A PLOT IN CASHMERE.

Waikato Times, Volume 2632, Issue 2632, 25 May 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

A PLOT IN CASHMERE.

TIII". Malnrajah of Cashmere's at'einpt to poison the British Resident at his Court excites little surpriso iu Ansrlo-Jndian circles. It has long been suspected (bathe was intriguing with Btissia, and the disclosure of tho correspondence of Ladmandass, the late Prime Minister of the State, only puts what has hitherto been mere rumour into the domain of fact. Truth to tell, Cashmere has for years pa»-t been a very weak point in tho defensive armour of our Indian Empire. The late Maharajah, who died about three years ago, like his brother the present ruler, was believed to have carried on a treasonable correspondence with Rus-ia, and as tho re>ult of a closer surveillance of the " Happy Valley," the Indian Government wero made aware of the highly important fact that through its north-western frontier there was a perfectly practicable route through the Himalayas and the Hindoo Koosh to Ceulral Asia. Immediately the siguificasco of the RussoCashmerian intrigue was recragnised an expedition was despatched in hot haste to Chitral, the border State through which tho route passed, to spy the land. The investigations of this mission fully confirmed tho unpleasant impression which had been created by tho discovery of the intrigues. It was demonstrated that we havo a great deal more reason to fear a. Russian invasion of India by way of Chitral and Gilgit than through Kandahar or Cubul. Thenceforward Cashmere became something more than an isolated and happy hunting ground for officials in search of health. It was a point upon which political officials and military strategist kept their eyes closely fixed. The plot recalls the historical attempt on the life of General Phayro at Barod.i. As was the case with the Gaekwar Mulhar Rao, so it will probably prove with the Maharajah of Cashmere; the attempt will cost him his throne. Anticipating his fate ho had already offered to abdicate, and there is little doubt that, his offer will bo accepted, and that ho will, without loss of time, be sent to join the noblo army of political prisoners who enjoy a comfortable, if somowhat monotonous, existence in some of tho pleasant mountain resorts of India. The officer against whom he plotted was Colonel Sir Oliver St. John, one of the best-known political agents iu India. Colonel St. John is very popular with tho natives, and would be the last man to irritate a prince n it'll whom he was associated by tyrannical or overbearing conduct. It is probable that the Mahajarah was merely a tool in the hinds of his Bengalee Prime Miuister and his disloyal following, whose wings have bceu considerably clipped of recent years, and who chafe under the restraints which have been imposed upon them. Under tho regime of the late Maharajah they were ablo to pursue their career of corruption and extortion without let or hindrance, there being mo British Resident to interfere, but wheu tho present ruler catno to the throue all this was changed. A resident was appointed to tho State, and CTshmore emerged from tho obscurity in which its affairs had been eo long enshrouded. If the Maharajah goes, the Bengalee officers ought to go also, for a more pestilent crew of extortioners never fattened upon the industry of a people. — Yorkshire Post,