A British expedition, partly naval and partly military, is on
its way from Bombay to check the gun-running trade on the coast of Persian Mekran, and to protect the ludo- European telegraph line. Admiral Slade will patrol the coasts of both Oman and Mekran, and there is no doubt that wireless telegraphy, which makes the prevention of gun- running easier than before—though unhappily there is much more to prevent—will cause the gun-runners as much annoyance as usual. In a most interesting article in the Times of Tuesday it is pointed out how the traffic in arms, which find their way to the tribes on the North- West Frontier of India, has grown enormously owing to the co-operation of the Baluchi chieftains of Mekran with the Afghans. The Afghan traders used to fetch the arms themselves, but now their caravans remain hidden inland while the Baluchis of the coast meet the dhows and store the arms till the time comes for the traders to claim them. Both Baluchis and Afghans are thoroughly exasperated by Admiral Slade's activities, and they are said to have de- clared their intention of wrecking the telegraph stations. Our expeditions are expensive and, of course, only partially effective. It is to be hoped that France will consent to end her treaty with the Sultan of Oman, under cover of which most of the traffic — both British and French—is carried on.
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