THREATENED ANGLO-RUSSIAN WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7272, 10 March 1885, Page 5

THREATENED ANGLO-RUSSIAN WAR.

♦ ■ BEITISH ULTIMATUM. WAR PREPARATIONS. ICSYEMENTS OF RUSSIAN TROOPS. PROPOSED ANGLO-TURKISH ALLIANCE. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. —COPTBIGHT.] [BKCTEB'S TBLEG3AM.] [Received March 10,1.10 a.m.l London , , March 9. In connection with the Anglo-Russian difficulty it has trnspired that the Government has demanded the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from beyond the Afghan frontier. The situation is generally deemed moat critical, and active warlike preparations are now proceeding both in England and India in view of possible hostilities. The Porte has offered to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with England in the event of an embroglio with Russia. Latest telegrams from Central Asia report that Russian troops are being moved southward from the Caspian Sea in considerable numbers. London, March 8. Earl Granville has sent an ultimatum to Russia, demanding the withdrawal of their troops from Afghan territory. The Ameer of Afghanistan is sending reinforcements to the frontier. England and Russia have sent immense orders for cartridges to America. The towns of Quetta and Pishin have been reinforced. The Emperor William is impressing upon the Czar the desirability of an amicable settlement of the arrangemet of the Afghan difficulty. It is reported that the colonies have offered a contingent of 50,000 men in the event of a war with Russia. London March 9. Russia has offered to abandon her claims to the hills bordering on Herat, provided that she is allowed to retain possession of the recent seizures of territory in that neighbourhood. RUSSIAN DESIGNS ON INDIA. A recent number of M. AksakofPs Ruse contains a very remarkable letter from the pen of General Soboleff, the welUknown Russian officer and expert in Central Asian .affairs, demonstrating the necessity for the acquisition of India by Russia. Be proceeds thus :—" Wβ can only defeat the enemy by striking at his very heart, which, in the case of England, means India. England's immense trade in the east is entirety dependent on her possession of Hindostan. There is scarcely a well-to-do English family or commercial firm that is not more or less dependent upon Indian trade or occupation in the Indian service. As to the difficulty of a campaign in India, is it not { plain that in the present conditions of Central Asia, and in view of our favourable position there, a Russian expedition would be far less difficult than those of Semiramie, Seepstrie, Alexander the Great, Ghengiz Khan, Tamerlane, Nadir Shah, and others ? And what if we enter India and proclaim a liberation of the natives from the English yoke, leaving them their independence when the English have- been routed ? Should we not have millions of Indians at once on our side ? It has already been asserted by a native authority that our friends in India, whenever we undertake such a task, will be as numerous as the stars in heaven. Let Englishmen think over this. Let them decide whether they will have us or the Germans for friends. We have now gone far beyond Geok Tepe. Msrv is ours. The Tekkes and Saryks are subjects of the White Czar. We are now nearer to Herat than to St. Petersburgh is to Narva,, and if we are wise in the question of settling the north-western frontier of Afghanistan, and have the courage to declare to England that we are the real rulers of Central Asia, and will not hesitate to expel anyone who treads on our toes there, you may rely on it that the English will be disconcerted and confused. In the meantime we will go on making our clay pots in Central Asia. After clay will come the period of bronze,. and with God's help we shall eventually reach the age of gold." WHT BFSSIA DESIRES WAB. The St. Petersburg correspondent of the St. James' Gazette, writing of the position of affaire in Russia, says :—"Symptoms of fear, not only for the personal safety of the Czar, but of a general rising, and especially of a military revolt, abound on every side. Peculation and official corruption, after receiving a momentary check, are as rife as ever. Immediately after the Russo-Turkish war the Czar made a-spasmodic attempt at reform in this direction, an attempt which almost resulted in his bringing one of his own near relatives before a court-martial; but of late he has seemed to acknowledge that the task of cleansing such a gigantic Augean stable as the Russian Administration is beyond even his theoretically unbounded power, and things have gradually drifted baok to their former deplorable state. Jewbaiting, Nihilist hunting, oppression of the Baltic provinces in the west, and extension of the frontier in the cast on the principles laid down in General SobolefTs celebrated letter, suffice to fully occupy the time and attention of the Emperor's present counsellors, who would regard any attempt at internal reform as a tnoat dangerous proceeding. The more intelligent and enlightened members even of the Conservative party view the situation with undisguised alarm. The higher the pressure at which the machinery of despotic Government is being driven, and the tighter every safety valve is screwed down, the more violent and disastrous, they prognosticate, will be the final explosion. That the present state of affairs cannot last much longer, unless public attrition is distracted from /tome matters by a great war, is an article of faith with every sensible man throughout the empire."