Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎45r] (91/312)

THE IXDTAX CRISIS.
THE BRITISH EXPEDITION.
THE STAFF APPOINTMENTS.
VIEWS OF THE RUSSIAN PRESS.
(By E astern T elegraph.)
(from our special correspondent.)
BOMBAY, F riday.
The following is the personnel of the staff for the
expeditionary army as at present decided.
The Column concentrating at Peshawar, fifteen
thousand strong, will be commanded by General
Crawford Trotter Chamberlain, C.S.I., at present
Commander of the Oude Division. He is brother
of Sir Neville Chamberlain, and distinguished
himself much in the last Afghan war.
The garrison of Quetta is being reinforced by
three thousand troops, British and native ; four
thousand troops are assembling at Thull; the re
serve of six thousand men will be collected at
Mooltan early in October.
General Roberts commands the column at Kohat.
Colonels Cobbe and Tytler will each command a
brigade of infantry. Colonel Clough will have the
cavalry brigade. The head-quarter staff will con
sist of Major Galbraith, 85th Foot, Assistant I
Adjutant General; Major Collett, Assistant
Quartermaster General ; Colonel Perkins, Chief [
Engineer. Lieutenants Spratt and Childers will be
the Field Engineers of the Force ; «Captain Wynne-
field will be Telegraph Officer ; and Lord William
| Beresford one of the Aides de Camp.
General Biddulph will command the Quetta
column, having as his brigadiers Colonel Appleyard
and Colonel Nuttall, of the Bombay army, with
probably Colonel Fane, of the Staff Corps, in
j command of the cavalry brigade. Major Wolseley
j will be Assistant Adjutant General, Captain R. G.
Stewart, Assistant Quartermaster General; Colonel
Hitchens, Chief Engineer and Captain Bisset Aide
| deCamp.
General Stewart commands the reserve column,
and Colonel Baxter and Colonel Hughes will be
brigadiers of the infantry. Colonel A. Hills is
appointed Assistant Adjutant General, and Captain
E. F. Chapman Assistant Quartermaster General.
The following troops, in addition to those before
detailed, have been ordered up to Kohat;—
F Battery A Brigade, and 11th Battery 9th
Brigade, under Colonel Alfred Lindsay, and the
8th Battery 4th Brigade, and the 3d Peshawur
Mountain Battery, under Colonel Le Mesurier.
The 5th Company of Sappers, and the 32d Pioneers
are ordered to march at once to Quetta. The A
Battery B Brigade, G Battery 4th Brigade, and the
5th, 9th, and 11th Batteries 11th Brigade, will join
the reserve at Mooltan. A garrison battery from
Madras and one from Bombay, with a siege train,
will probably be despatched to Sukhur. A telegram
from Rawul Pindee states that the troops are all
ready to march, but are awaiting carriage, which
is not expected to be ready for some days.
From Lahore I hear it is understood that
the Viceroy will pass the winter there, instead of
going down to Calcutta.
In Baroda and the native States well affected to
us public opinion is strongly in favour of an imme
diate occupation of Afghanistan and the prompt
punishment of the Ameer.
A telegram from Simla says that in official circles j
it is considered that no advance upon Cabul will |
take place until the spring.
The news has arrived from Peshawur that Kawab i
Goolaan Hussain has returned in safety from Cabul. j | ;
His-report'as to the state of public feeling there is
anxiously looked for. Reports have been received
of a very serious outbreak in the Seistan district,
on the Persian frontier. The rising is said to be a
protest against the line of frontier as settled by
the arbitration of 1872-1873.
Rumours are current upon the frontier that there
is a rising among the Ghiljie tribes. This, if true,
will greatly facilitate . our operations, and will
paralyse the Afghan preparations for the defence
of Candahar.
General Crawford Trotter Chamberlain joined the
Bengal army on the eve of the first Afghan war, in
which jie bore a distinguished part. He was
present at the assault on Ghizni, for which he
received the medal, and also at the siege of
Candahar, and took part in the numerous actions
which were fought outside its walls. He was
also through the Punjaub war, serving at Chillian-
wallah and Goo jera t. He was at Mooltan during
the mutiny, and there disarmed the 62d and 69th
Regiments of Bengal Native Infantry. He com
manded later on the force acting against the
Googairee rebels, and was besieged in the Serai of
Checkawutnee for four days by the mutineers.
For these services he received the brevet rank of
Lieutenant Colonel and the thanks of Government.
He is generally considered one of the most promising
officers of the Bengal army.
(B y G reat N orthern T elegraph.)
(FROM ODR OWN COliRESPONDENT.)
ST. PETERSBURG. F riday. v
The Afghan question is hardly discussed here in
general conversation, and has evidently no hold on !
St. Petersburg society. The London Correspon- |
dent of the Novoe Vremya of the 26th telegraphs j
that Lord Salisbury has addressed a Note to the ;
St. Petersburg Cabinet requesting an explanation
of the objects of the Russian Embassy to the
Ameer of Cabul, and in conclusion the British
I Government desires to know what position Russia
intends assuming regarding Afghanistan. The Golos
i of the 27th says—" These rumours, though probably |
correct, need confirmation, since English diplomacy i
has long been ac3ustomed to put these indiscreet |
sort of questions, violating all ordinarily accepted
diplomatic traditions. We are not initiated in
the mysteries of Russian politics, but are not
i wrong in believing that the answer of our Govern-
; ment to Lord Salisbury will be as follows. The
noble Marquis will probably be informed,firstly,that
the S t. Petersburg Cabinet does not consider itself
bound to explain, to whomsoever it may be, its
aims when sending missions to any foreign poten
tate, European or Asiatic ; secondly, that in war
between England and Afghanistan Russia intends
; observing just such a strict neutrality as England
observed in the war between Russia and Turkey. We
shall not be behind England in strictly adhering to
the laws and rules of international right; but shall
not go a step further in that direction." Then
follows a long tirade about the Stafford House
Committee, British officers in the Turkish service,
the conduct of General Kemball, as examples of
England's idea of strict neutrality. The Moscow !
news of the 26th considers war with Afghan will be
undertcften by Britain to keep up its prestiget—a,
French word synonymous with inflated glory and
(hollow strength. It is not the first time the
English have been misled by that word.
(B y S ubmarine T elegraph. )
(from our own correspondent.)
ROME, F riday.
The affront that has been offered to England in
Afghanistan is the subject of much discussion here.
It is openly attributed to Russian influence.
The Opinione says it would not be surprised if
after all the affair came to nothing at present
as England cannot desire to engage in war, and
IF would be impolitic of Russia to hurry on a
conflict of which she must indirectly bear the con
sequences.