NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9831, 28 May 1895, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

» The agitation in India for the retention of Chitral would hare had more force had it been started before the agreement between England and Russia with regard to the respective spheres of influence of the two countries in the region of the Pamirs had been arrived at. By that agreement the limit of Russia's influence north of the Hindu Rush is clearly defined, and the necessity for a forward policy in Chitral ia consequently less pressing. At the same time there are weighty considerations which make in favour of establishing in Chitral the British power on a permanent basis. Unless oar influence there is paramount there is a danger that the natives believing they have been abandoned to Afghanistan may appeal to Russia for aid ; and past experiences prove that that Power is not particularly scrupulous in keeping agreements where she finds an opportunity of extending her influence at the cost of breaking them. The exact value of Chitral from a strategic point of view is a matter for experts to decide, but now that we are in the country it would be an unwise step . to evacuate it. lb is the destiny of India to go on extending her frontiers ' by the absorption of native States. Thai process will In time bring her boundariei

co-terminoai with those of Rassia, bob miny excellent authorities bold that to in a sound and statesmanlike policy. : ? With regard to the agreement! respecting the Pamirs, the following particulars will at this junture prove of interest. The dividing line is to start from a point on Lake Victoria (Zor Kal) near to its eastern extremity, and to follow the crests of the mountain range running somewhat to the south of the latitude of the Lake as far as the Benderky and Orta-Bel passes. Thence the line will run along the same range while it remains to the south of the latitude of the Lake; bat, on reaching that lititude, it will descend the spar of the rlnge towards Kizil Rabat on tbe Aksu tWer— if that locality is found not to be \ nojh of the latitude of Lake Victoria—and "\wi after wards be prolonged in an easterly ' diction so as to meet the Chinese frontier. I If 'should be found that Kizil Rabat is 3 sitifed to the north of the latitude of Lake - the line of demarcation will be i drafcsto the nearest . point on the Aksa . of that latitude, and thence e proljjed as aforesaid. I : e Th4 emarca tion and precise configura--1 tion «fche dividing line is to be settled by S * JotMßommission of a purely technical 0 chara.r, with a military escort not exe cfledioijhat which is strictly necessary for s its pner protection. This commission e will beomposed of British and Russian _ delegaf with the necessary technical ase sistaaq it being left to the British • G overrent to arrange with the Ameer of . Afgha|tan as to tbe manner in which His High o| shall be represented on the commiasiol The commission will also be charge|o report any facts which can be ascertsed on the spot bearing on the £ eituatuiof the Chinese frontier, with a H view tqbabling tbe two Governments to 2 come tan agreement with the Chinese - Governfnt as to the limits of Chinese ~ territorial the vicinity of the line, in sack s manneri may be found convenient. 1 The Jitish and Russian Governments 1 The 4tish and Russian Government! • have nnortaken to abstain from exercising J any poli&d influence or control, the for* • mer to tl north and the latter to the south .' of the linof demarcation described above. 1 The Britfa Government further engage - that the fcritory lying within the Briti eh sphere of fiaence between the Hindu Rush ; and the *e from the east end of Lake ; Victoria t4he Chinese frontier shall for a '. part of the irritory of the Ameer of Afghan- ' istan, that i shall not be annexed to Great i Britain, amfchat no military posts or forts _ shall be esfblished in it. The execution J of the agrement is contingent upon the evacuation h the Ameer of Afghanistan of , all the terrifies now occupied by him oa . the right ban of the Pan jab, and upon the I evacuation bjtbe Ameer of Bokhara of the fc portion of D.-waz which lies to the south 3 of the Oxas, i regard to which th e British • and Russian Governments have agreed to ? use their infience respectively with the j two Ameers. ! l A very readale article in the Sunday at , Home gives aene interesting facts and 1 figures about be Bible Society. It has " issued the Bibe in almost every known tongue. Some of the translations have run into large mmber.?. Nearly four hun- . dred thousand ropies have been issued in 3 Arabic, over a nillion and a-half have come [ forth in Bengali over three-quarters of a ? million in Cze:b, over five millions in 5 Chinese, over a million in Danish, over twc • millions in Batch, over twelve millions in j French, some seventeen millions in German, 1 a boas a million and a-quarter in Hebrew, over a million in Magyar, nearly three and \ a-lalf millions in Italian, over three hundred : thousand in Lettish, over five hundred and . sixty thousand in Malagas!, over six hundred. • and sixteen thousand in M&layalam, six hun- ; dred thousand in Marathi, over five millions > in Ross—in t'»e South Russian agency there ' are no less than forty distinct languages— 1 over two and \-haif millions in Spanish, I and nearly three and a-half in Swedish, , nearly three millions in Tama, and over a ' million in Telegu. • John Burns, the English Labour agitator, i is thus described by an American writer:— [ This man of 33 looks a rugged and well- . worn 50; at that age he will probably ) appear younger than his years. Mental i combative work, as well as physical labour, i evidently agrees with him. The outer 3 shell is a little tough, the personal manifestation may be somewhat acid, but the - kerne! is sweet, sound, and wholesome. " He is a bit " bounceabie," as an English* E man of his own ilk would put it; a trifle \ brusque and overborne at times in speech , and manners. The face is Gallic, not - Saxon. The figure is hardly of f middle stature, yet he gives you the ha- ; pression, physically, of being a sawed-ofl . giant But he is well-proportioned. Fire ' feet six inches in height, broad of frame, • without the slightest appearance of squat- ' ness ; his deep, wide chest, strong square ' shoulders, short neck, sturdy arms and j legs, the latter ending in rather small, well-formed feet, present a rare combine- » tion of strength and endurance. By occu- [ pation an engineer, his appearance gives 1 you the same idea as does the machine he runs— of unquestioned and conceit--5 trated energy. ; The statement in a Paris journal that a • majority of the Chamber of Deputies hai ; agreed to support a motion calling on the • Government to demand that England shall immediately evacuate the Nile Valley, must [ be taken with a little more than the pro- . verbial grain of salt. The feeling in France , in connection with the continued occupation » of Egypt by the British is intense and bitfcei > enough to make one feel no surprise at l almost anything that the French may ' do ; but we do not think that French* • men, however strongly they may feel • over this question, are mad enough to I deliberately provoke a war with England , because they desire to see French influence [ increased in Africa. And such a motion as . that spoken of if permitted by the French 3 Government would go very far to bringing about that catastrophe. It is time that Frenchmen made up their minds to -accept accomplished facta. England is in Egypt and will remain then I until it suits her to quit it ; and while ib jj is her interest to stay there she is not likely , to permit France or any other Power to a endanger her position. The Italian elec- , tions are going in favour of the Govern* I menfc, and it is expected that the B Premier's party will have a large majority. 9 A severe earthquake shock destroyed i 5 small town in Epirus causing the loss oi a fifty lives. A small force of French marines 3 who, under a flag of truce, bad proceeded to s a village on the frontier of French Guiana, , the headquarters of a band of bandits, to b obtain the release of a countryman who had . been taken prisoner,-; were treacherously 3 fired upon. Their captain was shot dead, a but tbe marines made a gallant fight, and in . the end completely routed the outlaws, who r lost 60 of their number. Newfoundland is r to try and raise a loan in America. , The Ameer of Afghanistan is treabf ing Umra Khan with hospitality. Probably J Abdurrahman himself has some idea of ? extending his iron sway over Chitral if the e Indian Government are weak enough to 0 afford him the opportunity. Sidar_Na* 1 rullah Khan, the Ameer's second a* T present in England, where he is being «*» ■ tertainedio a lavish fashion by member"** m the Royal family. • ,