Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 1884. ENGLAND AND RUSSIA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 236, 2 September 1884, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 1884. ENGLAND AND RUSSIA.

In these times of advanced and intricate diplomacy,' it is wise not to *be alarmed at every little scare, or (discomfited hy every fals,e, alarm, th^t is raised from ' time to time but th^ position which Russia is holding at the present time towards India, fc & most menacing one, and it is pretty evident that the nation holds certain subtle intentions .which are fry no means favorable to British interests. We could M afford tp haye any foreign power enproaching very much pn our Indian temt/o^ but least of all can we allow R,UB#a to take such liberties. The thin qna of a wedge, when once inserted, remures but little pressure to over/oowvejt^/9 greatest obstacle, and if England were allow Russia an. extra inch move territory than actually belonged to her, jjhe wqiqldjnv mediately play for the proverbial ell. In fact this little Btrategem on fjhe part of Russia is almost an »ecomslished fact already, only, luckily, the game has not succeeded, so far, #$ any rate. So that . there is sufli-

cient ground for looking upon this danger m the light of a true one, and some excuse for holding appTehensions of a quarrel, or even perhaps a war, at- no very distant period with Russia. The .English Government have already appointed a commission to enquire into the matter, and to determine a boundary line between England- and, Russia; The, Home, papers shew v Trow 1 ever, that the latter country had forestalled us m the matter of fixing the line, having previously issued official maps which defined it clearly. This line, laid down from a Russian point of view, was investigated, and at once found to be some. 3oo miles further south than it should be, according .to. English 4deas. This was of course a mistake which it was natural enough that our Russian friends should make. To. be a few Hundred miles on the safe side was a wise precaution to take. The only little ; difficulty is tnat the Royal Commission will probably upset the nicety of the little ari rangement,and curtail to a considerable extent the amount of country thus so easily acquired. Bujt whatj 'most indicates the character pf 4mr frieiicls is that when accused of -fixing the boundary line without consuiting British' authority they would not acknowledge the official map that defined it, saying, that it was issued by some department other than the diplomatic one, and was unauthorized. Truly this reveals a state of things that is i altogether surprising. A Government allows maps to be issued which distinctly shew a line as running m a certain fixed direction, and that line a most important one, and one on. which perliaps the . peace of two great Powers depends 3 and then when its correctness is disputed, they blandly say that it was unauthorized by themselves, although they cannot deny it to have been issued by themselves. When the question of the Russian approach to Merv was brought up m the British Commons, a statesman who spoke upon the necessity of investigating the matter was twitted pn his " Mervousness, v as it was playfully called ; but the question is now beginning to occupy the serious attention of those whb formerly treated the matter |m the light of a joke pr of unfounded apprehensions.