The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1904. DARK DEEDS IN THIBET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 38, 15 February 1904, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1904. DARK DEEDS IN THIBET.

Writing <m tdie lufct tftty of the year just past tin' London Daily News drew atti.Mvlf.on to an article published in thy Contemporary Kevjew, over the signature "Alexander I'lar," and ventures the opinion that yon.-e njotifle of it \\v>uiO V/ or should, |i w taken by the Imperial Parliament. We do not kWow, tho Daily News goes on, who Mr War is, lAit a year ago there was in the same review the text of a "Uusso-Chinese Convention" on the subject of Thiiiji.'t. Mr liar now. eon us forward with Ljie situry of a duiinite arrangement substituting a Knssian i'rotectorate of Thibet for the Chinese suzerainty that formerly »nv\ ailed, and even making 1 the C/ur jjjo "Grand MawU-r aud Guardian of the Gilts of Faik'fo"—i.e., <»i" tin* Tluddhitib religion at its thjs, says Mr (Jlar, is ksuiww to Lord Cur/on, a/nl is t-ho real cause of the expedition, conceived 'iiy the " mos-t Asiatic who has over Ikiml w.nitrusjUd wjtji the government of Iwglu.nd's Asiatic Kmpire." If )t js objected that the AniUms, representing the temporary suzerainty <#f ))u» Manehu dynasty. rcm u in at Uiassa, .Mr liar's is tlvait t-lws is all lt Ja «A:»jluLi,e .blind. So, it api>eai'K, are biie oflieinl reasons for the English expedition. The Sikkini Treuly, on which Lord Ciu'zon is going!, jis woiMdess in Useli—indeed, it was the cause of thy Dalai Lama fulling into the arms of the Great White Czar—it was forced on the TliilMnn's, and the ti'flde inter-

ests it is supposed to safeguard arc ! wuri i-l^'.s.■■. The leal object ni iLe 1 c\| ■ ■iiiiii n is lu prove In ! lie I enms Ihul lire lius.Uii'i) I ri>.wt«i-Rte ' s I useless, and that (lie true I'lietnl is Codlin not Short—liwha not Russia. | Again, tile objection arises—ii' Uus- j siil !.:as a protirrl ora t e over Thibet., j how can we enter tile territories of ; her vassal without an art ■if war { Iver AgVvin, the ingenious Mr I'lnr is randy tvitli his answer. Russia, lie says, made the mistake of keeping her l ; |ro'tecloiiate secret, so that now s'.e cannot, avow it, and can only look on and finish her tii.t.li while we tear up this treaty of the .Mailiat.uuvs —we mean the Lamas. Meanw'hile, our policy must, be to do no harm to Tlvibel, lait simply to sujl.Ut ittite ini.ljan for-Mus-covite influence. ami encourage the Ilalai J-.iania to believe that we are the true protectors of liuthlhisin. H\ so doins we uia.y (I) get a railway through Thibet lo Sze-tihwan, (2) "imperceptiiily influence the innumeral I.' crows of Central China," and (H) realise the '"grandes-l hope" of Great Britain, which uppers to "an Empire li'oin Ki.tii aitchee to Shanghai. fiioni the Y : i"ll|>w Sea to the Red." The submerged tenth in J.imehonso will be greatly cheered by this inspiriting news, which, indeed, wants nothing in amplitude and pict<iresi|:ueiie.s.s. For the moment we shall be interested ti> hear the rnHicial disavowal of tile ollicial excuses for the wAar in r l )ii 11■ ■t. and to have a copy of till' new Russo-Thibelan Convention laid on the table of the House of Communis. ON THE FOURTH PAGE. Ancient Order of Foresters.' School Commissioners. The Far East.