Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-07-24
PERSIA.
The Russian LsHdlSg In Balkan Bay
Husoovite March TO the Caspian and
Ihiashce Of the Gar on the 0xus. .
From the Calcutta EngIIshman.l


hight of political folly to close oul
eyes to the fact that she is making
powerful and persistent efforts tC
strengthen her position within the
limits she has, for the moment, set to
her ambition. Some time in Novem'
Der last an expedition, supported by
four guns, and variously estimated ST
from 1900 to 5000 men, was dispatched
from Petrotski, a port on the Caspian,
ninety or hundred miles to the north
of Derbend, to Balkan bay, on the
southeastern shore of that sea. The
little force landed without any oppo-
sitiOn from the Turkoman tribes in
the neighborhOod, and Immediately
set about the construction of a fort, as
if in an enemy's country. AS mat
ter of fact, KiZisuar, or kiZisOO, as the
place is VariOusly called, appears to
be situated in a debatable land. The
Persian government, while admit
ting that its sway over the TurkO-
mans dwelling to the north OF
the Attreks is rather nominal than
real. nevertheless insists that the en-
tire tract of land lying between that
river and the Balkan range Is subject
TO its sovereignty, and that cOnse-
quently the Russian fort Is an en-
crOacnment upon Persian territory.
This position is denied by the Russian
government. In the first place, it is
stoutiy denied that the establishment
at Kizisuar is anything more than a
commercial settlement-sOmething,
in short, after the manner of the fac
tories established in Olden times by
the East India Company on the coasts
and rivers of HindOStan. In order,
however, to protect the peaceful ira
ders against the attacks OF Turkoman
marauders, it has been found necessa-
" to throw up some banks of earth
and mount a gun at each angle. Such
a purely defensive measure cannot
surely give offense to a friendly gov
eminent, nor would anything more
distress the Court of st. Petersburg
than the idea that it did not fully and
reyerently respect the frontiers of an
ally. The sole object Of this expe-
ditiOn is simply to develop the trade
with Central Asia, and afford secu-
rity TO caravans travelling to
and from the Caspian and the
Oxus. This new route, indeed, has
become indispensable since the revolt
OF the KirghiZ tribes has cut off the
old line Of communication across the
steppes from Orenberg to KhOkan,
and from Mingishlak to Khiva. The
only means OF opening up this new
country was by securing a safe basis
on the shores of the Caspian, and by
encouraging traders to venture across
In firm reliance on the protection they
would receive from the Russian fac
tory. Beyond this the Persian gov
eminent, at least, would have had no
right to complain, even had the Rus
sian expedition been dispatched for
the avOwed purpose Of reducing
to subsection the barbarOus tribes that
dwell between the Bamans and the
Attrek. Those tribes neither pay nor
acknowledge allegiance to Persia,
whose boundary line in that direction
is the river just named, and therefore
il is not to the Court of Teheran that
the Russian government is bound to
offer any explanation except as mat
ter Of courtesy to a friendly power,
that has quite unnecessarily taken
umbrage at a step which in no way
concerned il.
The Persian claim to the territory
in question is probably unfounded. 1t
is prOblematical if in her palmiest
days she ever exercised any direct con-
troll over the TurkOmans, and it is
well known that three centuries ago
Shah Abbass the Great was cOnstrain-
ed 10 guard Khorassan against their
predatory raids by peOpling the noun
tain passes with hurds, thus employ
ing one wolf to protect his flock from
another. At the present day there can
be little doubt that the country be-
tween the Caspian and the OXus, if
virtually independent, is nominally
an appanage ofthe Khanate Of KhiVa.
The real lfrOntier Of Persia to the north
is the lofty range that extends from
the ElburZ mountains to the Hindu
Kush, and were there any wisdom in
her councillors she would seek rather
10 develop and concentrate her force
within her natural limits than waste
her strength in YainglOriOus expedi-
tiOns into Seistan, or provoke her
too powerful neighbOr by idle and pet
ulant protests. Even her Caspian
provinces Of Talish, Ghilan and Ma
Zanderan have become a source of
weakness through the incapacity and
avarice of the governors who have
been placed over them, and many of
the Inhabitants are leaving their
homes TO place themselves under the
tutelary shield of Russia. The true
purport Of the Russian expedition is
obvious enough. Under the pretext
of opening a new route from the Cas-
plan to the OXus, line Of fortified
pOsts-caravanserais they will proba-
bly, be called-Will be established
across the desert, with the result of
Curbing the TurkOman population,
and bringing il under subsection. The
scarcity of water and the terrific heat
in summer on those arid plains will
in all likelihood cause the eventual
abandonment of this line, but only to
substitute another in its place. The
Russians already possess a naval sta
tiOn in the Bay OF Asterabad, in the
southeast corner Of the Caspian at the
mouth Of the Gurkan. By ascending
the Attrek and skirting the foot of the
hills to the north of BOojnOord
and KoOchan, they would traverse a
well watered, fertile and tOlerably
pOpulous country, and without
any particular fatigue or danger find
themselves at the ancient city of
Nerve, or barely four marches from
the OXus. Now, it may be asked, in
what respect does it coucern US
whether Russia adhere to the desert,
or adopt the easier and more practica-
BILE route TO the banks of the classic
river which is heneeforth TO bound
her influence In Central Asia +? 1t
can hardly be denied that, however
selfish may be her motives, she Is
4. -. 4
kind in general by introducing the
wants and usages of civilized life
among these wild, turbulent tribes,
little superior to the beasts that perish,
except In the power of inflicting pain
and misery. The task is not
an easy one, and generations
will probably come and depart before
Central Asia viii be in any con-
siderable degree Russianized. Before
that comes to pass, however, the Cas-
plan Provinces of the Persian kingdom
are certainly iIl some danger Of being
CI19aered 10 The Russian empire, from
which they were recovered by
Nidir Shah in the middle Of the last
century. The Caspians would thus
become politically as well as naturally
q mare elauslaa, and Russian domina-
ton would extend in a direct unbrok-
en- line from the Black Sea to the
Hindu Kush, from Anapa to Nerve,
and Nerve is only ten easy stages, or
barely five days march, from Herat.
sermaBs Of Kentucky on the War.
CINCINNATI, July 23.-The Ger
mans of COvingtOn and Newport held
war meetings tonight. Much enthu-
siasm prevails.
The enterprise Of distributing the
and Enquirer along the various lines
Of railroads by special trains viii be