The Daily News FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21. BRITAIN'S AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 53, 21 February 1908, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21. BRITAIN'S AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA.

There ait apparently good grounds fur heliuviiiy that in tik' agrot'inenl with I ! Klls-ia yOinl-HiiUuvd John lillli has l>e:M considerably over-readied. In all agioe- 1 ; meni>. whether between individuals or i Mil it 1 -, tin 1 character of the stilwribini! | jisiiiii'M constitutes an vlemeul of t iu< 1 greaU'-t weight. Thei'e one df the eon- | Intcling parties is honourable to t'a--tidiou-aie-s. and the other attaches lilt It* importance to hi" bond: which of them Is IlLl'lv It) CollU' bell r]' oil' in 1 lie ('lll.' What ha> been tlit l almost invariable policy of lliboia in Asia'; She lias -cut forward oini>saries to create disturbances in the towns uf various eovei.'d Stall's, ami tlnn—to put down the disturbances sin' ha- her-eh caus<'d -an army lias followed. Occupation tliuri ob- | laiitcd was never Mirrcndered. for the SU'm's became the ]«>sst'»ion-, of liu.-si.i. j In this way nearly the whole of the north uf Asia ha-, been acquired. >0 thai now lier frontiers are eoterniino'i-s with I'eiMa. iVliirlustan. Afghanistan. India. Thibet, China. Her armies have overran . laiK-limi;i. The number .if promises Uu>»ia mailt* tu evai-nate Mai-rlmi-ia-vvcry one of which she falsili ~1 - ;iii|iears tn have been forgotten. Hid she kf.pt reasonable good faith she win Id have been -pared the liuiiiili.il i hi uf a perfectly disastrous war. On the .Afghan frontier ami amongst tin- Indians on thi' north of Hindustan, has pursued a policy iif ceaseless encroaclinrnt iiinl uf intrigue involving Hnglaiil in miini'ion- potty wars m.l pushing i", I'll I s In thi* verge of a groat catastrophe. Vet, in all the speeches wliii'h have Im'cii delivered. in all prc«s artieL's which haw appeared, the parties lo the agreement have been treated as on a par with regard t» respect of obligations. As a matter of fact this is th< governing feature of the whole argil nil" lit.

Kngland has won her predominating i lluence in Afghanistan by Hie sacrifice '-f lhe lives of thousands of her sons and expenditure of millions of her money. She ;inil guarantees the rul'T. Practically the l'u>sian has been kept out of tlie country. Why? Because it v. as believed that with Russians : n Kabul there would lie unceasing intrigue. disorder, and danger. Under the agreement. Russia "concedes" to Kngland Iter predominance and territorial rights in Afghanistan—a- mighty great favour truly—but Russian otlicers are to be allowed to freely confer with Afghans on non-political matters. What security has England that this stipulition as to "non-political" matters will b-.' faithfully oWwed'; The word of Russia! The bond of Russia! Wlkii di-turbancc* occur-—and that they will (win* i« a moral certainty—Russia wiil. •»f course, disavow responsibility. a> sin* his always done in the past under similar circumstances. If those intere>ted in this <|Uestion will take the trouble \to read Captain RurnabyV " llido io Khiva," they will gather a Utile knowledge of Russia's methods in the J\a;t. Sn far as Afghatiirl.lll N r-oneeiiwtl, the alleged concession to England posts l!u». fiii absolutely nothing: the collection which England makes to Ru-sia afl'Ords th;' latter the very opportunity for which she ha* been trying many years. It will be >eeu how hea\ily character for faithfulne--5 weigh> in tirs : (i>miectii»u.

In mil, h the i-aiiir way, Russia "coice les " 1,1 liriiaiu ihe freedom of the Persian Culf to Iraile. These so-call-d concessions are spoken and written of as if they had a substantial meaning. The dominance of Britain in the Persian Uilf has subsisted for comparative age*, and Its maintenance never was in any way dependent upon the favour of Jtussi.i. Again Russia does not pan wilh anything, and she gains what she has h;-cn lighting for since the time of I'eler tile i;reat--aecer,s to a southern -:'; i.

Iler wars with Turkey were to acquire Inv access to the Mediterranean. To In- the value of Afghanistan i- that ii is a l»ie step nearer to the Paeilie. Now, l>y this agreement slu- i-, «iven a step towards ii 11 open door In a sea lhat is n vt'r close,l by natural iii)]x><!iiiten < . I" Itus-ia mis iit is simply iuuuon-e. M. Yamherg--and with regard to anything Persian there can scarcely Ik> a higher authority has pointedly observed (hit there was a time when " llrii i-'i influence was powerful to the Court of the great Persian King in miule'ii lime-, when the Russian Knvoy had to appear at the audience in the company of and servants. Half a ecu fury ago the inllneiice and of Kiigland war- paramount."

Bui in Persia those "high and palmy ilsys*' for England have passed away. She i. now content 10 shale eipi.il -pliere- of influence with llnssia, her liii hcrto implacable foe—Hu.ssia to have tli;: northern. iSritain the southern wi'h a neutral /.one between—but the critical authorities allirm that this its positively tli' very wor.t feature of the whole agreement. It has been asserted that "the greatest, tlie richest, the most fertile and the commercially as well as i-i----du.triously most important portion has Ih'i'H allotted to the formerly-despised Uussia.' whilst England's share consists of "arid, barren, and sunburnt 1110:11tain tracts of very little value." Also, that by (hi- agreement the Caspian !.:• COOK'S a liussian lake. In nliv case Hu.-da held tlie Caspian as assuredly as luigland holds the Persian C.ulf or Afghanistan, so thai there is nothing in thin alleged concession, and who knows what mineral wealth may be hidden in the despised mountains. With the exception of (lie Convention with France concluded some four years »g 1, in tlie making of international agreements Britain a. a rule comes oil' second liOst. Jler statesmen are lolly, bigiiliiiiiiled men who scorn to haggle about comparative trifles, and (hey will concede with dignity anil good nature. Iwvcn a desire to arrive at an amicable understanding with I'nssia she would be prepared to sacrifice a good deal, buf flic 'piestion is. bow long is such good 111: lersfanding likely to last? If Russia adheres faithfully .o her bond. I lie work! may gain much, however Kngland loses; but i! will lie the first time in tlie e\ pel iciice of the world I hat llnssia has ever been iruly r 1 ithfill 1.. anything -avc her old iradili'.nal un-i rupulons policy.