Evening Post. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1881.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 118, 17 November 1881, Page 2

Evening Post. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1881.

THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN ASIA. ♦ If a cable message published in our columns to-day is to be relied on, Ruseia has bj no means abandoned, even for the present, her intentions to advance her frontiers in Asia. The St. Petersburg correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph state* that it is the intention of the Eussian Government shortly to despatch an expedition to occupy one of the principal cities in Turkestan. It is true the Daily Telegraph is not always reliable, and not unfrequently permits a vivid imagination to run away with it. Still the present intelligence has a strong air of vraisemblance, becanse it is strictly consistent with the stereotyped policy of Russia. It is known that many commonicati ms on the Central Asian question have been recently interchanged between the British and Buasiau Fore'gn Offices, but it is asserted that there has been no definite result excepting that the Czar Alexander 111. has been disagreeably impres sad by thfl ' ' nagg ng' ' and at the same time irresolute character diEp ayed by the present Government with regard to Eussian movements in Asia. On the accession of Alexander 111., Ministers were jn a great hurry to declare their belief in Russia's good intentions. The Russian Government caught at this opportunity of pursuing its traditional method of deception, and gave official assurances on the subject, making a formal announce, ment concerning General Skobbleff's recall as an indication that further aggressive movements were not contemplated. Bnt the St. Petersburg correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says : — " It was perfectly well known to everybody that immediately on the fall of GeokTepe, General Skobblovf, who was in very bad health, and saw that no further glory was to be attained for the moment, petitioned to be allowed to return to St. Petersburg. Jealousy at headqu artera prevented an immediate assent to his request, but after a considerable delay it was granted by the late Emperor shortly bafore

his d9ath." Thus General Skobeloff's recall from Asia was simply a concession to the bodily infirmities of a distinguished officer, and not by any means an indication that the national ambition of Asiatic empire was relinquished. Nevertheless the English Government eagerly accepted the Russian assurance, and, with great solemnity, notified in Parliament the recall of General Siobeloff as a most satisfactory action on the part of the present Emperor. Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues, after the position they had taken up, Vy virtue of which they secured their accession to power, wera naturally most anxious to allay public anxiety in England and to avoid questions in Parliament on Central Asian affairs. Meanwhile, however, Russia had not been idle, and further information as to what had been done prior to General Skobeloff's return has since transpired. It is of a most disquieting nature. The Russian Government is perfectly aware that nothing could be so inconvenient to the Glads ivne Ministry as an acknowledged revival of difficulties in Central Asia, and Russia, availing herself of the opportunity, is pushing on with all possible speed toward the long-coveted goal. The Telegraph's correspondent asserts that the Russians " do not w sh to discu3s the subject until they have had time to ocenpy gome of the more important peinfa, their right to which English statesmen might be inclined to question," and expresses the opinion that " under Buch circumstances progress will be rapid, and unless the attention of the public can be forced to tho question, everything will be comfortably settled whilst the British Government- closes its eye 3, and consoles itself with the reflection that a Parliamentary difficulty is avoided." It is alleged that on the other hand, all who are acquainted with the actual internal condition of Russia and the really pacific character of the present Czar, know that if genuine firmness were substituted for " nagging" despatches, the Russian Government must, and would even with good grace, consent to restrain their action within limits compatible with the reasonable demands of the British nation. The treachery and duplicity of Russian diplomacy is proverbial, and it is to be feared that Mr. Glad tone'> Government is no match for it 3 wily and deceitful antagonist. The peculiar intellectual constitution of the late Lord Beaconsfield enabled him to cope with the Russiau Machiavellis and fairly to out-wit and out-manceuvre them. His proclamation of the Indian Empire, and his prompt uti isatiou of the Imperial authority to make his celebrated "move of the Black Knight" — the movement of Indian troops to Malta, which inspired such a panic in Russia — formed the master-stroke of his remarkable career. As to his action in regard to Afghanistan which has been so freely criticised, the Times declares that " the policy of the late Government in Afghanistan at last stands completely vindicated, and that the invasion of Afghanistan in 1878 wa3 an inevitable consequence of a real, a pressing, and a growing danger upon the frontier of our Empire." The proof of this was found in the discovery of certain correspondence between the Russian Government and Shero Ali, which proved to demonstration that the Czar and the Ameer had contracted a close alliance, and that while the Cabinet at St. Petersburg professed to be on friendly terms with England, it was intriguing against the English power in India. Tho Congress of Berlin was 1 opened on the 13th June. On that very day, General Stolieteff left Samaracand. with a letter from the Russian Government to Shere Ali. and with a draft Treaty of Alliance between Ruesia and the Ameer. On 21st September, 1878, more than two months after the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin, General Ktolieteff wrote to the Foreign Minister of the Ameer in the following terms : — " I hope that those who want to enter the Gate of Cabul from the East" — that is to say the English—" will see the door is olosed." n Bth October, or thre* months after the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin, General Stolietkff wrote actually from Livadia itself, the Czar's residence, to the Ameer, " Make ppace openly, and in secret prepare for war." In Decem er the same Russian General wrote to Colonel Eozgonoff, a member of the Russian Mission to Cabul who had lingered behind :—": — " The Ameer knownß perfectly well that it is impossible for me to assiat him with troops in winter. Therefore, it is necessary that war should not be commenced at this season. On 2nd January, 1879, we find General Kaufmann writing in the following strain : — " I have received an order from the Emperor to the effect that it is impossible to as3ut you with troops now." He added', "Believe me, tho friendship I made with you will be perpe'nal. I hope intercourse will bo carried on between us." Three days later his advice was — " For the present, come to terms with the British Government." Such wa3 the treacherous double-dealing of Russia toward England in Afghanistan. In Persia Bhe has been equally active and unscrupulous in her machinations. A prominent' Tersian official was recently hi Sb* Petersburg as special envoy to the Czar on the occasion of his Majesty's accession. It i 3 said that he was treated with the highest consideration, and was completely gained over to Russian views, so that he will be quite blind to the ' Russian infringements of the Shah's territory. The theory which the Russian Foreign Office has adopted on this subject is that no frontier exists, and they base this assumption on the fact that General Skobeloff pushed hi 3 recognaissances after Geok Tepe to within a few versts of Mohammedabad, an undoubtedly Persian town, without meeting any Persian outposts or officials to check his progress. Consequently insidious encroachments in that quarter may be looked for at no distant date. The present movements of Ru-sia iv Persia and Tuikestan, viewed in the light of her past proceedings in Afghanistan, show clearly that her Asiatic schemes are still in unremitting activity, and we can only hope that tbe British Government will not allow itself to be lulled into undue trustfulness by the well-known Russian pympathie3 of its chief.