A Standing Army on Modern Lines and Conscription Fnow oun TAcmIENLU ConazsroNDENt Tibet has been Tasting ite arms For some considerable time no
the face of the surrounding states. For the past 15 years, an army trained more or less along modern lines, has been feeling its wings. Parade grounds and the bagpipes and one, two, three are now quite common in different parts of the land of the lamas, The Tibetan army, though not numerous, is well mounted, well armed, and well trame ed. Strong foreign boots, sunhelmets, and khaki uniforms distinguish them from the robes of the lamas, That the Dalai has ambitions there very little doubt; and in his effort to become a modern state, faced with one great difficulty, Tibet is a Closed Land. On the orth lies Russia, on the south India, and on the east lies China; neigh: hours any' country might be distinctly proud of, China has consid erable interest in Tibet, s0 also has India, la is working hard influence, China's suzerain power lasted too many years to be completely annulled in 4 short space of time. Of any outside power China has still the strongest influence in Lamaland, and Chinese lamas still number several thousand in the sacred capital. In all the big, temples in Lhasa is still considerable interest and. sympathy towards the old suzerain power. Now with the spirit of democracy running to and fro throughout th with it seems impossible that. even Forbidden Land can remain outside.
An Unlucky Venture Tibet has adopted conscription: the Kueichow Government), thas [every male above 18 and under 60 is compelled to don the uniform and fight the battles for the land of the lamas, Quite recently the Tibetan armies went out to battle against the insignificant state. of Borneo, "lying to the southeast of Lhasa, Borneo is hedged in on one side the Abors and on the. other by the Mishmis, Tsai, a famous sacred mountain, much elreumambulated by the Tibetans, lies in the Borneo country (Bohmi). Believing som how in the principle of the jaw-bone of an sas, the Tibetan troops march-"Jed south, imagining that all" they had to do was to swing the jawbone rather fiercely and a thousand Bomées would ile upon the ground, These bravo Tibetans miscalculated badly, however, and in a very short time the well trained, well mounted, well armed troops were racing back to Lhasa, leaving over 100 killed and wounded on the field, and losing much ammunition. Te is still true that pride goeth before destruc tion and a haughty spirit before a fail.
The Bomees have been trouble" some, there is absolutely no doubt \bout it; they have always made ie difmeult and dangerous for pile rims circumambulating Tsaei; and they have frequently been unfriendly to the aspiring modern state on ti north. Gathering all these cai the Dalai imagined he had sufficient reason to march his untried soldiers south. What he intended to do, if his arms had been victorious it is diffeult to say; probably he would merely have demanded a right of way for the pilgrims round the holy mountain. Borneo has settled this question and Tibet is now discussing its next move, Is' There a Power Behind?
This set-back to what was apparently becoming an aggressive policy on the part of Tibet will no doubt do the country good, On all fronts there is considerable talk of Lamaland adopting an audacious and menacing attitude towards many of her friendly neighbours and_ the question is often asked, is Tibet alone in this new policy? Tibet in & very short time could raise the largest fanatical army in central Asia, No religious leader in the /world to-day demands and receives the allegiance given to the Dalai Lama. At present there 1s no rea~ son to believe that the Head of Lamaism has any other ambition apart from keeping his country peaceful and quiet
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.