The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-11 00:00:00

THE WAR IN AFFGHANISTAN.

The position of the British forces west of the Indus is neither
desperate nor disheartening. We . are in the possession of
Kelat and Kandahar; and the communication of these posi-
tions with Bombay is open. Jellalabad still holds out ; and
the Sikhs, through whose country the communication from the
Presidency of Bengal must be kept up, are friendly. There is
every reason to believe that they will continue so. There
is an inveterate hatred between them and the AffghaLs, origi-
nating in, and festered by, the prejudices both of race and
religion. The Sikhs can have no sincere or lasting friendship
with the Affghans ; and to quarrel with the British on their
account wenild be to place themselves between two fires.
The wealth Ond efficiency of the British Government in India,
and the intelleetual character of those who direct it, render it
able not. only to make great and energetic efforts, but to main-
tain a protracted struggle without flagging. The Affghan po-
pulation is not dense ; it is broken up into a mul!iplicity of rude
clans, devoid of a common aim, jealous of each other ; there
is no man among them of sufficient command or influence to
organise thein for a continuous defence. It is only in the vi-
cinity of Cabool that the tribes have been roused to an enthu-
siastic and successful attack upon the British ; and even in that
district it is clear. that the effervescence had already begun to
cool. Akbar Khan had been unable to rally the clans for an at-
tack on Jellalabad ; and they were already beginning to decide
upon the claims of various chiefs to the sovereign authority. It
is an easy matter for a Government possessing such resources
as the British in India to concentrate its forces upon- the
region around Cabool. It is there alone that any thing has
o un
been done which the British Government is bound by self-
respect and in self-defence to punish. And the inhabitants
of that region are not in a condition to oppose such an
overwhelming attack as the British Government, acting judi.
ei Y
, can make upon them. The first
duly
then, is as plain as it is easy—
toforce upon the Cabool district
as shall be able to reduce its inhabitants to surrender at discre-
tion. The true economy in such a case is to commence opera-
tionsnoandßritish
marching
at once on a sufficient Kale to bring the affair to an im-
mediate settlement. Whatever may have been the morality or
prudence of our first Interference, there is no other course
for us now. Rude though the Affghans be, they know that
falsehood and treachery are indefensible. Nor is their love
of national independence a sufficient excuse for the atrocities
they have been guilty of. The Affghans have on many occa-
*ions— when they usurped the throne of Persia, and founded
dynasties in flindostan —when their chiefs intrigued alternately
with the British, the Persians, and the Russians, to promote
their oWn selfish views—shown how lightly, when they had
any object to serve, they could regard national independence.
They have done what they cannot defend; and the British Go-
vernment is b,,und alike by the principles of justice and self-
preservation to make them feel that the moral principles
taught by their own mullahs, and reverenced even amid the
clash of arms, are not to he violated with impunity. The next
duty of the British Government is equally clear—as soon
as the Affghan clans have been made to feel its strength,
so that there can be no mistake either on their part or on the
part of any Oriental nation as to the motive of the retreat, to
resume the frontier of the Sutledge, and withdraw every
British soldier fran the West of the Indus. It is useless to
theorize on the occupation of India by this country : we govern
it as a dependency : in the stage of social improvement which
it has reached, it would lose infinitely were the British au-
thority withdrawn ; and as to preparing it for self-govern-
ment, that must task the native energies in some incalculable
futurity.— Spectator.