Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎3r] (5/312)

Tub English Mission to Cabul .—Tho Timet nf
^ We ?iSF d is g ^ native^
their physique, nothiDg wors« than their morals. ' We are
CODteatw.tndascord/said an old Afghan to Elphinstonr
'we are content with alarms, we are content wfthbloS'
but we vrill never be con^nt with a master.' And this de'
termination that the Afghans shall never have a foreim
master is warmly shared by their Russian neighbours whe^
ever the English approach them on this side, and bv the
Thf AflhHi? neV f r it JRu88ians "Pproach them on the other.
H a f ra y 't.®' 1 " alvauta go in coquetting
with each of the two great Powers whose Asiatic terri-
tones they may le said to divide, and, by dint cf smSth '
promises and costly presents, we have certainly done our !
best to keep thu tradition alive. Our GovernmeSt havI I
just heard with some alarm that a Russian Envoy has been 1
received in state by Shere AJi at Cabul; and an SS i
f nCC IZ ^ S( -: nt thither 40 checkmate bis mfchi-
nations and turn the scale again in oar favour. After the '
A 1 7i l K Campaig ? • liussiaris gave us a distinct assurance
that they would inane no endeavour to carry their influence '
h^vr H bu ^ tlie Russians would now pro
bably retort that they have been driven to this step by the
terms of the treaty Sir Lewis Pelly recently endeavoured to
thnnphnf. Envoy sign at Peshawur, and whi:h
though t hey were never accepted, are popularlv believed M
have been aimed at Russia, at a time Sen ww was all b^t
inevitable The Turkutan Gazette, in giving the Peer's
version of this draught treaty, said that ' Sir LewkPellv
endeavoured to make him a vassal of the Indian Govern^
1?,?^ requmng him to accept a pcnnanent British Re-
' TM?' afl by P Iac , in g hi8 troo Ps under British
offlc-ers. This was mamtestly an exaggeration, but articles
wh.ch appeared m our Allahabad contemporary, and have
been widely attributed to the inspiration of SiTLewis
Pelly, distinctlj stated that the mam object of the (reatv
was to allow British agencies to ^ established in
Afghanistan. The Bussians have certainly lost no time in
pushmgnp their inquiries to the fountain-head, and com
ing as they do w:ta ail the prestige aud glory of a nation
who have defeated and despoiled the great Mahomedan
power of Tar Key, it behoves us to restore our shattered in
fluence. For this reason alone we are glad to hear that the
Uo^rnment have at once organizud an expedition strong
enough to protect their Envoy and to imDress the wilif
troora of Shere Ali. But we hope they will go armed with
definite instructions, and hacked up by a stronger frontier
policy than any Lord Lytton has yet enunciated. They
will from the firs, have some lee-way to recover. For
ejected our advances he was dis-
tincolj toid that the matter concerned him rather than
ourselves aud that we shouW ieave him alone until he ap-
^ f e n r 1 tbo P ressnce of a Ruaiian Envoy and an
wInl?o SaC , a P d T ^ in tf| e middle of Afgha
nistan h.as very quickly made us change our minds. The
rlnerS "f ^ Geuera , 1 Abr . a motf, tho Russian Governor-
Tnlv Samarcand, arrived at Cabul on the 22d of
h!!*" . * u® i 21 ? lnst - a Srand review was held in their
honour, to which troops were summoned from all parts of
the kingdom,and then a letter was presented from the Czar
in formal durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). . A reply was sent off there and then by
«rf la u -f? Se ^ Ser in ans . we ^ 40 the ^sian demands, which
tlLT ■ 0 ^' AV0 r ® riUlred the establishment of Russian
agencies in the north-west of Afghanistan and the opening
a i f bctween Afghanistan and Russia. The
Mt WH fS® r ^ y I n0t transpired, but may easily be
gathered from the courteous ceremonial to which the Envoy
and his escort ware treated. That the reply was presumably
unfavourabie to British interests is clearly seen in the
alacrity with which the Government of Inaia have deter-
upo , D despatching an Envoy to a capital which has
not been visited for 60 years, and w/iich we bad just ex
pressed our determination to leave alone. Our special
mission seems to be well choten. The Government will be
repres ented by Sir Neville Chamberlain, who should know
something of the country, and whose blunt, soldierly,
stra ighttorward answers will be the best foil to Oriental
diplomacy. The mission will compriso Major Cavagnari,
who as Deputy Commiisioncr of Peshawur is well poster
i?i. . imn P esbey ? nd his borders, and Major St. John,
K.h., together with Sir NevilU Chamberlain's private 1
sacretary and a medical officer. Escorted by a detachment 1
of the Guides Cavalry and the Hth Bengal Lancers, they i
will leave Peshawur early in September, and as Cabui is i
only about 200 miles from the Kbyt er Pass, they should i
j have had their hrst interview with tho Ameer before |
a month has gone bj-. At the beginning of the year, 1
when Lord Lytton talked of the necessity of a str'nt - ;
frontier policy his chief argument was based upon the !
