THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1880.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2013, 6 August 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1880.

The situation in Afghanistan is becoming serious—particularly for Ayoob Khan. That adventurous brother of Takoob Khan will probably find that he has thrust his hand into a hornets’ nest, and that a speedy retreat into space, if such a thing be possible, is about the only thing left for him. He will begin to think that ho might have waited a little longer, until the evacuation of the country by the British troops, before he made his stroke for a kingdom. Ho has certainly succeeded in routing a force of 2000 men with an overpowering body of 12,000, but he can hardly expect to make headway against the combination which is now being formed against him. Generals Pbayre and Sandeman are advancing from the Bolan Pass, although not in very strong force, while from the North marches General Roberts with 10,000 men, flushed by a continuous course of victory. That the British troops are at all likely to be dispirited by the temporary check received by General Burrows is most unlikely. On the contrary, it will have the effect of nerving them to greater exertions, and, in the hands of such a skilful General as Roberts, it will bo strange indeed if they do not make a very good account of Ayoob Khan and his following. The gravity of the position lies rather in the fact that it implies a prolonged occupation of Afghanistan by the English. It is difficult to see how the British can now avoid advancing to Herat, tho core of the new combination. Without such a movement tho British prestige must suffer, and affairs remain in a constant state of turmoil. JJo doubt a wish to avoid giving umbrage to Russia has hitherto averted the capture of that city, but tho current of events has carried the English Government further than it would wish, and, whatever may bo the effect of such a movement on tho Government of St. Petersburg, the capture of Herat would now appear a necessity. Why it has up to tho time remained unattached has puzzled the Afghans, and has given heart to tho partisans of Ayoob Khan. Half measures are now no longer possible, and the seat of the present movement will, apparently, have to be cleared of the disaffected before any hopes of a permanent peace can be attained.

The debate on the Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Bill was carried on yesterday night and this morning in the House of Representatives with great vigour on the part of the minority, who opposed the measure. The Bill, which had passed the Upper House, where usually it has been received with hut little favour, had come down to the Lower House, where, on the contrary, a majority had, as a rule, been in favour of it. And, indeed, in the present instance the majority was there ready to pass it into law, hut the attitude taken up by the opponents of the measure has greatly hampered the action of those who are ready to vote for it. As to tho merits of the measure itself, the pros and cons have been put forward so often that they must be familiar to our readers, but we venture to say that never has quainter reasoning than that employed by Mr. Tamoana, Dr. Wallis, and others been used against the proposal. It appears that, before the arrival of missionaries, the Maoris were allowed to marry their deceased wives’ sisters. The missionaries came and all such narriages were prohibited. Taking it for granted that every regulation laid down by their teachers inevitably led to a higher state of civilisation, certain of the Maoris, leading with them Dr. Wallis, are appalled to find civilisation doubling back into the old Maori tracks, and they jumped at once to the conclusion that something is wrong. Major To Wheoro and Mr. Tawhai, on tho other hand, possibly not possessing such unbounded faith in the teaching of the missionaries, welcome the new idea with open arms as an old friend, and probably think that civilisation is showing its good Ber.se. Mr. Tamoana, no doubt, had been somewhat fogged by these same missionaries. He looks upon the question evidently as a religious question instead of a social question, and tho confusion engendered by this belief has heightened his grudge against a backsliding civilsation. What the missionaries may have said upon the matter cau interest us but little, except in so far as it has influenced the action of Native members, hut it is very possible to conceive that the former may not have attempted to divide, in the minds of their pupils, tho religious from the social aspect of the question, in as much as, even among the cultured, the two aspects are frequently hopelessly entangled. Many Maoris consequently, no doubt, consider tho prohibition to marry a deceased wife’s sister as a vital principle of the Christian religion. To the ordinary run of people the whole matter is one of puro sentiment. The arguments for and against the measure, as a social measure, are capable of endless variation, and there appears no finality in that direction. As men’s minds vary on tho subject of matrimony, so do their ideas on this question vary, but we cannot but think that those who take tho most aesthetic view of the married state will he found to be in favor of the present Bill; nor can we in any way agree with Dr. Wallis in his entirely unsupported statement that the minority of fourteen against the Bill represent the female population. In a previous part of tho debate Dr. Wallis had stated that he had “ done more marrying than any other man in New Zealand.” What he may moan by this assertion we will not venture to enquire; but familiarity, it is well known, is apt to breed contempt, and Dr. Wallis’ feelings may perhaps have been blunted by a too wide experience. The man of the world and tho much-married man is possibly not tho truest guide when viewing the aesthetics of this question.