The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1885. THE AFGHAN QUESTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2030, 1 July 1885, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1885. THE AFGHAN QUESTION.

The Afghan difficulty is apparently not by any means a thing of the past. Within tho past two or three days several items that smell unpleasantly strong of powder have come to hand I' 7 cable. One of these, for instance, conveyed the intelligence that the Afghan oufcpos.tu were threatening the Russians, which is of jjself sufficient to show that neither side has rejiixed its vigilance on tho frontier; ' while another was to the effect that an English messenger on the Persian frontier had been imprisoned by the fyussiaps, Of course, we do not know the devils, and it is not at all improbable that some provocation had been given in both cases; In,it if so, it has been given by botln sides, because in one case the Russians have taken active steps, while in t)ie other the Afghans threaten to tab tlmm. Yesterday afternoon the news arrived that a rebellion had broken out iii Afghanistan, and that the rebels, who were assisted by Russians, had seized a town, ami obtained possession of a large sum of money belonging to the Ameer, or, presumably, to the State. We think tliat this item will prove to be intimately connected with the two which we .mentioned above, Russia has evidently continued to intrigue, and with an ejSect that, so far, must prove highly satisfactory to her. The Ameer probably had an inklipg fjiat something was amiss, ami hence the attitude assumed by bis troops. ]n how far

Etissia is involved in the revolt will, no , doubt, he explained before many days have passed; hut on the face of the ; message it certainly appears as if England were in a position to demand another explanation, and this time on a , more serious matter than the Penjdeh i incident, The fact of a Conservative ' Ministry being in power in England leads to the conclusion that England will not be satisfied with the mere assurance that Russia did not, or does not, mean to do anything of an aggres- , sive nature; nor will this affair be so i easily explained. The aspect ot the,

question Ims t>e<*n completely changed, and it is impossible to foretell the end of it.