NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2025, 30 June 1885, Page 2

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Tilh following items of gencial news aic e\tiactu\ fiom the Knglish News Letter, iccei\ t'd l>y the mail steamer Zcalaiuha :—: — London, M.iy .S.

The Russian Difficulty. Tnti'llijriMKi tli.it li.ii icachul All ihabad fiom Cihul -Lite- tli.it tin* Ym-ei has oideied tumps to be sent fiom C.iudaliai to cicmttii Hei.it tin gutii which the (iowm meut have oidcicd tn be given to his Highnes-., .iiul which .lie to liv sent ti» Hei.it. One leMiltof the Ku-.ii in fnmtiei bmngconternnnous with th>it of Afghanistan will Ix", accoidmg to competent nuthontiiji, that it will always be necessary to have .t foice in Imh.iof not less than 00,000 Kngli-h troops and l."»0,p00 native troops. A voiy f.ivournblo impression Ilia* bei»n cieutcd iii Allahabad by tho telejV^ojjm; t-uinniiuy of the hihjocJi delivered by Lord Randolph Churchill in the House of Commons. Ki~ lordship created an excellent impression wlnlo m India, and all circles agioo in applauding hi* attitude mi the Afghan frontier que*tiou. PKN.T-DBH. The following facts may be useful in throwing light upon tho disputed question of tho propiietorship of Penj dch. Up to sixty years back Penj-deh was occupied by the Jeiusulis and Ha/.arah.s, and the Her.it (iovczmnent always had repiesentntives tlipje. When the Ais.iri Turcomans nettled theie they always paid tribute to Herat. These were afti'iwaids followed by the Salor aud Saiik Turcomans, and those also paidtubute. Indetd, Penj-deh has, hince the days of Nadir Shah, always la-en acknowledged at foimmg patt of tht ( Jovernment of Hoiat, and sixty years ago Deiweik Khan was its Governor under the Governor of Herat. Jfrniu 18«1 to 18X4 Osnnn Khan was (to\eruor. In 18<S4 tli'iimdi w,f, chief (Jovemoi, and when he left I'eni-deh foi Khiva tins tiibutc of iVnj-deh to Hctat was jiaid through the Ha/aia Chief Kilanan. Since 1881 Heiat has kept at I'enj-deh a body of fifteen Afghan .soldicis as an cscoit for the (4o\ernoi. Todds Map of the I'rovinee of Herat, as governed by Yar Mahomed in IS 10, includes I'enj-deh and Pul-iklintuu. In the face of these facts there can bo no question \vh\tcver that I'enj-deh i\ and has been for a veiy long period, an integral p.irt of the Afghan I'ioviiice of Heiat. IKWM'VM'IXN K.VII.W.U. It is t(*!e o 'iaphed fiom.St Pcte^burg that the coiisti notion of the Tianicaspian tailwnv, umlei the supeiintendancc of (lenur.il Annenkiift, is being inpidly pushotl foivv.ud. The line fiom Ki/il Arvant to K.ichkn, m.I Askabad, is to ho finished by tho autumn, and the further continuation to Mci v by the spring of next year. II Kit \ I. Little credence ii given in official and political cncles in \ lenna to the publiihed statement that Russia lias bound hoiielf uuvi'i to take Herat. What Russia inav have decl.ned, said a nicmbei of the diplomatic coips, is th.it she does not intrnd to occupy Herat ; but no Government, siid he, and least of all niicha (ioveinment .ii that of Russia, could agree in such stnngcnt trim*, to fetter its freedom of action fur an indefinite period, putienluly with n-guil t<i .i country such as Afghanistan, wheie so ninny omeigencioi may .vise that would construin Russia to take Heiat. Tin* view, too, is coiioboiatul bv <i senn-ofhcml Russian communication, publwhed m the I'ohtuchc ('oiiespt'u/, in which it is fuithor stated that a satisfactory teimination oi the present negotiations between Kngland and Ifussia is confidently looked for, unles.s Kngland again puts fonvaid impossible demands, and under this Jiead, .says the l'ohtischr, would come the stipulation tli.it Russia should founally bind herself never to take Heiat. Tlio following infoi itiatinn i-> from the coiiospoudents of the Daily Chronicle: — Su l'eti'r Luuisden's lesiguation has evoked a good deal of feeliiu? m Allahabad, tho geueial belief being tli.it it is duo to the fact that the Jiutish Commissioner no longei doubts that he has been humiliated and thw.uted fiom fhst to last. As to whethei tho Russian attick was an audacioiis aggiossiou or a justifiable act no doubt exists heie, tho evidence pioving its iiggieisivo chaiacter clcaily enough. The con espondent with Su Petor Lunisden at Tirpul telegiaphs, under date of the Ist inst., that the Heiatis and the Kandaharia .ut- veiy desnons „{ having tho co-opeiation of liutish troops for the pin pose of assisting them in checking Russian designs. He fiuther states that the exact number of Afghans killed in the Russian attack at Pul i-Khisti was 237. It ib now established beyond question that the telegi a) )h that is to unite St. Petci»buigh with Mciv has been completed to Kahka— a point about 100 miles east of Askabad, or about halfway between A^kubad uud Merv. It ib

