RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12726, 1 December 1904, Page 4

RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA.

The movements of Russian troops on the Afghan frontier, reported in our cable messages yesterday, taken in conjunction with the recent disclosure of General Ivuropatkin's plans lor the invasion of India, and the efforts which Russia has been making to extend her strategic railways in Central Asia, possess a significance which it is impossible to exaggerate. The Russian advance in Central Asia has been steady and continuous, until now she- occupies the whole of the vast country stretching from the Caspian to Perijdeh. Its object has not been; merely the subjugation of wild tribes arid 1 the annexation of barren deserts. Russia's objective has been, and still is, India. That is the true raisom d'etre of the enormous sacrifices she has made in pushing her frontier further and further east. Her advance has been marked by a record 1 of duplicity probably unparalleled in history. Every promise slie has made to the British Government has been broken. Every limit she has solemnly assured us was her ultima Thttle, beyond which she was not to go, has beeni left far behind. Aad she is still pressing onward, always onward* step by step, never receding, and never remaining stationary for long. BRITISH PREPARATIONS. [ r Her movements are carefully watched by the British Government. They are continually on tKar guard. They know the real nature of Russia's designs, and are prepare,

i, fox the time cf £*<•>• ' , -%*ug m^ ; tembci last, the Secret* of St-« for,*.* mV.de. a significant remark. "Lord Kat- . chener," he said, *M Commander j t in, India, had already done great work m ( drawing up an important scheme for the re- , J organisation of the Indian aii.,y. Arrange- u ments have been made , equipping SW*l- - it much more rapidty, and lit - hoped in such-:.- manner that it would no ; able to keep the field for many moths, if : :. necessary, without further support from.out- ; side. He hoped we won) 1 newer have ocw-j ; siou to employ that army on- the Indian ~ frontier ; but the beat security for peace was | • that those who might pis* us there should x know that we were prepared, and,, that w i that was needed in the at v o f -reparation/ was being overlooked." Lord Gunoa, the Viceroy; has repeatedly emphasised the necessity of being prepared to en- ; counter enemies beyond our -north-western I frontier.'and. it is said that his private 1 secretory recently startled a duififii : party »m an English country house by declaring that without doubt there would be war between England and Russia, next spring, and ■ he added t".iat "every preparation was being made for a long campaign." Whether Sir Walter La nee was really guilty of so r'arinr "/ ■;: >, '~ .-retion, even in private com.'": - -ui,;'; '.; i '—.y,;cai,.< be '.to doubt *£'*& for/souv "- < cot".:> : time past the Inciiwi' Govern- L ncr.t have been quietly getting K"dy for an; emergency, The expedition, to Tibet, was undertaken to cheek Russian intrigue. A STRATEGIC! RAILWAY. How Russia on her part is; preparing is probably better illustrated h, r. lier railway works than anything elsi?. These works are not commercial enterprises. They are not J intended primarily as aids to the settlement of the country. They ; *re purely j strategic lines. /The. latest of .these railj ways is the Orenburg-Tashkent,' which has just been." finished for a distance of nearly 1900 kilometres. The Moscow Gazette, in emphasising tlio importance /"X this line, which it may be mentioned has been completed two or three years earlier than was intended, pointed out that- "in the ease of r> conflict with England it will permit of a, considerable number of-troops being thrown;' on.the Afghan frontier." The same journal added that, although this railroad is situated thousands of kilometre from Manchuria, its inauguration will have considerable influence on events in the Far East. "England, feeling herself henceforth threatened in. her* Indian Empire, will make every effort to localise the war for fear of being dragged into it by events." ; RUSSIAN AVGLOPHCTIA. - " ' ' In spite of ; assurances to the contrary, the general feeling in Rnssia, is very Anglophobe, and a war with England would be welcomed, Writ-lag after the* North Sea outrage, the ; St. -Petersburg ; correspondent of the Echo de Paris, a paper that is in the confidence of tliio /Russian Foreign Office, said: "There Is at present a .very power-' ful party at Court and .<),(/- the : Admiralty, which believes thai a war with England I would furnish a gsod pretext for bringing ] to a close the war with Japan, which is ex- '■ tremely unpopular/owing' to the fact that it has destroyed 'telle prestige of ?; the Russian fleet, in spite ofyiia /magnificent'acts of com*age. They consider that a conflict with England would \ yield easy victories in Central Asia and would be very popular. / The sympathy of several European Great Powers interested in weakening England is also taken into account. The Emperor and Count Lamsdoi-fi: resist this tendency, and desire peace above \ all things, but who : knows? whfither 1 hey will not be carried •away." This sinister feeling to which the correspondent calls -attention, is -being seduously fostered by Germany. Some months ago a communication reached the Berlin corresjxmdeut of the London Times from a well-informed quarter, to the effect that ; overtures had been made* 1 to Russia by Germany regard the latter's benevolent neutrality, and promising " a German recognition of Russia's full liberty of action in, certain parts of Asia, except Asia Minor." CTJAB.DING HERAT. , , * The action of the Ameer in sending strong reinforcements to Herat shows that he is fully alive to the danger of a- . Russian descent on that place, whkih has Ijeenoallftd "the key of India." Tfee Russians liave. long cast envious eyes upon it, and not without cause. Once there, their troubles are at an end. Everything is there- to be found, for the valley of Herat flows with milk and lioney. As Colonel Malleson, -in Herat, writes: —" Place an army there, and nothing need be brought to it.jrom Europe. Within the limits of the Herati territory all the great roads leading on India converge.; x The mines of the Herati district trupply lead, iron* and sulphur; the surface of many parte of the country is ladea with saltpetre; the willow and the poplar, which make the best , charcoal, 'abound; l -, ie fields ; *odrce in,abundance corn, and wine, &nd oil. From the population, attracted to its &mr rulers by good governments splendid soldiers, might be obtained," - j ■ . ■'.'' •