The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-22 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOU RNALS.

TlMES.—There are little things even more trouble-
some than little wars. At this moment half Bengal
is indignant at being deprived of a little war, and
filled with dismay at the prospect of the alternative.
It is declared that by not marching to Poonakha, the
capital of Bhootan, we shall lose in prestige what
we save in rupees, and that the embarrassment in
which the Government of Calcutta now unhappily
finds itself is but the proper reward of the pusilla-
nimity or avaiice of its policy. We cannot agree
in this censure of the administration, but the com-
plications of the affair, small as it is, are perplexing
enough, for we seem to have got the discredit of an
unpopular peace without even escaping the contin-
gency of an expensive war. When, on Nov. 17 last,
we announced to the public that peace had, six days
previously, been signed with Bhootan, we did but
record what, at the moment, was an accomplished
fact. The information transmitted with such incre-
dible rapidity was perfectly true, and the contradic-
tions which it has since received have arisen solely
out of the difficulties of the affair itself. We had
retired from an expedition undertaken for the chas-
tisement of the Bhooteas with considerabie credit,
but some ultimate loss. The invasion of the country
and the capture of its chief forts were accomplished
with unexpected despatch, but the defeated natives
had seized a favourable opportunity for rallying, had
surprised some weak garrisons, and, what proved the
most awkward misfortune of all, had carried off a
couple of mountain guns abandoned by the Sepoys.
This affront to our military honour could not be
passed over, and a second expedition was organised
to bring the Bhootans to reason once more, and,
above all, to recover the guns. The peace con-
cluded the 11th of last November purported to
obviate the necessity of this second war, and to
secure the desired satisfaction by peaceful means.
To explain the disappointments . which have
since been experienced we must give some little
account of the contracting parties on this occa-
sion. Bhootan, or the country of the Bhooteas, is
formed of the eastern extremity of the Himalayan
chain, and separates our provinces of Bengal and
Assam from the vast territories of Thibet. It is
simply a slice of the most rugged region in the
world, and more nearly resembles, by all descrip-
tions, the chaotic configuration of the moon than
any ordinary portion of our own planet's surface.
Attached to it, however, was one little strip of level
and productive ground, known by the name. of the
Bengal Dooars. The word " dooar "is literally
our word " door," and means in the Hindostanee
language a gate or pass. It is properly applicable
to the passes by which this strip of flat country on
our immediate border was reached from the hills
above, but has been transferred to the lowland
itself. This Piedmont of the Himalayas the Bhooteas
had originally stolen from the Mogul Empire, and
we, the representatives of the Moguls, had got most
of it back again. But it was always exposed, like
the Scottish Lowlands, to the incursions of the dis-
possessed Highlanders, and those raids at last pro-
voked the proceedings which terminated in a war
and a treaty. The war was not easy, but the treaty
was the more difficult business of the two. Bhootan
has two Rajahs, or Sovereigns, one representing the
spiritual and the other the temporal authority, and
styled the Dhurm and Deb Rajahs respectively.
In this the institutions of the country resemble
those of Japan, but with an awkward difference.
In Japan, one of the Kings at least is a real power
in the State ; in Bhootan, both are puppets alike.
The actual authority, so far as it can be said to
vest anywhere, resides with certain provincial
governors, styled "Penlows," the strongest of whom
at present is the Penlow of Tongso—a town about
thirty miles east of Poonakha. This chief " the
Tongso Penlow" of our despatches, is the man who
has got our guns in his possession, and on whose
personal caprices their surrender depends: As for
the rest, there is a species of State Council acting
in the name of the Dhurm Rajah, but utterly
incompetent to carry any treaty into execution.
