TRUTH ON INDIA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 40, 15 July 1885, Page 4

TRUTH ON INDIA.

| Herat is probably desired by the Riissians,,not so much to, enable them to advance on India, for nosane commandjer. would endeavour to force his way, .after about thirty desert marches, through tlia.Bolaa Pass, if it were hold jand fortified by us, but because it may jhelp tlieux to get to the Persian Gulf. Were they, however, to do this ! at .the lexpenseof tire Persians, p'seend' reason |why we' should regard it aff'a" portion of pur policy 'to hitider them. Sooner or later the Russians must get to the Indian Joceau, ; and the sooner, .they do, ap r ,the sooner shall we and they become good friends; ■ • . < .-.:■ ii ! The ridiculous part of the entire has been that it has been taken ifor grintied that we can cpuntKiipoh' an lionest alliance with' the 'Afghan's:'.'^VVo, jwere ! asked ; to believe that - they wp'itld" .weldoniean English army' at . Oandah.ir jand'at Herat.' • -it seems, liowrey^r, tliat jth'ey "infinitely prefer the ; loss, of Psn|deh ko'any such advaoce. They do ; > not like the Russians hut; they hate us;-! -They! !wißhto have anilittU as possible .to do iwith either of us, beyond receivnrg suoti (presents as either may offer. Tiiey do jnot.forget that we have w,aged twpSwarß iagaiHßt thehif nbrdo they'feel th<T least [disposed to become our feudatories. 'Wlie^heivastf riend ' or\r'oe, % { vthey want (neither Russians nor English m their 'country, for they are sensible enough to jbe'^&WfliTiEi-tljat^both •-'are'" very much injdined to remain wherever they have, Aykfejjt^e :inpst , beneyol^nti ;itrtenfions, Sadvanced an army. With! tliei English jaj;,,.qa,pdal)aft and :ot jHer^t^and i tohhf&n jEuglifih railroad probably connecting jtheo^p,{AfghanMndep.endence would" be ia. |hiqg, of, the, paßt. [:v t somewhat admire {the Afghans for their cotmnon sense.

