Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1885. WAR IMMINENT.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7145, 24 April 1885, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1885. WAR IMMINENT.

The war-clouds thicken, and at any moment the tempest of man's fury may burst forth. The latest news from England is the most serious and momentous yet received. It requires Ministerial confirmation, and tnay yet prove to be an exaggerated statement, but " where there is smoke there is fire," and where men in high official positions make statements of facts there is generally a large substratum of truth at the bottom, even though the exact truth has been' exceeded. We gather from the tenor of the message that in this instance the news is credited in circles usually well informed, and it is entitled to serious attention, if not to absolute credence. It is confidently stated that Russia refuses any further explanation of, or reparation for, what is euphoniously called the "incident" which, cost nearly 600 Afghans their lives. If this be true, it leaves England no alter* native but dishonor or war. The Ameer was specifically assured of the support of England, and he was told to resist the Russians if they advanced. They did advance, the Afghans did resist, and were defeated. From the first it was manifest that the proverbial " three courses " were not present in the settlement of this question. Only two courses were possible. Either Russia must apologise and make what reparation lay in her power, or England must fill her guarantee to the Afghans. The only " third course " which could possibly present itself involved the dishonorable withdrawal from the guarantee, and honorable men could not for one moment consider that course open as a practical solution of the difficulty. The position now ia this — that Russia has deolined to adopt that course which would have preserved peace, and if she persists in her determination England has no resource but to declare war. That this is the view taken iv England is evident from the concluding words of the telegram : - " Peace is now despaired of." As we have before pointed out, Russia had the decision of peace or war in her own hands, and her recent extensive preparations for war all showed that her professions of a desire for peace were diplomatists' evasions, to use the mildest term possible. She has from the first known whether there would be peace or war, and as she has prepared for war we must conclude that she means there shall be war. Her surly refusal to satisfy the extremely moderate demands of England, if she has really acted as represented, is a token that she is now ready, and war may be declared any hour. Let us hope that England is as well prepared. [Since the foregoing wbb in type we received this morumg at 3 o'clock the telegram from London which we publish in another column, stating that the accuracy of the intelligence previously forwarded is doubted. Matters, however, are gloomy enough, as may be seen by the remark of the Daily Neivs, " tha{; the patience of England is almost exhausted." The Daily News, we may mention, is credited with being Mr Gladstone's special organ.]