The St. Johns herald., 1901-02-16
THE BRITISH RULE.
Have a Knack of Getting Into
 Power in Other Lands.
Notable Instances of Such Reigna In semfsavage COuntries-DsspOtic Control Exercised by Self
 Made Kings.


 Not only does England govern many peoples on her own accoant, but Eng lishmen seem to have the faculty of ingratiating themselves with still other nations and practically running them. The most conspicuous of these Britons just now is Sir Robert Hart, who controls the customs service of China. His name and the story of his rise and achievements have been 1 in the newspapers so much recently that it is all familiar to the public, says the New York Press. In his po- | eition Sir Robert has nothing to do I with England, yet he has contrived ! to do a good turn to his native land many times. One time when Russia wanted to advance China a loan and thus get China in her power, Sir Rob- ert checknated the game of Adam zad. the Bear That Walks Life a Man."
 Corea, the peninsular country that I juts out of China, has been managed for years by McLeavy Brown, who 1 holds immense power in the land He is a private Briton, like Sir Robert Hart, and has the customs, finances, government and practically the na- ton in his hands. He rescued the country from bankruptcy, showed the king how to reform the army, swept away official swindlers and leeches and made happy and prosperous nation of country that had been in 8 bad state
 | For case of despotic power wielded by Briton, there is an instance near CT home. John Finlayson, who died a short time ago, ruled a large part of Morocco and was by a long way i the most useful ruler the country ever i had. He was Scotchman, and had knowledge of the Moors and the l Arabic language that was unequaled | by any man who ever lived-except, 1 perhaps, the traveller Burton
 He was originally a mining expert, and he opened and worked some tin mines in the back country for the benefit of the sultan. He became a close friend of the monarch, who made him practically ruling viceroy, who did the work and took the credit, leav- | ing the sultan to amuse himself with out the anxiety of governing. 1 Finlayson remodeled the army, re- formed the revenues, and soon Mo rocco began to flourish. He did what no sultan had ever been able to do kept the wild tribes of the interior in something approaching order. Piracy and robbery he weeded out : to large extent, but it was impossi- i ble to stop them altogether. He paid off the national debt of $10,O0O,OOO and { increased the nations revenues from $75O, O,O0o to g ,5Oo,OO0.
 He lived the life of an Arab chief, but kept to the Christian religion. He was obliged, however, to conform to | the ceremonies of Mohammedanism | for he was too tactful to excite preju- dice. The nation at large really thought him an Arab by birth. He was always travelling about the coun- 1 try with his suite, turning up unex- 1 pectedly. He held the chief post of l justice, and was feared and esteemed as no native subject ever was. When some of his unruly subjects raided Spanish territory and nearly caused war, he pulled his adopted nation through the fix and paid a small in- demnity. Once every year he visited his native town of Aberdeen for a week. Morocco misses him sorely, now that he is gone, and the coun- try's prosperity is not what 1t was. He died of fever caught in the Tetuan swamps, and his funeral was honored even more than sultan's. Morocco did not know he was the son of Scotch tailor, but so he was, and a great man into the bargain. He re- mained subject of Victoria up .to his death.
 | Kipling's famous story, "The Man Who Would Be King" is founded on fact. An ex-civil servant. Cowper, who had come to grief in his profession, obtained the powers of a monarch in Kafristan. This is wild and dan gerous country at the back of Al ghanistan, north of India, and, as rule, it is certain death for any Eu- ropean who is found there. The Kafris are one of the cruelest and most turbulent races on earth. Yet this man, who went there without fol- lowers or money, was actually in stalled as king for a short time. He was master of the Kafri language and manners, and managed to get himself accepted ss a sort of god
 While he was king he did the thing thoroughly and governed well; also surrounded himself with money, horses and servants. His reign, which was popular while it lasted, gained for him the reverence of the people, for they believed him to be a genuine deity, and worshiped at a temple he had erected to himself He estab- lished the beginning of a great horse trade with Afghanistan, which has hourished ever since, and the coun- try certainly prospered under his rule. He held the throne only a year, for rival chief aroused faction against him and had him murdered
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