"Chinese" Gordon ruminates on the ideal expeditionary force

>From Book IV of Colonel Charles Gordon's Khartoum Journals:

I believe that a good recruitment of blacks and Chinese would give 
England all the troops she wants for expeditions, mixed with 
one-sixth English. As for those wretched Sepoys, they are useless. I 
would garrison India with Chinese and blacks, with one-sixth English, 
and no army could stand against us. The Chinese in Shanghai had the 
greatest contempt for the Bombay Sepoys, and used to knock them 
about. Beloochees and Sikhs are a different class. I have the 
greatest contempt for the pure Indian Sepoys. Chinese, or blacks, or 
Goorkas, or Belochees are far better. The moment he (the pure Sepoy) 
is off parade, he puts off all uniform that connects him with Her 
Majesty's Government, and puts on his dish-clout. I hate these 
snake-like creatures. Any man accustomed to judge by faces sees that 
they hate us.

I would back the Mussulmans [Moslems] of India against the lot of 
those snakes. India, to me, is not an advantage; it accustoms our men 
to a style of life which they cannot keep up In England ; it 
deteriorates our women. If we kept the sea-coast, it is all that we 
want. It is the centre of all petty intrigue, while if our energy 
were devoted elsewhere, it would produce tenfold. India sways all our 
policy to our detriment. Lord Cardwell replied (when I asked him the 
question as to the benefit we got from India), "that we could not get 
out of it" and I suppose that is the answer that must be given.

-- 
Louis Proyect, lnp3@panix.com on 11/09/2001

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