effects that the exaggerated rumours of Russian success i
must ha^e upon the chiefs beyond our borders. Now, I
however, these rumours are realities, and these realities j
must have been brought very forcibly l.omo to the 1
Ameer by the representative of a conquering nation
which has almost extingaished the power of Roum in
Europe, and taken what territory she required in Asia.
To counteract that influence we shall have to speak a
great deal more to the purpose than wo have cared to do for
| many years back. We are very far from desiring any ex
tension of British territory in the direction of Cabul, and
j we should infinitely prefer a braid barrier like Afghanistan
i between the rival powers of Russia and England, to «ny
mere geographical line over which we could shake hands or
exchange bayonet thrusta according to the mood of the
moment.. But the Ameer should be made to understand
that he has maintained his indepenc'cnce for so Jong by
our goodwill, and that he will not be allowed to barter it
away for all the promises o f a country prodigal beyond all
others in words and undertakings. It is, perhaps, unjust
l io condemn the Russian demands until we atsolutely know
what they are, but Russian presence at Cabul is in itself a
gross breach of the undertaking made in 1872 ; and it is
impossible to forget that; in a hostile line of country held
by troops and governed solely by military men, the local
desire to push forward has often before lecn too string to
chirao in with the published wishes of the Cabinet at St.
Petersburg, which, preaching peace, has managed in several
directions to become encumbered with a good deal of tho
property of neighbouring nations. If Sir Neville Chamber
lain merely goes into Afghanistan to exchange civil compli
ments and to come back rebuffed, we shall be plunged,
before we know where we are, into a new Afghan cam
paign. For it is clear that, with the Ameer s leave or
without it, we cannot allow Russian outpoxts to be esta
blished upon our very frontier. As Lor.i Salisbury said en
Tuesday, ' British iktereets in Afghanistan exceed Russian
interests.'"
HERAT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
foUow7^ enty 280 the late General :acob wrot6a8
•n Whenever the next occasion of war may arise RnRai*
■will, under the policy she is now pursuing in the East be
of 50,000 Europeans and as much Persian rabble as she
mrttTrl" We be 9^ to think,eHously about the
The italics are General Jacob's. Further, he wrote
.'', H ° we J er ' looking onward to a great European war
with a fortress at Herat,and a garrison of 20,000 men there
(which would not necessarily involve any increase to our
;0r ' ati lea,8t ' to its cost), India would be as
firmly locked m our grasp as if surrounded by the ocean.''
Further, General Jacob wrote :—
Rnl.? a Utt >, his - i8l0 u king {ar forward to the time when
Russia, having been shut out from her long-cherished
nrenarTJZw ^all have agafn matured
nfS }. i i a L ariC V n a new direction, and have
poured her whole strength on our Indian frontier."
So far Genera! Jacob 20 years ago. But now it appears
that a railway is In contemplation from Tiflis to Teheran
tbenc f to Herat. Instead of General Jacob's
50,000 Russians, we may therefore expect 200,000 of them
at Herat whenever the next occasion of war with Russia
may arise. Herat is, I believe, defended by colossal earth
works of unknown antiquity. With these railways in con.
templation, and Afghanistan evidently Russian, it is high
time to forestall Russia at Herat. Yours truly,
F. A. E. DALRYMPLE, Bengal Civil Service.
St. Bos well's, N.B., Sept, 9.
irituipl Uttoii nf tfrt SSUtfe.
General Sir Neville Chamberlain is expect
ed ac Simla about Friday next, and there will
await the Ameer's reply to the proposal to
despatch the mission to Cabul.
The escort which is to accompany the Ca-
bul Mission will coosist of three hundred i
■abres ; Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins, Command
ing the Guides party, and Major Prinsep, the
Bengal Cavalry.
The tribes on our North-West Frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. ,
though naturally manifesting a keen interest in
the events attendant upon the arrival of a
Bussian Embassy at Cabul, are altogether
friendly anH orderly in their demeanour.
The Khyberees seem indisposed to place any
difficulties in the way of the passage of
Sir Neville Chamberlain's party through their
pass.