New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-07-30
TIE AFGHAN MOR1L

New complications constantly arise in Af-
ghanistan, but the moral never changes Ii is
this: The British ought never to have gone
i'll, and when they are well ont they ought TO
stay out. When Lord Lytton gave the first
signal for the invasion of the country Shcre
Ali was on the throne, and the succession. as
is commonly the case in the changeful East.
was undetermined. He had several wives
each of whom stood ready to plot and in
trigue in behalf of a favorite son; and ont
side of this family group there were lineal de-
scendants of Dost Mohamed, not one of
whom was without ambition. When the in
vading columns had beaten down all resistance
and Shere Ali had been driven into exile and
death, a successor had to be chosen from this
group of jealous rivals The British. acting
purely from self-intcrest selected Yakoob
whom they had long regarded rs their closest
ally among the hills. The scientific frontier
was carved out, the new Amer was set upon
the throne under the charge of resident
agent, and the troops marched out The Did
pet play could not, in the nature of things, go
on very long The fact that Yakoob was a
British Amccr was fatal to his chances of She
cess His troops revolted the Embassy WAS
massacred, the army of invasion had to fight
its way back to Cabul, and when it was there
to battle for life against the tribes. AS gov
eminent by proxy had failed, a successor who
could hold his own ground without foreign aid
had now to be selected. In Abdurrahman a
wise choice seemed to have been made. For
eleven years he had been in exile, and he had
no enemies among the Sirdars. He was a
Prince of strong character, who knew how to
deal with his rivals, and his claim to the
throne was undoubtedly valid. He was
clxp wi
to relieve him from the reproach of being n
foreign candidate the British made all haste
to evacuate Cabul
At this juncture appeared Ayoob with
an army midway between Herat and
Candahar. This movement had been in.
stlgated by group of Sirdars in East
ern Afghanistan, who favored Yakoob's
candidacy and hit upon this expedient for
forcing the British to break off negotiations
with Abdurrahman. Ayoob was q full brother
OF Yakoob, and had been faithful to him in
adversely and in prosperity He had been
forced to take refuge in Persia during the
period OF his brothers Imprisonment, and had
returned to Herat after the downfall of Shere
All, ana had succeeded through bribery and
intrigue In reinstating himself in power M
sooner was his brother set aside by the British
thah ne opened secret correspondence with
the disaected Sirdars, and set out with his
regiments to attack Candahar. The defeat Of
Burrows was an opportunity of which Avoob
tailed to take advantage. The disaster was
retrieved by one of the most brilliant move
ments in military history. The retreat from
Cabul, which had been already ordered wos
converted into march for the relief of Can
dahar, and Ayoob was driven back after n
crushing defeat.
The Ameer seemed to be firmly established
on the throne. His influence was unimpoired
by humiliating conditions of dependence. for
there was no resident agent In his capital, and
the British troops had Withdrawn as soon as
he accepted the crown Government nv nroxr
had entirely ceased, for Candahar rs well as
Cabul had been evacuated. England had left
Its Poland to settle itself. The troops had
gone out without mourning any obligation to
return. The disaster which has now over.
taken the Ameer proves how wise this policy