Evening star., 1928-05-06
BY C. PATRICK THOMPSON.
7 Is Majesty King Amanullah of

ministers bodyguard. tn-laUs, 20 TONS
Of luggage and Is new Bond street top
hats.
England did it's utmost to make an
impression--a deep and lasting impress
siOn-upon him during his stay in Lon
don And apparently she succeeded.
For after his three weeks of feteS and
balls and military maneuvers. King
Amanullah was loath to leave. He liked
the gayety OF London, he enjoyed the
constant round of pleasure arranged for
his benefit--which included the most
elaborate state banquet Britain had
seen since the days OF Queen Victoria.
Embarrassing Moments.
There were some embarrassing mo-
ments. inevitably. On the brilliant
parade into the banquet at Buckingham
Palace his majesty stopped and saluted
the royal butler under the impression
that. with all that scarlet and gold
lace he must be a great dignitary. He
also kissed the hand Of the Oueen's
lady-in waiting. which is a consider
able breach of etiquette.
But on the whole the managers OF
Britain's imperial business are rubbing
their hands and congratuiating them
selves on a successful piece OF stage
management.
And on his departure. Amanullar
said that he had been most impressed
hy the military maneuvers on Salisbury
Plain. during the course Of which a
sham battle plainly displayed the ter
rors of modern warfare Which was
significant.
| The whole affair vas costly, but then
/ ondon simply had to outshine Moscow,
| for the cables and the ether had been
| buzZinc for some weeks with news mes
| sazes describing the gorgeous state in
! which the Bolsheviki were preparing tc
receive the first king to visit them sine
/ they shot their own.
/ No visiting European royalty has hac
/ so much obsequious publicity. such ar
/ entertainment program In the grand
/ manner since the good old pre-war
/ davs when kings were kings. For 1t /,
/ a sad. cold fact that since the disap-
/ pearance of the autocratic Hapsburg
/ and Hohenzollern emperors England
! has taken only formal and polite in
/ terest in the few hamstrung royalties
/ that are left in Europe.
Air Bases.
/ The kings she is really interested In
/ in an intimate and personal way, have
I their courts and palaces east and south
! OF SueZ and rule Kingdoms where, al
/ though the royal etiquette NAV be as
primitive as the palace plumbing, "Of
with his head!" still means something
in cour. circles.
One may mention the frail astute
Arab Feisal King Of Iraq by the grace
of imperial Britain, and his more robust
but less magnetic brother. Abdullah.
King of neighboring Transiordania by
the grace of the same power: Ria
Khan. King of Persia by the grace Of
Ria Khan and great disappointment
TO Britain In matters connected with
air bases along the Persian Gulf; the
bearded Wahabi King, master Of most
/ of Arabia. whose precise intentions
(which are now causing the British
+ foreign, colonial war and air ministries
/ much perturbation) are veiled in the
! obScurlty of the desert: and the afore-
/ said Amanullah. who believes in one
man rule. with a ministry composed of
/ his relatives-in-law. and who governs
/ with an iron hand the wild buffer state
between British India and Red Russia
All these men are kings in the good
old way What they say in their king
donS goes. When the King says Turn
! the whole country may groan, but II
turns. For Ii is fact inadeQuately
(
war which caused a twilight of kings
in Europe brought bright dawn in the
Near and Middle East
Some kings in these regions made
their exits, true. but others Immediately
leaped upon the Stage-usually with a
British or German imported gun in
hand. for royal reverence for tradition
In the Orient does not extend to the
choice OF weapons.
And II is an odd-and for Britain an
unfortunate circumstance that all
these Strong-arm upholderS of the di-
vine right of kings should lie about in
the track of Britain's main communica-
tions with India and the East. not for
getting Australia and the Pacific.
ANY one who cannot quite understand
democratic England'S respect for pre-
carlouS princes Of the desert and real
reverence for a despotic duSkv potentate
who still eats with his fingers but is
absolute lord Of two million souls and a
rocky frontier should consult a map.
and preferably marked map Of the
sort they use in war officeS, when study
ING the communication system which
keens the British Empire living or
ganiSm
II should also show air lines existing
/ and potential A note on the relative
vulnerabtlitv Of frontiers. like the noun
famous northwest frontier of India with
its famous Kyber Pass and ths thou
sard-mile frontier of the postwar state
or Irao, would not be snliSs
New Shah Causes Trouble.
Revertlng from the general to the
particular, meet his Persian Majesty
Ria Khan. England was perfectly
happy about Persia while she had fat
Young Shah with a passion for Paris
Nice and the more opulent members cf
the demimonde She could handle a
/ Persian government divided against IL
self But when Riss Khan. the Kemal
PaSha Of Persia a hard soldier and a
willy diplomat, seized the power and
crowned himself SiRh in due and
ancient form. Britain'S troubles began
In the flrSt flush the new shah
promised Britain she should have the
air bases she wanted on the Persian
Gull for the extension of her air hines
eastward from Egypt 70 India ard SO
eventually to AuStralia~--the great tn,~
Dertal air trail hlaSed hv Alan Cohham
in his giant SeapiRne and Bert Hinkler
in his little ene-Seater monoplane
But Russia has an air line into
Persia from the north via RaSu and
Russia works with GERMANY IN the
financial and technical development oi
her airways So the Persian King,
finding there were two BUYERS for the
one camel ot those air bases PLAYED
them both and sold to the highest
bidder, which happened 10 be the
RuSSO-German group
This was late last year The Russo
German syndicate, having opened ny
great through route from Moscow 20
TeherAn, nromntlv thrust link down
90 the Cult al Rushhe and another east
to the frontier AZ KaSr~t-Shsrin, 100
miles from the fraa capital ef Ragdad,
where sits King FeiSal prohibited under
the British mandate from giving air
facilities 60 any air lines but those
Of the British