The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-02-12 00:00:00

THREATENED WAR with ASHANTEE.

The King of Ashantee is stated to have declared war
against the British Government on the Gold Coast
because of the Governor's refusal to surrender a native
chief who had taken refuge on British territory. On
hearing of King Coffees threatening attitude the
Governor of Sierra Leone despatched two hundred and
fifty of the 2nd West India Regiment, who were due
to arrive at Cape A.Joast Castle on the 2nd inst. The
force under the control of the Governor on receiving
King @offee's ultimatum consisted mainly of Houssas,
a company of whom was immediately despatched,
with three guns, to the frontier of Ashantee.

The Times, in a leader, remarks :—" Together with
the news from the Transvaal there comes a rumour
of another embroilment with our old enemies on the
Gold Coast. King Koffee is threatening war with
England; according to one telegram he has declared
war with England. We hardly know yet what
further message to look for. The threat may
prove an idle vaunt or it may be the pre-
liminary of another troublesome busines, like
that of seven years ago. Precautions are to be
taken to protect British interests and property,
pending any necessity for further and more serious
operations. Another Ashantee war and another
march on Coomassie thus come within view. The
necessity, if it arises, is not one that can be con-
templated with any patience. Are we for ever to
be pestered with these little useless wars ? We
can gain nothing by them, not even the credit of
a military success. They stand simply for so much
waste of our national strength. Singly, they are not
much; it is the number and the regular succession
of them that make them a real nuisance which we
should be glad, if possible, to get rid of. That we
should be engaged in them from time to time at
some part of the world or another seems one of
the conditions on which our extended Empire must
be held. The effect of them is to fritter away our
resources in doing what is nothing worth. Africa
has been the fruitful mother of wars of this kind.
. . . . We have, it is clear, so many vulnerable
points that we should do well not needlessly to add to
them. They grow as our Empire grows. This is not
after the fashion of the United States or of Russia.
These countries grew and spread contermineusly.
Their extension is by the incorporation of new dis-
tricts into a main body, which is homogenous through-
out. All come under the same military rules. There
is the same Custom-house system for them all. They
form, in short, old and new together, one State. Eng-
land grows in another way, by taking on patches of
territory, divided from one another, and far distant
from herself. She thrusts out, as it were, her tentacles
into all parts of the world, and she is very sensitive at
each point to which they reach. Her Empire, grand
as it is, mid enormously advantageous to her subjects,
is thus no small source of perpetual anxiety to her-
self. At any moment the horizon may be clouded
in some quarter, and a storm may gather
from causes which are neither to be foreseen
nor guarded against: She is apt thus to be
diverted from attention to her own affairs by the con-
stant need of attending to the affairs of other
people for whom she has been kind enough to
make herself responsible. Her entire strength can
never be brought to bear on a supreme effort
near home. Her stroke can be weakened and her fire,
so to say, can be drawn by a hostile demonstration, or
by the talk of a hostile demonstration at her extreme
distant possessions. She is at leisure now, and can
take in hand the Transvaal war and the Ashantee war
with no excessive strain on her resources. But, even
so, she has some better use to make of these than in
throwing them away with no profit to herself in wars
and expeditions which cost money, and lives more
precious than money and less easily to be spared.

The Standard of Tuesday says :—" We are informed that
a Council was heldat the War Office yesterday, at which
the threatening state of affairs on the West Coast of Africa
was again discussed. It was decided, if a transport could
be conveniently found, to despatch at once to Cape Coast
Castle tho 2nd West India Regiment. The headquarters
of the Regiment, with which there are now six companies,
numbering about six hundred men, are stationed at Bar-
badoes, and it is expected that it will take at least three
weeks before they can be landed in Africa. Telegraphic
communications have been sent to the authorities in the
West Indies to ascertain if the troops can be got ready
promptly. In addition to the troops from the West Indies,
one or two battalions will, in all likelihood, be sent from
this country.'

The following are articles 1 and 3 of the Treaty of Peace
which was signed on the 13th day of February, 1874, between
the King of Ashantee and Sir Garnet Wolseley, which were
referred to on Monday night in the House of Lords, and
which the King has been warned that the consequences of
breaking will be very serious :

Article. I.—There shall be hereafter perpetual peace
between the Queen of England and her allies on the coast
on the one part, and the King of Ashantee and all his people
on the other part. _ _ •

Article 3.—The King of Ashantee on the part of himsell
and his successors renounce all right or title to any tribute
or homage from the Kings of Denkers, Assin, Akim, Adansi,
and the other allies of her Majesty, formerly subject to the
kingdom of Ashantee.