The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-08-01
TIE mlR Nv lEGH1NLSTlN-


The disaster to the British forces in Afgan- |
istan will stimulate fresh outflow Of ignor
ance from the beasts Of burden who write
most of the editorials on foreign topics for
American newspapers. The Post has led of
by asserting that this is most unfcrtu
" nate affair for the Gladstone Ministry, bm
" il mag bc regarded as legacy from Bcocops-
"fddn Now, while IL is true that the
Afghan question in some Of its phases might
be regarded as legacy from Bcacons-
field IL would I've much nearer the truth
to say that the Conservative Premier re-
ceived it as a legacy from Gladstone since
the alienation Of the late Amcer Sherc Ali
began as long ago au when his ovcrturcs for
a distinct British guarantee against Russian
aggression were repelled in compliance with
the Gladstonian theory of abstcntion-the
same theory under which he permitted the
spoliation of Denmark and other disturb
ances of the map and equilibrium of Europe.
In the sense in which the Post evidently in
tends to he understood, there is not only no
ground for calling the destruction of General
Burrows's brigade ga legacy from Beacons-
field but it could more properly he re-
| garded as a result of Gladstone's reversal of
Lord Beaconsfield's policy with respect to
| Afghanistan. Prestige goes a long way with
Asiatics, and that great power should all
stain from conquests 1t is able to make is
| something no Afghan is able to understand.
The activity of Ayoob Khan is more likely to
have been stimulated by the evident rrepa-
rations the English have been making tc
withdraw, and particularly by their choic,
of Abdurrahman, than by any fault com
mtted bv Lord Beaconsfeld. The latter
tended inevitably to precipi'ate crisis. In
no way could an ambitious chief so ellectu-
ally gain prestige and checkmate any rivals
p,etcnsions to the Ameership MS bya victory
over the hated "Eafr." Ayoob's success
temporary as it is, will bring to his side :
host of wavering Srdars, will give Abdur
rahman's influence a heavy blow, and viii
render the English position at Cabul inse
cure until fresh forces can he brought nj
from the Valley of the Indus. The Post i
OVERRIDING the omniscient role when it as
seits of Abdurrahman that "it cannot b
"questioned that he was the best of tn
claimants, if English interests were to h
properly cared for" 1t is n pity that Mr.
Gladstone cannot command the services q
the writer of this wise paragraph, for he a
, least assumes to know all about the yer
things which most perplex those dealin
= with the Afghan question. With the eS
perience Englishmen have had OF Afgha
| trcachery, no English journal would hazar
such an opinion as the Post gives abor
-. Sirdars of whose character so very little
v really known.
A After the Liberal government has blazonc
:. to the world that it had totally reversed I'll
$ Eastern policy of the late Ministry, and aft,
a it has FASTENED TO replace the Viceroy
o India with one OF its own selection and hf
v had time TO make all the changes it desired
It both in the commanders and the disp
n position of the troops in Afghanistan, thel
n IS no fair ground for charging any miltai
: disasters to Lord Beaconsfield. The mo
J. important legacy he left his successors WI
+ the railway through the Bolan Pass-a legaC
o they will find invaluable, but the constru
q ton of which, with characteristic fatuit
is they are said to have stopped.
1t However much Americans may sympathi
e with the Democratic tendencies of modei
e English liberalism, it is foolish to he blir
If to the muddle Mr.. Gladstone is making
l. the European concert,' as well as of Il
,r affairs of the Anglo-Indan Empire. III
Sc best thing the English can now do is to so
and do the work Lord Beaconsfeld won
probably have done had he not been halt
70 by a senseless but overpowering clamor
'e home, and that work is to take Herat al
oil thoroughly thrash the Afghan tribes i'll
IS subsection before attempting the Sisyphe
T. task of trying to establish stable COVER
lie ment i'll country which is not prepared
y one.