ailants retire to the hills.
Thither it is impossible to follow them. They cannot be caught. They
cannot be punished. Only one remedy remains--their property must be
destroyed. [It may be of interest, to consider for a moment the contrast
between the effects of village-burning on the Indian Frontier and in
Cuba. In Cuba a small section of the population are in revolt; the
remainder are sympathisers. To screw these lukewarm partisans up to
the fighting-point, the insurgents destroy their villages and burn the
sugar-came. This, by placing the alternative of "fight or starve" before
the inhabitants, has the effect of driving them to take up arms against
the Spaniards, whom they all hate, and join the rebels in the field.
Thus in Cuba it is the endeavour of the Government to protect property,
and of the rebels to destroy it. It was with the aim of keeping the
wavering population loyal, that General Weyler collected them all into
the towns, with such painful results. His policy was cruel but sound,
and, had it been accompanied by vigorous military operations, might
have been successful.] Their villages are made hostages for their good
behavior. They are fully aware of this, and when they make an attack on
a camp or convoy, they do it because they have considered the cost
and think it worth while. Of course, it is cruel and barbarous, as is
everything else in war, but it is only an unphilosophic mind that will
hold it legitimate to take a man's life, and illegitimate to destroy his
property. The burning of mud hovels cannot at any rate be condemned
by nations whose customs of war justify the bombardment of the
dwelling-houses of a city like Paris, to induce the garrison to
surrender by the sufferings of the non-combatants.

In official parlance the burning of villages is usually expressed
euphemistically as "So many villages were visited and punished," or,
again, "The fortifications were demolished." I do not believe in all
this circumlocution. The lack of confidence in the good sense of the
British democracy, which the Indian Government displays, is one of its
least admirable characteristics. Exeter Hall is not all England; and the
people of our islands only require to have the matter put fairly before
them to arrive at sound, practical conclusions. If this were not so, we
should not occupy our present position in the world.

To return to the Mamund Valley. The difference between villages in the
plains and those in the hill