New-York tribune., 1879-06-09
AFFAIRS IN ENGLAND.
THE GOVERNMENTS PERPLEXITIEs.

LONDON, May 29.-There Is much rejoicing in
Ministerial circles over the treaty OF peace with
fakOob Khan. 1t does not cover all the points
which Lord Lytton announced as important, but 1t
is fairly good treaty from his point Of view, and 1t
enables the Government to proclaim once more that
they have brought back peace with honor. There
is. however, weak spot in the arrangement which
may yet prove a source OF trouble. The bargain is
binding upon Yakoob Khan but YakoOb Khan has
q disputed title. If it should be upset.
the present treaty would go for nothing. The
Russians have been coquetting with PTetender
who may yet assert his claim to tho Afghan throne
The English do not guarantee Yakoob. No Vice
roy. not oven Lord Lytton, would be mad enough
TO give an Afghan ruler guarantee of possession
in present circumstances. YakooHs popularity is
doubtful. How much Of it will remain when the
extent of his submission to English demands be-
comes known is problematcal. How far he may be
abe-nOt to say wlling-to carry out the stIDula
tons with respect to an English resident at Cabul
is still another problem. l should suppose that the
English Resident would have an awkward time of it
should a revolution occur in Cabul, and the
more fanatcal party get the upper hand. Nor is it
clear how the English propose TO deal with the hill
tribes. Those tribes have been practically Inde-
pendent. They aro impatient of q master.
They were bribed to make way for the English
when the campaign began. 1t is certain that
they never looked forward to anything like a
permanent occupation of their country by the
English. Even IL the chiefs are cOaxed bullied
into asserting to this part of the arrangement.
the chiefs may not be able to insure
the acquIescence of their clans. But the posses
sion Of the Khybor is of the essence of the
whole business. 1t is the possession of the
Khyber and the other passes which is to constitute
II. f.. A {.
guerrilla war will not add much to the security of
such frontier. Moreover the limits of the scientific
frontier have been narrowed. 1t was once meant
to include the triangle of which Jellalabad Cam
dahar and Quetta are the three points. Candahar,
the key to the whole, is to be restored to Afghan
istan. 1t would be easy to dwell other mOditca-
tions of the programme originally put forward.
ii such details could DO thought to have
much interest for anybody but Englishmen. But
| have perhaps said enough to show how
srongls the present tendency in the Government
to moderation. To do them justice, they are not
making nearly much fuss over this triumph as
they did over the Berlin business. For the present
they are out of their Afghan troubles. The terrible
spending has stopped. Lord Lytton is shackled.
Something has been done to embarrass Russia
from the Angio-Indian, though hardly from the
Russian point of view. And with that little got, as
most of it was, by bargaining and not by fighting,
the Government is content. Their spirited foreign
policy is less spirited than it was but beyond doubt
is far bCtter suited to the circumstances in which
they hnd themselves
Ministers and ministerial papers have been doing
their best all the week to reduce the proportions OF
the Anglo French difficulty. In the House of Com
mons Mr. Bourke has denied that hostile dispatches
have been exchanged which nobody ever asserted
In the press the public assured first that there ID
no real dispute between the two, Powers second
that the dispute is to be arranged. AS to Egypt OF
course, there is plenty of time for any amount OF
negotiation. As to GTeece-if assurances OF
this sort have any validity at all-Lord
Salisbury is ready to give way after hold
ing out long enough to convince the Turk
(and the Greeks also that he does not give way
from any good will TO the Greeks The descendants
Of Ulysses are at least good politicians the
descendant of Lcrd Burleigh. They viii perfectly
understand that they owe England no thanks for
the concessions which may finally be wrung from
the Porte. Lord Rosebery's warning passes I'M
needed. This Cabinet takes account of popular
feeling in the East. 1t content TO be hated
and that England should bo hated, in Bulgaria. II
is content To lay up just such store OF
unsatisfed rrudees in Greece-to lose. in
| Lord R0seberys words-it5 last chance ol
ingIatIatiug itself with a Christian popula
! ton in the East. It's conception Of high policy
does not go beyond the drafting of clever dis
patches. If Lord Salisbury can score point off q
foreign dplOnatst who overstates the scope Of the
| thirteenth protocol, he considers that he has
streng gthened the position of England abroad.
must say think the treatment of the Greek Ques-
iOn In the French press unincasurably more states
manlke than the treatment it receives at the hands
| r Il. sI..l <, ,of al,
| tions not only between England and Greece but
between England and France The Dtbats and the
Rtpubque FrGneaj,e have replied temperately TO the
! reyr, senrations above referred to. They show nc
| anxiety to gain controversial triumph. They are
| aware of the solid advantages likely to ac-
| crne to France IN rae East-tO France taking
sides with an oppressed nationality that has fu.
| ture before it over England taking SIDES with q
savage despotism fast crumbng in pieces. acts
SAYS NJ Gambetta's organ to-day, must be the sole
! criterion for Judgment IN international matters
and it is by that test that French public opinion
must decide whether it has no cause to feel uneas
| ness at the tendencies manifested by the British
| Cabinet. France desires nothing better than to be
assured that her apprehensions ara groundless, and
| it is in Engand's power to give her convincing
proofs to that eject" English opinion on this, Gs
! on 50 many other grave questions, seems healthier
in the provinces than in the metropolis. sympathy
with the Greeks is expressed IN many leading pro-
yincial papers with much heartiness. And 1t
il worth noting that In so strongly commercial a
city as Liverpool public dinner is 70 be held ex-
pressly in order hear speech Greece from Sir
Charles Dixie Among Liberals. indeed, whether
| of London or the country there Is little or no
division Of feeling this question, OH the neces
sity of sincere cooperation with France 1t waS
Manchester which invented, one may almost say,
the idea of friendly commercial intercourse between
France and England. Ont of that idea has sprung
a whole theory Of politics, to which powerful
section of politicians have given their unqualified