INDIA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 265, 14 November 1885, Page 7

INDIA.

A despatch from London, Oct. 15, says the trouble between Burmah and the Government of India will probably lead to the annexation of the former to India. The matter was seriously discussed at the Indian office at date, and it is generally believed that sufficient force will bo sent to Maudalay to depose King' Theebaw and annex the country, in order to prevent future complications whenever the King wants to raise money to give a great feast. Lord Salisbury declared, on the 13th, that the French Government had disavowed the action of the French Consul in Burmah, and that the French had no designs there. Advices from Askabad say that the English engineers at Herat are preparing fur the construction of a railway to Candahar.

Lord Salisbury's Interview with

the French minister

Despatches of Oct. 13th say Lord Salisbury had a long conference with Waddingtou, the French minister, in reference to the complications between Burmah, France, and England. It is evident King Theebaw is relying on France for assistance against England, but is mistaken. France offers no opposition to British annexation of Upper Burmah, or the protectorate over Mandalay, the capital of Burmah. English soldiers serving in the Indian army whose time of service has expired, have been ordered to remain in India until the settlement of the Burmese dispute. The Indian Government's ultimatum to Theebaw demands that the British envoy be given a fitting recaption, and that the action against the Bombay Trading Company be suspended till he has examined the disputed points. Meantime a combined military aud naval force, numbering 10,000 men, has been fitted out at Calcutta to proceed to Rangoon. Despatches of the 19 th say Nyoungok, half-brother of Theebaw, who has for some time been residing in Calcutta, will go to Rangoon as British nominee to succeed the King unless the latter submits to England. Despatches from Maudalay say that every available man has been summoned for service. The Burmese Ministers have decided to stop the British Envoy with the Indian Government's ultimatum at the frontier. The " Times" advices are to the effect that complete anarchy prevails in Burmah. It is expected that the Dacoit tribes will storm Mandalay. A very hostile feeling is shown in Burmah toward all foreigners, and a general massacre is expected. The Italian Consul at Mandalay has been threatened with imprisonment. The authorities at Woolwich Arsenal have been ordered to supply 10,000,000 rounds of cartridges and 10,000 rifles for the expedition to be sent against Thcsbavr.

The Latest

Despatches from Calcutta, October 22, say contingents of the Indian army are rapidly being transported to Rangoon, where the expeditionary force is to be assembled for the invasion of Burmah. The Burmese Government is actively preparing to resist the advance of the British troops, and the engineers are busily engaged in erecting earthworks, planting torpedoes, building firo-rafts, loading hulks with stones and sinking them, and placing chains across the river to obstruct navigation. On the 23rd October, the Burmese Envoy at Paris handed a note to Lord ' Lyons, in which he stated he had sent a despatch tn his Government advising that arbitration be accepted, and was certain they would be glad to restore friendly relations. Tho European residents in Burmah, he said, were perfectly safe. The people of that country had no desire to be hostile to England, The " Journal dcs Debats " urges the French Government to protest against British annexation of Burmah.

The Afghan Controversy.

A London cablegram of October 2.), says the official Blue Book, giving a history of the negotiations between Great Britain and Russia regarding the Afghan frontier, is published, and forms much more interesting reading

than such summaries usually do. About one half the dispatches published in the book are signed by Karl Granville, and the other half by Lord Salisbury, the present Premier. The

;olegram says the contrast between the

two is most marked. Granville's utterances show weakness and shiftiness ; Salisbury's, on the other hand, are noticeably linn and vigorous. From the moment he took control of affairs, the tone of the dispatches from St. Petersburg became greatly changed. Where before they had been alternately sneering and threatening, they became elusive and crafty, but always respectful. It became evident to the Kussian official mind that it was useless to try to bombast Salisbury. Do Giers suggested that the question of (he ownership of the Zulfikar Pass lie postponed uutil the other points were settled The proposal was promptly negatived. Dc Giers then offered to submit the Zulfi-

kar Pass question to a geographical commission. This was also peremptorily refused, and Russia yielded. It is evident from the study of the despatches, that war trembled in the balance on several occasions. There

were also incidental squabbles about certain Persian matters, which indicate

that sooner or later there will be a serious complication between Persia

and England. The pubticafion of the Blue Book, at this time, is bound to have a great elTeut upon English politics, and its results arc almost certain to be more favourable to the Conservative than to the Liberal party.