Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-11-19
rycLANps LATEST WAR.
England Declares War Against Bnr'th
and its bloody, Monstrons MOI ron

-
England Declares War Against Bnr'th
and its bloody, Monstrons MOI ron
Theebaw.
A British cabinet council was held at tho
Official residence OF the fret lord oil the
treasury on the 10th inst. The reply OF
King Tneebaw to England's ultim alum
having been read, the cabinet declared war
against Burmah, and a formal deeiaratioh
OF war, with the queens Sanction,
has been issued, The French gov
ernuent and the Burmese minister
resident OF Paris have been notihed'
Am foreign subjects remaining in Burmah
ara renuired TO come into the British lines.
Tho British army ~ofinvasion Is advancing,
10 900 strong. the greater portion being In
steamers. The first military operations
will be the bombardment by the ironciad
latilla OF the military forts.
The immediate procuring cause oil tine
declaration OF raj was the reiushi OF
King Theebaw to withdraw his decree
~Ievyiug a tax Of 81, $50, 900 on the
bombay & Burmah Trading company Tor
alleged failure to observe their contract IN
connection with the lease OF n large area OF
teak forests in Burmab, and ms refusal 10
receive II British resident with a guard ana
commissioner TO investigate the differences
with the Bombay company. A war VIII
necessarily result in the annexation oil up
per Burmuh, for prot~ectorate there would
lie out OF the question. The British govern
ment might place on the golden throne
the Mingohn prince, who has a better title
to il than Thee Jaw; but British inter.
ests could not be so well consulted
by such an arrangement as by direct aneAa-
ton. There is another Burmese prince Nv
ing on a pension OF 600 rupees a month
from the British government, at Calcutta,
but he ia described as the worsttypeo oil bur
man, andis hated at Mandalay. AS LORD
pufterin has been told by Lord Randolph
Churchill, who is secretary OF state Tor In
dia. that he had bstter settle the Burmah
business in his own way, with ChurchillSap-
provaI DufTrrin has ordered an advance, and
ms Burmah will be subjugated. the British
government viii will not take any o risks
and will probably attach Thecbaw's ter
ritory, as lar as the region OF the Shan
tribes at least, to British India. The Shan
tribes are, indeed, reported to be DESTROYS
Of British rule, and il the whole region Is
taken in, the Chinese frontier will tough
that Of British India, and the proposed
railroad to Chinese territory will probably
be built. But upper Burmah viii! not be
taken without a struggle, Sixty miles
from the British frontier station oiThayel'
myo, on the lrrawaddy river, 10 Minh-la,
where Iheebaw has a fort built by
an Italian officer, which could,
with proper ordnance, do some damage
but it has onlya few guns mounted. Again,
fifteen miles below MandRlay are several
forts commanding the river, but they are
not considered by British officers OF great
Importance, and can be shelled from Il
point two miles off with destructive effect.
Theebaw's guards, ten or fifteen thousand
in number, would not stay for the Smelling,
and il Mandalay falls Burmah is an
easy prey to Gen, Prendergast, who
has 10000 men. several ~gnHboats
and sufficient artillery for the job
in hand. With Theebaw's subjects longing
to CT rid Of him, and the independent Shan
tribes ready to welcome the English, there
doc, not seem TO be any prospect OF long
continued resistance by Theebaw, whose
crimes have stamped him as d monster OF
iniquity. The portion OF Burmah occupied
and an exed by the British since 1925 has
been exceptionally good property. 1t is
rich and very productive in tropical pro-
duets. Native Burmah is in area about
1872, 600 square miles, and has a popula-
ton of nearly 1000, 600. T~heebaw's
revenue is about So, 900. 900, and he rarely
goes out OF Mandalay, his cap
ital. Theebaw was nurtured in an at
m~osphcra Of lust and deviltry, and has
continued TO minister to his passions as
the sole end OF existence. His country is
noted for its teak forests, and as teal is
used exclusively for s%hipbuiIding in that
quarter, the forests are especially valuable.
Theebaw claims that the Bombay company
owes its labOrers on the leased teak lands
tn sun Of 81, 900, 900 Tor wages; but this
is a ruogatherian pretense, as the loborers
themselves make no such claim. II has
been suspected that the French emissaries
put Thcebaw up to make this bogus claim
TO injure British interests; but since the
late French elections the French govern
ment has disclaimed any attention Of sup