Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎93r] (189/312)

The Exchange News of the 4th October says :—
" The Ameer will attempt to defend his indepen
dence by force of arras, and if in such case he does
not find a direct ally in Russia, he will certainly
not be refused the support he has a right to cal
culate upon, if only for the reason that the
origin of his quarrel with England was due to
his friendly relations towards Russia. The
possibility of these gates being opened for
Russian invasion is a nightmare from which
1 English politicians cannot free themselves ; on
the other hand Russia, particularly after the
lesson received at the Berlin Congress, can in no
case abandon her influence in the sole point
where she has a possibility to strike anything like
a substantial blow at England."
, (B y S tjbmabinb I klkobaph.)
(fkom our own correspondent.)
BERLIN, F riday.
This evening's Post, writing on England's position
in Asia, says We do not doubt in the least that
England is able to take possession of Afghanistan,
There are, indeed^ Russian newspapers which
declare that Russia will not suffer the conquest
of Afghanistan, but" a man can only prevent what
he is able, and must let the rest go. j
England will overwhelm the Afghans even if j
Russia's Bemi-official alliance affords them the
utmost possible active support." The Norddeutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung publishes a semi-official letter
from St. Petersburg in which it is plainly stated
that Russia really planned to occupy Merv and to
invade Afghanistan, where it is said they would
have been received in a friendly manner by Shere
AIL They next intended to pay a visit to Herat.
Now that the troops of the Ameer of Cabul are
reported by our Special Correspondent to have
advanced beyond Ali Musjid, and to be within
three miles of Jamrud, where the advanced guard
o' the British expedition has arrived, it is apparent
thM we may at any moment receive news of the out
break of hostilities. Jamrud lies at the mouth
of the Pass, and five hundred feet higher
than Peshawur, from which town it is distant
some fifteen miles. Thence the road runs up
the Pass, until ten miles farther the Fort of Ali
Musjid -bars the way. Ali Musjid stands on
the summit of an exceedingly steep flat-topped
lump of rock, which appears to rise in the
very middle of the valley. The road, how
ever, winds round underneath the rock, which lies
on its left. The rock upon which the fortress
stands is too steep to be scaled from the front,
and its fire is supported by that of a smaller fort
built high up on the hill opposite to it. Both the
forts, however, are commanded by higher ground
on either side, and our troops, with their long-range
rifles, could terribly annoy the defenders.
Fortunately, moreover, Ali Musjid can be turned
by more than one minor pass. Thus, there is a
road from the Attock Valley which opens on to
Lalabeg, eight miles in rear of Ali Musjid ; and
there are other small passes which, although not
marked in the maps, are locally well known. One
telegram says that Afghan troops have already been
stationed in these passes. But the Khyber Pass can
itlao be turned by an advance from our frontier
ort of Abazai, north of the Attock, and some
thirty miles from Peahawur. From this post an |
advance might be made by the Inzan Pass to
Lalpura, at the Afghan end of the Khyber Pass. ,
Lalpura and the whole country between that town
and Abazai belong to the Momunds, who are, like
the Khyberees, entirely independent of Cabul,
, and with whom an arrangement for a passage
1 oould no doubt be made. In our advance
m 1839 we installed a new ruler, Torabaz'
Shan, at Lalpura, and this chief remained faithful
to us during the whole campaign. The advance of
a column in the Khurum Valley will also add to
the difficulties of the defenders of the Khyber by
threatening the line of their retreat to Cabul.
In estimating the difficulties of forcing a direct
j passage through the Khyber Pass it must
be remembered that the Afghans have no
knowledge of fortifications in the modern sense of
the term, and that on the occasion of our last
advance they fled with - scarcely any resistance the
instant they saw that we had crowned the
heights. It is said that -since that time the
Ameer has raised and disciplined a regular
army. Such discipline as they can have
! received would be of no use at all in
1 mountain fighting, and our advance since the late
war has been infinitely greater than any that they
can have made. Then the Afghans were armed
with long matchlocks, which carried a bullet
straight and for a long distance, while
' our troops were armed only with Brown j
Bess, whose range was little over a hundred yards, j
It is true that the Afghans have now, in addition to \
their matchlocks, a certain number of Enfield rifles, j
with which we have presented them, and with j
other rifles which they have bought through Persia, |
and perhaps Russia. But these arms ,in hands
undrilled in their use, are little better- than
the native matchlock, with which each Afghan
had been trained to shoot from childhood.
Upon the other hand, the English troops have ex
changed Brown Bess for the Martini-Henry,
and can shoot now as accurately at 1500 yards as
they then could at 100. Rifled cafmon and shell
have taken the place of smooth bores and round
shot, and our troops will. In addition, be
well provided with rockets, missiles which
have a terrible effect upon the nerves of men
unaccustomed to them. With such advantages as
these we may be sure that when the time comes
that our troops receive the order to advance they
will prove themselves as far superior to the Afghans
as did the men of l\ott and Pollock thirty-six years
agq.
SECOND EDITION.
SUMMARY OF NEWS.
Our Correspondent at Bombay telegraphs that
the commencement of hostilities may be expected
at any moment, for the Ameer has ordered the
advance of _ four infantry regiments, who have
arrived within a short distance of Jamrud, where
some British troops have already appeared. The
Afghans are being followed by larger numbers
of the Ameer's troops, and threats are made against
the Khyberees for having allowed the Mission
to pass. Our Correspondent also contradicts the
statement that was recently made about the return
of the messenger who was sent to Cabul with the
last letter to the Ameer, The Russian newspapers
are still writing on the relations between England
and ^ Afghanistan. The Golos considers that Sir
Neville Chamberlain had orders to seek a quarrel,
and that he did not give the Ameer time to reply.
SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 5.
Every good little boy who has been well brought
up is aware that he who governs his temper
wins a greater victory than he who conquers a city,
and knows quite by heart many other pleasing
little sayings about forgiveness and meekness
under wrong. But, unfortunately, all our Indian
fellow-subjects have not been well brought up
and do not see with the eyes of the good
little boy ; and it is upon this fact that General
M'M urdo basis a letter published this morning.
The General admits that Lord L awrence's plea,
that grave as is the A meer's offence " we should not
bear hardly with him on that account," "reads
| wellbut, he continues, " the issue is not confined
to Afghanistan and England, but extends to the
subject races of India, by whom the Christian-like
standard of policy suggested by Lord L aw
rence is not understood at all. Two hundred and
forty millions of people within our frontiers,
and innumerable races without, are waiting.to judge
from their own standpoint how we deal with this
mortal affront; and I claim support for our policy
on the score of the safety of our Empire alone ; and
in connection with this permanent object I express
my fervent hope that the passes into Afghanistan,
1 once they are traversed by our arms, may remain
for ever in our possession, whatever may be our
ultimate policy with respect to that country itself."
These, it must be borne in mind, are not the words
of a theoretical politician arguing ior his own side,
but of a practical soldier who distinguished himself,
when little more than a boy, in the Scinde war
nearly forty years ago, under Sir C harles N apier,
his military tutor and also his father-in-law. Hap
pily, the Cabinet meets to-day, and it cannot be
doubted that the opinions of such men as General
M'M urdo will receive the consideration which is
due to them.