Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-06
TIBET IS 4 PROBLEM
Its Future With England as
Uncertain as Ever.
INDIAN APPREHENSION
SOME OBSERVATIONS OF THE
ARoHB1sH9P Of Of CANTERBURY.
Widespread Complaints, Of Dull Times
at the Summer Resorts-Comments
Over Vannutelli's Mission.
INDIAN APPREHENSION
special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

LONDON, August II, 1904.
| In spite of the tone of satisfaction in Of
! hcfal quarters at the success of the expe-
| dltfon to Lhasa, I have reason to believe
that the Indian authorities will be i'm
| mensely relieved when Colonel Younghus-
| pand, General Macdonald and their men
are safely back in the Chumbi valley on
| their way to India. For the immediate fu-
| ture In Tibet is as uncertain as 1t was at
| any time since the expedition started
Lhasa, indeed. has been reached, and the
sacred city Of Lamaism is in British
hands. Lhasa is not, as is often stated,
the sacred city of Buddhism. Lamaism is
only corrupt and degraded form of Bud
dhism-Of what is known as the northern
canon or body of doctrines-and is con-
fined to Tibet and the wild, unsettled re-
gions lying between there and Russian
territory. 1t has not crossed into China
proper.
The sacred places of Buddhism are all in
India and Nepaul where Buddha himself
lived and worked, and in certain spots of
Cey1on and Burmahy where recognized rel
les of him exist. No doubt the eyes Of all
Mongolia and central Asia lying between
China proper and Indiait and Russian ter
ritOry, and of the nomad tribes wandering
over that vast region are turned to LhaSa;
but the distances are too great, the diff
culties of travel fer.large bodies too insu-
perable, the cohesion among the tribes
men too slight to give cause for anxiety on
/ the score of fanatfcism body of ex-
cited lamas at Urga, for instance, are as
helpless, SO far as Ehasa is concerned, as
if they were on an island in mid-ocean
with no. boats. -. -.s
The Indian authorities do not fear this,
nor apparently do they fear any organized
attack from within Tibet itself. Their APP
prehension is rather that the dalai lama
will do nothing The Chinese amban and
the resident of Nepaul in Lhasa have ex-
hausted their advice to him-so far in
vain. Colonel Younghusband will settle
down quietly with his force in Lhasa for
the winter if necessary, and wait and wait
The probability Is that the lamaS will come
| in and treat. They are deprived of their
sacred city, with its monasteries, temples,
pilgrims and all those other things that
form a lama's dignity and make his life
worth living.
These are now in British hands, and if
! the lamas acted on the same motives as
| ordinary people elsewhere in the world one
| would say they, would be quite sure to ne
gotiate without delay. But this is just the
uncertainty. Hitherto they have not treat
| ed the British advance as ordinary people
| would have treated it, and the Indian au-
thorities cannot regard with much com
placence the prospect OF British force
| being detained for months in Lhasa and
| passing winter there, far from. support
and in the middle of a population. whose
country has. been invaded. 90 .r.-.-
| The Archbishop Of Canterbury.
| The interest (which the archbishop of
| Canterbury, whom yea will soon have with
| YOU in America, has ltaken1 in the war of
| the Free Kirk, of Scotland may he explained
| not only by his nationality, but also per
| haps by a. fact1lefss widely known. Last
| year. while the war was at ITS height In
fine north theoarchbiShOp was visiting the
| Highlands, and was for a'ttime tenant of
the Free2 Church Fnansei of1Tomatin. near
| Inverness. His landlord was an ardent
| Wee Kirker,"is and the archbishop must
have seen instances of the sturdy 5resolu-
| ton of the minority who held services on
] the hillsfdes' or even in the halls used for
| dancing rather than give in, and he could
| see, too, how the. Free Kirk miristec of
| Tomatin and those OF like s5fafth spent
| themselves In travelling day and night to
1 distant islands and remote parishes to
| officiate for the Wee kjIkers" The arch
| bishop, am told, was deeply impressed
| The letter, which he has written to the
| leaders of the tive sides, at once Christian
| and statesmanlike in its spirit, points to a
method of meeting the church difficulty,
| which, learn, finds favor In very lnhuen-
| tial quarters. 1t is doubtful If direct nego-
| tiations between the two bodies will lead to
| any practical result, In the view of many
| Scotsmen the best way of settling the diff
| Guilty would be BY forming strong court
| of arbitration, in which both churches
| would be represented. but the majority of
| whose members would be outside the range
of recent ecclesiastical conflicts. For eX-
ample such men as the al chbishop of Can
| terbury who is familiar with Scottish &C.
cIesiastical history, the prime minister, Mr.
| Bryce, Lord Balfour Of Burleigh, and Mr.
| Thomas Shaw would be eminently suitable
| members of such a tribunal
| Though 1t Is to be reared after all. that
| the primate's offer to give any assistance
| possible as an ''outside friend in discuss
| ing the steps toward settlement will not
| be accepted, the friendly and courteous
| u, uyb If is 1Je commands
eral approval. DIR. Davidson does not speak
unadvisedly in expressing the deep interest
| he takes in the question. He gave practi-
cal evidence of this interest by his close
attendance during the long proceedings In
| the house of lords. o..
! The archbishop used to- sit on the right
| of the lord chancellor behind Lord James
| of Hereford and followed the course of the
| respective arguments very closely. Several
| times when some point of church history
was raised he would refer to the vOlumi
| nous records of church history which fig
! ured in the appeal Dr.: Davidson, is him.
| self a Scotsman and such is more IA
| miliar with the intricate qualifications of
| northern ecclesiastical law than a mere
| Englishman could ever hope to be.
Summer Resorts Suffer.
| Although people have gone and are 60
| ing away to the seaside by tens of thou
| sands complaints are widespread as to the
| badness of the times. Publishers say that
| the season, has been a very bad one for
them, Theatrical managers groan in de-
spair, and as tor hrf9kers and jobbers in
| Throgmorton Street, they are not earning
| sufficient to buy "a crust of bread. A large
number are poatponihg their holidays be-
cause they AFFECT to; believe that the long
expected activity VII Come in the holidays.
for the postp6henieht of holidays is the
| scarcity of meney.
| Tradesmen complain especially those at
| ;.
the locking ua of, piilions of money in
South Africa fas Seriously diminished the
spending power of the well-to-do classes.
the last Fortnight Faftirss enterprises have
paid nearly million and half in divi-
dends. and eary next year the dividends
| however that bfnglahd is really getting
over the effects sot7 the Beer war.
With the hoI sdli;as ssa{ f, IN full swing
and the great raliWaS termini of the me-