30 MAY 1874, Page 3

The real value of the Treaty just concluded between the

British Government and the Ameer of Yarkund is not commercial, but political. We may possibly open a new market for Indian teas, and the Ameer's subjects may buy a few European articles they need, but the total amount of the trade can scarcely exceed a quarter of a million. But it is a real advantage to be able to maintain a European Envoy at a Court which knows pretty accurately all that passes in Central Asia, and has the strongest

interest in keeping itself well-informed. At present, with only native agents — agents who are neither recognised nor accredited—we run the greatest risk, on any serious emergency, of being sold.