Burmah.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 3 October 1891, Page 2

Burmah.

We cannot say that Russia is to blame for the troubles that appear rising in Burmah, but we had evidence that only the other day she .vas prospecting about the Pamir plateau, and that she was massing troops on the Afghan frontier. The many devices that are credited to Russian diplomacy is that of creating a row at some point distant away from that which they wish to secure, and when Constantinople is desired there generally arises disquiet on the Afghan frontier, so that, supposing the Pamir plateau is coveted, a row at the other end of India, to which a strong force would have to be' sent, would fit in with the lines of action previously pursued by this power. A large portion of Burmah is under the administration of the Indian Council, but the northern portion is subdivided amongst tribes subordinate to China. Sir Frederick << cherts distinguished himself in 1886, and in the early part of 1887 Woonthe Tsawbwa, an important chief, submitted. Only in March, 1889, General Wolseley led an expedition against the Paikhan Tsawbwa, so that there is always a spot where dissention can easily be raised by an unscrupulous power, The time that the country has been under the administration of India, efforts have been made to open it up by roads, more especially in the lower provinces, hut good land communication is one of the most important wants of the country. An army of over 11,000 soldiers is quartered in Burmah, as well as 17,000 military police, which, considering that the population in Lower Burmah is some 3,736,000 and Upper Burmah some 5,000,000, is not so very large, and a disturbance would be bound to draw upon the troops stationed in India. The restless Russian keeps everybody on the look out, yet calmly declares that it has no designs on India !