In November last Colonel Bruce, acting for the
Indian Government, agreed to a convention of peace
with the Government of Bhootan which was, we
must needs say, reasonable and politic enough in its
terms and scope, but which had the double disad-
vantage of being somewhat uuwarlike in appearance
and inconclusive in operation. We exacted from
the Bhooteas the absolute cession of the Dooars and
of a good piece of territory besides, and they also
undertook to efface certain past offences and to de-
liver up our guns. This was all unobjectionable,
but it was not quite all the treaty. We engaged on
our part not only to continue a certain rent-charge
or contribution, which has been paid to the Bhooteas
out of the revenue of the Dooars, but even to in-
crease it by instalments to double the original
amount, on the condition of good behaviour. In
point of fact, whereas we had always paid black mail,
we now covenanted to pay a little more, provided
always that our Highland neighbours gave us no dis-
turbance whatever. The stipend thus assigned to
the mountaineers could not at the outside exceed
one-third of the revenue which we derived from the
only fertile part of their property, and it gave them
so direct an interest in the productiveness of the ter-
ritory that they would probably be glad enough to
let us cultivate it in peace. But this arrangement,
though justified by immemorial usage in like circum-
stances, had something about it, when nakedly
stated, which offended the pride of the Anglo-Indian
community. It was not for us, they said, to buy
peace of the Bhooteas, and the case was made worse
by a stipulation touching the lost guns. Not a
farthing of the stipend were the Bhooteas to touch
till they had given immediate evidence of their peni-
tence by bringing the mountain guns back to us,
and this condition was regarded as a purchase in-
stead of a recapture of trophies lost in battle. A
more practical objection might have been found in
the provisions which followed. Of course it was
obvious to foresee that Tongso Penlow, who had
been no party to the treaty, and who had little
prospect, perhaps, of sharing in its profits, might
decline to abide by its terms. It was equally cer-
tain that in this case the nominal Government of
Bhootan could put no force upon him to bring him
to reason, and so it was agreed that, in the event
of his proving refractory, we ourselves should aid the
Rajah in compelling him to obedience. This event
has occurred. The Bhooteas, as far as we know, are
compliant enough, but the Penlow holds out in his
own country like a stout Earl of Northumberland
under a Plantagenet King. No guns are forthcom-
ing, and though we are not yet at war, we are de-
prived of our peace. We believe the system of black
mail was about the wisest as well as cheapest that
could have been adopted, but it is not a system to
talk about, and it is a pity that we could not have
shut our eyes to it, and pretended ignorance of the
whole matter, like the Baron of Bradwardine in his
dealings with Fergus M'lvor. But the unluckiest
thing of all was the loss of these guns, which not
only touches our honour, but admits of no compro-
mise or equivalent in the way of satisfaction. We
have said that we must have them, and yet we can-
not get them. It is probable enough that we could
not get them by the exertion of our whole power,
for they might be destroyed with ease, and the Pen-
low himself is about as accessible as if he dwelt in
the planet Saturn. So the Indian Government is
in a perplexing predicament. If we act up to the
words of the treaty, we must go to war and invade
Bhootan—that is, we must act as if there had been
no treaty at all, while it is absolutely certain that we
can gain nothing by the expedition except the credit
of not having been inactive under an affront. At a
certain cost--by no means a small one—we could
march to Poonakha, and perhaps to Tongso. We
could burn the proprietor's summer palace, if he had
got one, which is anything but probable, but we
have little chance of setting eyes on himself, or of
effecting anything more than this display of our
anger and power. Moreover, in our reliance upon
this capitulation, we have now distributed the force
which had been organised for the expedition, and
should have to commence operations anew at an
unfavourable season of the year. That all this is
unsatisfactory and discouraging it would be hard to
deny, but the necessity, even if it should come, is
nevertheless no worse than that which the Indian
Government did its best to avert.
POST.—The House of Commons will this evening
be called upon to consider two Royal Messages, and
t 3 express its sense of the loss which the country
has sustained by the death of Lord Palmerston.
The Queen relies on the House to make a suitable
provision for the Princess Helena with a view to her
approaching marriage, and for Prince Alfred on his
coming of age. These measures proceed upon an
established national principle. In supporting the
dignity of the Crown the country discharges a duty
and exercises.a privilege. Her Majesty's children
are the children of the State, the sons anddaughters
of England, the branches of a tree which is deep-
rooted in the heart of a nation. Happily, too, in
the present instance, a public obligation may be
fulfilled with unmixed pleasure and satisfaction.
We all take a cordial interest in everything that
relates to the Royal Family, and while our loyalty
is founded on an instructed apprehension of the ad-
vantages of a Monarchical Government, it is sensibly