We have received a pamphlet, written, we are told, by
an Austrian officer of experience and rank, strongly advo- cating the construction of the Euphrates Railway. He believes that Russia has devised a plan for reaching the Mediter- ranean without taking Constantinople, through Asia Minor, and that she is immediately pressing towards the Persian Gulf, Persia being now nearly prostrate. Considering that two ironclads could easily blockade the only port on the Gulf, we doubt if Russia will spend much money or energy on that project, while the former one will occupy years. The Euphrates Valley Railway, however, scarcely needs high political arguments in its defence. It will accelerate the journey between two con- tinents by ten days, give the world an alternative route to India, and wake up Asia Minor to new life, and what can its advocates want more? If we are to fight Russia, South Persia will do capitally for the purpose, mach better than Candahar.
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