towards the distant
port, and that come what will she shall not be allowed to drift
aimlessly hither and thither on the chance of fetching up somewhere some
day.

The "Full steam ahead" method would be undoubtedly the most desirable.
This is the military view. Mobilise, it is urged, a nice field force,
and operate at leisure in the frontier valleys, until they are as safe
and civilised as Hyde Park. Nor need this course necessarily involve the
extermination of the inhabitants. Military rule is the rule best suited
to the character and comprehension of the tribesmen. They will soon
recognise the futility of resistance, and will gradually welcome the
increase of wealth and comfort that will follow a stable government.
Besides this, we shall obtain a definite frontier almost immediately.
Only one real objection has been advanced against this plan. But it is
a crushing one, and it constitutes the most serious argument against the
whole "Forward Policy." It is this: we have neither the troops nor the
money to carry it out.

The inevitable alternative is the present system, a system which the war
has interrupted, but to which we must return at its close; a system of
gradual advance, of political intrigue among the tribes, of subsidies
and small expeditions.

Though this policy is slow, painful and somewhat undignified, there
is no reason that it should not be sure and strong. But it must be
consistently pursued. Dynamite in the hands of a child is not more
dangerous than a strong policy weakly carried out. The reproach which
may be justly laid upon the rulers of India, whether at home or abroad,
is that while they recognise the facts, they shrink from the legitimate
conclusions.

They know they cannot turn back. They fully intend to go on. Yet they
fear to admit the situation, to frankly lay their case before the
country, and trust to the good sense and courage of an ancient
democracy. The result is, that they tie their hands by ridiculous and
unnecessary proclamations, such as that which preceded the Chitral
expedition of 1895. The political officers who watch the frontier tribes
are expected t