The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-14
THE LION AND THE BEAR.
WHAT THEY ARE GROWING ABOUT.
The Zone of Contention the Key to
the Gates of Endia-Eiain Facts
Worth Knowing.

the Gates of Endia-Piain Facts
Worth Knowing.
War between England and Russia Is i'm
mnent; it may, indeed, be said to have
commenced. The object of this article is
to place before our readers distinct &C
count of the causes of the war; the lay Of
the land where the fighting is TO be done;
and of the leading figures Oh both sides by
whom the struggle will be conducted. To
aid us in this purpose and add interest to
the matter, a map prepared with great
care, is Incorporated.
First, as to the cause. England and
Russia are the two European rivals for
Asiatic power. They are both in Asia by
the right Of conquest. Their claims on
the-territory occupied are equal; they base
them on the broad ground Of civilization,
Both powers have been advancing since
about the middle of the eighteenth CEN
tury-Russia from the shores of the Cas-
plan Sea, and England from the East In
dia Company's settlement at Fort VIII
liam, near Calcutta-until within the last
decade it has been evident that the time
was soon to come when their frontiers
would meet. The total revenue of India
last year was $500, O00, 900; and the not only
pays'her own way, but affords rich field
for British capital, commerce, and manu-
features. Russia's Central Asian posses
slons, on the contrary, yield an annual
revenue of only S3,0o0QG0, and the annual
deficit caused by them to the imperial
treasury has averaged s2,S50,G0o for the
last fourteen years. The Russian adj
vance south upon Asia began from Cren-
burg, on the Russian side of the Caspian
sea, and has been pushed 1900 miles. The
English encroachment north began from
Fort William, and has been pushed 1909
miles, Together the two powers have COW
cred 5000 miles since they started from
their bases and now they are practically
face to face. Between them lies Afghan
istan. Russia and England long ago
agreed that this state should remain rs n
buffer between them. But they have
never come to a definite agreement As TO
what the precise limits of Afghanistan
were. The nearest approach to such an
agreement was arrived at in 1873, when
the British India office accepted the late
Prince Gortschakof's summary of the
understanding which resulted from long
negotiations between the two govern
ments. But this summary was unsatis-
factory, the controlling item stating" that
the territory in the actual possession at
the present moment of Shere Ali Khan
should be considered to constitute the
limits Of Afghanistan." This, as a matter
of course, left it to be settled. what terri
tory was in Shere Ali's actual possession
in 1872? That question has been debated
between the two governments ever since,
and is the ostensible ground of the pres
ent quarrel. Diplomatists on both sides
appear to have agreed, three years ago,
and maps of both countries SO exhibited it,
that the northwest boundary line of At
ghanistan was from Khojah Saleh to the
Persian frontier in the neighborhood of
Sarakhs.
Russia, however, has rudely disturbed
this understanding Of things by her later
action. Merv, which she assured the
English government in 1889 she had 10 in
tention of taking, she seized upon early
in 1884. The agreement to regard n line
drawn from Khojah Saleh to somewhere
| about Sarakhs Us the limits of her advance
she has now altogether brushed aside
This line would certainly exclude her
from Penjdeh, which is over 40 miles
| south of it, and Sari-yazi, which is oven
20 miles south Of it, and all the other al
vanced points which she now claims and
most Of which she occupies with her Cos
| sacks.