NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE doubt which, whatever its origin, certainly reigned in official circles about the destiny of Burmah, has been solved. It is officially announced that on New Year's Day Lord Dufferin issued the following plainly worded notice in the Calcutta Gazette: —"By command of the Queen-Empress it is hereby notified that the territories formerly governed by King Theban will no longer be under his rule, but have become part of her Majesty's dominions, and will during her Majesty's pleasure be ad- ministered by such officers as the Viceroy and Governor- General of India may from time to time appoint.—DUFFERIN." That is short, but that is final, for we need not say Mr. Gladstone, if he came into power, neither would nor could part with a province, or reverse the decision of the great agent whom he himself selected. Burmah is British for all time, and it only remains to organise the Administration, for which Mr. Bernard has the means within British Burmah itself ; to build the railway from Dacca to Mandelay- a heavy but not stupendous task ; and to arrange a per- manent modus viveudi with China, whose statesmen seek apparently some advantage from our conquest. Sir Robert Hart, we fancy, can arrange that without handing over tribes for whose future welfare we have made ourselves respon- sible. The cession of Bhamo is, of course, impossible, for without that frontier station the great Bengal-Burmese Railway would never be quite safe. We must keep the Irrawaddy to ourselves; but any reasonable effort to conciliate Pekin should not be wanting.
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