Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
land trembled, but nothing came of the
diplomatic disaster.
ATwTEMPT.

Russia, on the north, has been also
for twenty years counting the favor of
the ameer. When Abdur Rahman Khan
anne INTO his kingdom in 1880, at the age
Of t~hirty-five, he at once gave his peo-
pie and the world to understand two
things. The first was that he, the ameer,
ruled ~Afghanistan, next to God and the
Prophet; and that he proposed to exer-
else such rule to the extent of his power
and pleasure. He crushed all rebellions
in the kingdom by arbitrary and even
cruel means. He raised a large standing
army, built military roads. closed his
ports to Russia n England n
rated himself from Persia. BY agree
ment the Shah of Persia was to take the.
western part Of h Iran plateau, while
the Ameer of Afghanistan took the east
ern part.
The Shah Of Persia, always supine.
acQuiesced to the proposed plans n
Persia became limited in power, grow
ing smaller by agreement. instead of
continuing in virtual control of all the
vast peninsula which looks down toward
the Indian ocean.
The Ameer Of Afghanistan did more.
He raised the price of all exports, and
so allowed his people to make money on
all the ebony, sandal wood and bamboo
which went from his shores.
Always rich in production, Afghanfs-
tan suddenly became a very garden for
the raising of figs, dates, olives and all
kinds of rare spices; and thousands an
naully came back in good money for the
people of A~fghanistan. At the same time
he raised the taxes and with the immense
sums which poured into the royal Golfers
he maintained armies, purchased mill
tary supplies and both ~astonished and
frightened England and Russia by heav-
lily f%ortifying his borders.
England, fearing an outbreak on the
part of the ameer which should arouse
India. claimed the International right to
question and called the ameer to account
for the heavy equipment of army and
sponded thai he considered that he was
merely exercising ordinary prudence in
carrying out the old precept, "1n time OF
peace prepare for war;" But the smile
upon his dark features was mystical.
HOME INDUSTRIES.
At the same time the ameer caused
large industries to grow up in the
try. BY importing machinery and cum
ningly using it in connection with hand
work he turned out in quantities the
shawls for which the country Is famous.
He also manufactured those wonderful
Persian carpets n h woods of Be-
loochistan. The gay cottons of Arabia
were known to his workers and England
bought thousands Of them annually; and
SO with the many other Oriental fabrics
for the production or which the countries
along the Indian ocean are famous.
Afghanistan became rich and strong as
Persia declined, until the former country
brought from two to three times as
much as those of it's neighbors along the
Indian ocean.
The country's Golfers became so swol-
len that Afghanistan did not hesitate to
make a loan to Arabia; and the ameer's
personal possessions, amounted to so
much that it was whispered in England
that he had invested a million or SO
pounds with the Rothschilds, not hav-
ing further opportunity for it in his own
little country, filled so with wealth that
each man had enough for comfort and
more.
England all this time had been MAX
ing herself friendly with A~fghanistan to
Arabia and Turkey. all Of which coun-