I | ; w^ldsuggest.tQ^ur^lndian statfesiinejai.that ,they : tb; free .{their minds from tlieii-s-Russiaii- rraze. ! Russians; no uiore ; likely.to attack : vlndia Jthan she is to^attack Gennatiy. ■ Asia is ■quite enough for her and for? us. iThe best thing that could happen would jbe that there should! be; a :cle'ttrly-defined ;frontier betw»en the two countries. As jit ia; ; 'Af ghanistan : interposes betiyeen 5 them. ; >H ad I ray way, I would leave' :the; Afghans and the/BiiHsiartß' to settle iany/differance wluch may sirisd between itJvemj and detend. myself;, if Attacked on jmy own fron.tier-linoJ My, own; convinition is that it does not signify to us whether Herat ; belongs .to .Rnß.<ua r ,oi> Afghauißtaii,-ahyMnore tWah ir sigWfie> to Italy whether Baslo belongs to Geriinany or Switzerland*, : Supposirfg .'that|we were at war with Russia, sho conld: ask for nothing, better- .than- that? 5 'wet should . insist on fighting it out m (t'^HeYatv.alley hundreds ot mil^s from ] oup base' arid se 4 parat«d ( from it by the | breadth of Afghanistan, the inhabit- | ante .-of. -which would: probably full upon us weresw« to;meetywjth a reverie. I Let us suppose that the Russians had not ! advanced to Merv, b^ th^tt their frontier I was dose.vto^ the ; Caspiarr Siii, ; and tiiat v j they were possessed with the notion that jwe wished* to'Jinvad<£ tlfeir ; territory. I Should we not regard them as somewhat insane if they-" were ■■&*■' ptish 'forward an ■;»^y. through Turkestan to defend tjieir, j frontier' "by '■garrijJohmg'Merv? Yet, irnutatis mutandis, ithis. igvour policy lin regard to India, -„■ ; ;, - . .r |;' l The f kct' is tlhat there are a certain riumj ber of -'peqplfi' who really ' seem demented jon thiffSßusso^lndian qiiestipn. v Tn'e same | nonsense which has v ;b.een ''tsdkecl during the last, few weeks has been talked previously.whenever, jthe-Russiansmadeian I advance m Central Asia. If we had lisjte'ried to these silly people, we should ihav|,|ailread^ gone t to w^rjv-ith^Rusfia^ rd*dze'h t 'tirneß. "O'rciinariry tHis trash goes jin.at one. ear and out at, another, TbutjOe^ iCa'sipnaUy'the'in^nid, spreads", 'arid for 4 j brief tinie carriei^v^a'y'tiumfbe'rs of lhe r j nngfeflefetipg^; ;£.Thfen,.' f6ftiiria.tie\y)i cQi& : njLon. sens?. agaih= asserts itself: - ; . hu sin ilnr^p.oß o/,;the',iiussp-Afehan^ difficui^/ I a good story is tolol.' , of the / jls^st, Afgrha n t j war. '■ At one' of the bapes 'the 'tjrMsfe ilinei 'represented' by^dne 'English' re'.^i[ment,..some artillery,,. and -some, native ;corps, where assailed by hordes of ]" ghazis "who came down fast and furiiously. The firm», was of the nature I known as .much so [indeed for .a titne-^and jour offlcdrs were |mov^ng|Jabpjit;,6triyingr to maintain disicipline. Echeloned .somewhat to the iright rear of the British regiment, one ot jtne natiye battalions was also ;firins at jthe advancing foe, now close at hand, and the bullets seemed to pass uncomforiably': - near pur men. Suddenly, an ■officer' saw' one of his soldiers turn rj^hx rbuM'and deliber'atfily' fixe into the' na- . tive battalion. " What the deuce are you i aboufv' man?'' ''cried? 4 ' thd'offiberP Klfou're i:firin? ; xdto> pur' -own men !" i' l- Well sir," said the' > many ! riot" irMhe ileast put out, and:- continuing firing, HThe.i.beggaya is afiring into us!" , '. i ). \ i fltJJs stt|.ted ; that i^mon^.theipijincipal; jci'ifes which , have, opprated, to . prpduce . Ja cb'ange m the attitude /bt '/the English] Government towards Busaia ' is the;/re- : cetpt'bf a rep'prf frrim Sir Donald Ste!w- --• Jard. the * Comtriander-in-Chief m: India, ;to[ the effect that the Indian Army could . 'not; as matter pf Iprudence undertake; Jan. espejditiph jto Herat until the, railway,. iis' "completed ;', to tlie. Pisiaeen' Valley,', iwhich 1 , it is now ascertained, will not : ]se ' ddhein^ess^t'Kan^thre'eye'ars. ' " ' .-/ f I . : > U' I f^i\: ■:."':;' .. ■\-.i •■ii.Vilj: | (SPECIAL TO UNITED' ?BBSS ASSOeiATION.) ' j(EGKbTBIC TELEOBAPn. — ■COPYRIGHT. ; ) I ■ London, July 18.' '' ■|. The Bussians have, -flogged a clerk m jthe eniplKy of the British Consul at K.esh, la town'tliirty miles south of Samarcand, •Thie cause of the outrage was the refusal |of the clerk to divulge information rejgarding the Ensrlish Afghan frontier iagents; \ . "'"",". i l( Fi!fteen'-' thousand men', armed '"iritl' fbreedhiaaders,' will pramson Herat,, and. !a^ilarge[?.nu:rhbftr ofi^heavyi gunajjar&j ibeing Bant thprdfor the foßtificatipnpf thej JtoVn. (il . ,*.,,,,/;,,",,'; , ■•.'-.■!

;...■■ jLondon, July, 15,,, i; , In the House of* Cdrn'mons to-night, !the BighfcHpns WilH. Smith, Secretary |of State f6t War Department, brought Jdown • a-motioh for the Supplementary ' pEstimatea. In the course "of nis speech, Mr Smith informed the House that milijtary preparations were being' continued, pending a definite settlement Russia on the Afghan boundary question.