NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ON Tuesday it was announced that our Foreign Office had delivered a Note to the Persian Government pointing out the condition of anarchy into which Southern Persia had fallen, especially as regards the caravan route from Bushire to Shiraz and. Ispahan, and insisting that unless within the next three months this condition of things was remedied, it would be necessary for us to organise a police force to be raised in Persia and to act in the name of the Persian Govern- ment, but controlled by Indian officers. The British Govern- ment did not, of course, take this step without consultation with the Russian Government, with whom we are acting in accord in regard to all things Persian, and also till the condi- tion of anarchy had made it peremptory for them to move. The last thing that the British Government desire to do is to annex, either directly or indirectly, any portion of Persia, and the proposed steps, we may point out, have nothing in them of this character. What we ardently desire is that Persia should be able to remain independent ; but Persian supineness and impotence in the matter of the preservation of law and order cannot be tolerated beyond a certain point, and that point, in the opinion of most competent observers, has already been reached.