j-*f it'll w it',i sum > >li'i\v of auth iiitv, that t 1 (jiain 1ii»l 1) en ">ent to €ili puts of India from tho Homo Government, instruct! mm o ' the [mil m .I'lthoiitiLM to .it once stop all tho wai prep.u.itious tli it have I men bet on foot Rl -.sl\ Win KNI.I, WD. Xow th it the dispute has taken «nch » favnmable twin it tiny lie worth while to place mi leund si»ne rein irks madn to me, s iys ;i correspondent of the Chronicle, by A \eiy eminent statesman at the ltoy.il c.i-tlfl at Hilda on Sunday last, winch now havo quite .i special significance. " Russia," «aid my informant, "would certainly have advanced on Hrr.it had the dispute taken a diffiM cut turn. Now, however, there are I'u'i il reasons winch will cause her to act with utmost prudence. Ev en if she accepts the frontier laid down by M. Lessar, howex er, she w ill hue scored a decided success, :is th > .n)i>|iti > i oi this limit as her southern fiouti >i blinds lici into touch, direct or i l'hieit, wit'i Enjrl md ; a circumstance the p ilitie.il i up nt in -o of which it would bo dtlKwilt to m i£infy. England haw, therefou>, now ( -iM-cl ti be an island, and will, pi C'Him' 11 1 1 ' nee, have to give u]> an insular pihcy. Sir; will henceforth be as directly ■b ailabl > <■■ any nth >i Europe in Power, and one* Idt-Mi obtains a firm footing in t'm I'.u ipimisiis legion she will not be long liefm »» -.ho suc-eeds in making the n uik io is Afjrhin tubes play the same part in affoidrig an excuse for a, fiuther Russian a hance, as did th * Bulgarians, Servian*, md Aifiicniaiii in piling her » pietovt foi an advance on Constantinople. "There is, in addition,' said my informant, " another reason why Russia should content hei self for the present with a smaller concession .so long as she euisjcure peace, and that in the extiaordinary frieu Iliuess and solicitude which Germany has shown towards her throughout the controversy. It looked, in fact, an if Germany was desirous of hurrying Russia into a war, and consequently the suspicions of Russian itate.sn.en were aroused as to the real intentions of Germany. Russia, therefore, decided to take w hat Mie could get in safety and without wai, and so far as her future action in Ceuti.il Asia is concerned she will not be likely to undertake anything further withoiil coming to a previous arrangement with <!ei many and Austria. On this account," concluded my informant, "the meeting of the tlnee Kmpcrors, in spite of soini official denials, will be ceitain to take place in tho con i se of the coining biiii'.mer, and will be ot the utmost importance to England, inlsiniich as on the results of decisions crnno to at the nipeting will depend Russia's tuithei ach-m in Afghanistan." rHK NhW SOI TH WALK* CONTINGENT. The following item of Parliamentary intelligence may interest our readers. Mr O Donnell asked if it was true that the New South Wales Ministry had no legal authority to «cud a contingent of armed mon to carry on h.i.stile operations in the Soudan?^ Mr Ashley: Ko doubt the Act for the Establishment of the Colonial Forces did not contain any provision for their "inployment in foreign countries, but the Government of New South Wales did not hesitate to take the res|>onsibility involved in piomptly despatching a Colon ill Contingent to the Soudan. (Cheers.) They then applied to the Legislature to confirm the n ac t, w Inch the Legislature did promptly, fully, nnd immediately. (Renewed cheer-.) I should like to read the stnking woids of the Colonial Secretary of Kew South Wales in icply to strictures upon his conduct. Ho said : "We prefer, thank God, slight Constitutional nnpropuetiesto the abandonment of duty and the neglect of great opportunities, and the gloiy of giving noble examples." (Loud choui -. ) Mr O'Donncll asked w hat v, as the intcrnationnl position of aimed men so i.iisi-d employed against any foreign Government? Mr Macfarlane wanted to know whether the same force could be employed in India if required? Mr Ashley: Yes, sir, they can. (Cheers.) MOKK CO.NX'KNSION FROM KXCI.ANM WANTED. London, May ].">. We undei stand, iays the Standaid", that, although no formal reply has as yet been lecmul fiom St. Petersburg, Her Majesty's Government have been informed that tho I haft Agiecment entered into between Kul (iianville and the Earl of Kinibcrly on the one side, and M. Do Staai and M. Lessai on the other, foi the delimitation of the Afghan Frontier, has not pioved acceptable to the Government of the C/ar. " Pouiparlers " are going on between the two Governments, with the view of asceit.'iuiuf,' what modifications «if tho Vgieeuunt are possible, but we believe that the Russian Government definitely declines to sanction the proposals now submitted for its appioval. I'nless fiuther coiicetsmus nij made by England, the negotiations are likely to bo of a protracted nat me. Pro r es3or Vamlwry, at the Society of Aits en May 1, read a paper on Herat, of which, in liSli!), he hnd spoken as the gate of India. Herat, ho m untamed, was a place of great nnpnrtanco in many lepucti ; it was a jewel that had been coveted by every conqueror, as it was still coveted today. The inhabitants hate;] the Afghans and Persians, and thu'i loftiest ide i hail always bcPii the in'l< pc idcuce of Heiat. To tho present day. Mid M. Vamliiiv, 1 1 ci.it was the tradition il highway t'> India.