Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎19r] (38/312)

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and
has hushed every voice that might before have
' essayed to defend his conduct, by the uncourteous
1 and marked manner in which lie has declined to
receive a BritishMission, even while that fromRussia
was still residing within his territory. His action,
hostile at any moment, is aggravated by evfery in
cident of time and circumstance. The aflront was
not given in the dark, but in the full light of day,
in the presence of those very hill-men, of his in-
tiuence over whom S he re A li so lately boasted. |
The Indian Princes who formed part of the Mission
were also the witnesses of the withdrawal of the
British Mission to Peshawur, and thus recognised
the unequivocal admission that an Afghan Monarch ,
had bade defiance to the great lords of India.
Throughout British and independent India there
is the keenest expectancy, and whether the indi- j,
vidual be animated by hate or by love for our rule,
he, alike, awaits in suspense the next move of the
British Government. Our relations with Afghan
istan have reached an acute crisis, but our -
relations with the peoples of India are also inti
mately wound up with the manner in which we deal
with the difficulty. Whatever hostility there may be
to our rule in Central India, or whatever fanaticism
there may lurk in Mussulman bosoms, may be rripped
in the bud by a resolute policy beyond the Indus.
They have all, we may be sure, been made more
keen, more alive, by the rebuff to our Mission at Ali
Musjid, and their vitality can only be allayed by
as prompt a redress being secured as the affront
was proclaimed. A false step at such a moment as
the present, or the least betrayal of vacillation of
purpose, or of an optimist view of the future, will i
not only immeasurably increase the prestige of
Russia in Central Asia, Afghanistan, and India,
but will also accentuate the sentiments of our own
Indian feudatories, and will infallibly weaken our
hold on India and our reputation throughout the
East. While Russia dominates, as she does at
present, in the councils of Cabul, there can be no
peace of mind for us in Delhi or Calcutta.
At the present moment the question is
anxiously under consideration by the Cabinet, and
already, to justify our suspicions, the mutual
confidences that have passed between Simla and
Downing-street have borne fruit in acts of an
important and decided character. There'is one fact
which shines out clearly in the pervading darkness,
and that is, that it is hopeless to expect
to be able to influence S heee A li by gentle ;
means. He has shown himself both in his
relations with ourselves and with Turkey
to be of an unyielding nature ; and these Eastern
despots, when they once become inflated with an
idea of their own power, become indifferent to
argument and blind to persuasion. They only
recognise superior force. S here An has put him
self outside the pale of the law, and he must
expect the same treatment that is reserved for such
rulers as T heodore or the King of A shantee.
The continued presence of General A beamov at
Cabul undoubtedly adds to the gravity of the occa
sion. We find a Russian Envoy domiciled in the
capital of a neighbour, whose hostility has become
more pronounced since the arrival of that envoy ;
and we turn back to past events to consider how
it is that no English envoy preceded the Russian,
and we find the cause to be that the ruler
declined persistently to receive one. The ex-
he gave were flimsy, yet we accepted
had
them* and why 1 Simply because we
a diplomatic engagement on the part of Russia
never to interfere in the affairs of Cabul. Had we
known that Russia was resolved not to abide by her
engagements, is it to be supposed that we should
for eight years have tolerated the isolated attitude
observed by S heee A li ? Should we have condoned
the numerous petty acts of discourtesy which mark
| the years from 1870 to the present time ? It is not
in reason to suppose so. We temporised because we
thought there was no danger here from Russia. She
kad tacitly admitted that south of the Oxus she
kas no busjness ; and we could consequently permit
the intervening state of Afghanistan to follow its
own free will, even if that inclination sometimes
leads it into acts that we should not tolerate on the
part of Bunnah or China. We have had to pay a
sufficiently severe penalty for our confidence in the
period of alarm through which we are now passing,
and must for some time yet pass ; and while we are
compelled to recognise on what a weak basis our
! tranquillity depended when its chief support was a
i Russianguarantee, we may seek consolation in the fact
I that Russian diplomacy has, after all, duped only
itself. It has succeeded, no doubt, in enlisting
; S here A li on her side, and, at a first glance,
I that would seem to be a great triumph. But the
advantage thus secured is more than balanced by
the fact that S here A li's policy towards
India has been declared. His hostility is pro
claimed to the Feringhees at the moment
that his partiality for Russia is demon
strated. But the blow has been struck too soon ; the
announcement is premature and too loudly declared.
The insult is as great as it can be, and beyond
all hope of reparation. And while Russian bayonets
are far to the north of the Oxus, S here A li has
declare 1 his hos ility to a Power that can concen
trate 40,000 men on his frontier in ten days. He
has permitted himself to be quelled by the
delusive gyomises of the Muscovite, and,
led away by dreams of conquest in the
Punjab, he has placed his life and power on the
hazard of «die. But, although Russia has so far
been prem&ture that she has precipitated events
be ore she was near enough to contribute her
assistance to Cabul, she has, in a minor sense,
been successful. She has embroiled England and
Afghanistan, natural allies though they be, and
thus effectually dispelled all those dreams that were
indulged in of making Cabul the Belgium of Asia.
But, gi-eat success as that undoubtedly is, the
more sober-thinking of the English people
may yet feel disposed to thank her for
. having effectually dispelled a sham. Be activity
j " masterly " or " mischievous," India can never be
| held securely, nor its people rest contented and
tranquil, so long as the relations between their
country and Afghanistan are severed. Whether we
shall be compelled to annex Afghanistan or to
establish on the throne some other member of the
reigning family is as yet uncertain; but there can
be no hesitation in declaring that the redress to be
exacted for the rebuff offered us at Ali Mus
jid on Saturday last must be of the amplest
kind, and that the outcome of the Anglo-Afghan
j crisis must be the dismissal of the Russian envoy,
and the reception of an English representative at
Cabul. There is, moreover, no time for delay.
| News travels quickly now-a-days, and the voice of
! rumour magnifies with all its ancient power.
Ere this the facts, distorted and magnified,
are the topic in the principal cities of
India, and with each day's delay their evil influence
will be spread. Promptitude and boldness will yet
convert this check into the means for obtaining a
permanent and satisfactory settlement of our Cen
tral Asian policy ; but to prevent all possibility of
a Russo-Afghan combination we shall have to
follow up at once the action which we have lost not
a day in taking.
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