It should be added that the military position of India has been further strengthened by the enrolment of about 20,000 European volunteers, that a reserve of Native soldiers has been organised, and that by reductions on the one hand and improved organisation on the other, carried out under the supervision of experienced British officers, a large number of troops in the pay of our Chiefs and Feudatories have been made effective for service in a second line of defence. Contingents furnished by Native States have already proved in many campaigns that they are valuable auxiliaries.
The contrast between the state of things now and the situation in 1857 is indeed a striking one. At the outbreak of the Mutiny the army in India, as already said, was composed of about 39,000 British and 225,000 Native troops, including men in contingents paid by and serving in Native States. Natives manned more than half the guns; and to a great extent held our arsenals, magazines, and fortifications. At the present time the Army consists of 72,000 British and about 157,000 Native soldiers, including all the regular contingents on the Indian establishment serving in Native States, besides some 170,000 regular police. Out of 103 batteries of artillery, 88 are manned by Europeans. Guns and rifles of the newest pattern have been supplied to the troops. The rapid construction of railways (288 miles of railway were open in 1857-58, there are now 16,000 miles, an extension entailing a cost of two hundred millions sterling)
