Reuter's correspondent at Peshawur forwards a curious piece of intelligence.
The Amir of Afghanistan, he says, has made a speech in full Durbar complaining that, although Afghanistan can supply a million of men, the people are becoming enervated, and it has been necessary to abolish conscription. His Highness intends, therefore, to raise a paid army of thirty thousand men, in which every private will receive Rs.10 a month, while every headman who brings in a hundred men will be made an officer, or if he brings a thousand, will become a Colonel. Herat is to be fortified with thirty fresh batteries of artillery, and a bridge is to be built over the Helmund at Kandahar. It is not likely that the Amir has waived his right in emergency of calling all the faithful to arms, and we should imagine the meaning of all these statements to be this. Lord Kitchener has advised the Amir to raise a small and regularly paid standing army, in addition to the levee en masse, which would resist invasion; to refortify Herat, which part of the new army will garrison ; and to facilitate the march of a British army to his support by bridging the Helmund ; and the Amir has accepted the advice. If the Russians win the next campaign, these arrangements may prove of importance.
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