A NEW PORTENT 45

benefits " (The Sandeman System) could possibly be held
out as an example of what could be achieved by way of
f gradual civilization and betterment of tribes '. It, how-
ever, carried with it its own seeds of evil. Apart from the
fact that it sought to stabilize an effete feudal system, it
was not in essence different from the imperialist system
of grab of which it was really an adjunct.. Did it not
enable the British gradually, almost imperceptibly to
absorb the whole strip of territory which constitutes the
present Province of Baluchistan and open up the Gomal
Pass. " although the politicals in the Punjab had been sit-
ting before those mountain ranges in Waziristan for
yea^s ? " f Every writer on the Frontier from Davies
downward has noted the democratic character of the
Pathan tribesmen and their intense passion for freedom.
Is it any wonder that they regarded the Sandeman system
as a menace to their much treasured freedom ?

Of a different order was the venture of Dr. Pennell of
the Bannu Mission, who settled down among the Pathan
folk to evangelize them by loving, selfless service. He
lived among them, adopted their dress, spoke their lang-
uage fluently and ultimately laid down his life serving
them. He always went unarmed among the most turbu-
lent Pathan folk and when once a new commandant in-
sisted that he should take an escort, he answered that
-that would be the surest way of getting ambushed and
shot. It was said of him that to have Pennell was worth
" a couple of regiments ". Such was the power this man
of peace had come to wield.

But Dr. Pennell's was an individual venture, not free
from a suspicion of a proselytizing motive. It still left
unanswered the question of questions, so admirably pro-
pounded by that saintly Englishman, Charlie Andrews :
" Is there a place for moral resistance in face of the violent
measures that are destroying civilization today ? Would it have
been possible in Korea, Manchukuo or North China for the
Chinese to have resisted in this manner Japanese domination ?

f Sir Michael O'Dwyer in his foreword to Col. Brace's Waziristan
— 1936-37.