NEWS OF THE WEEK.
BEFORE 'WO have yet got rid of the old war with Russia' the whole question of which seems to be reopening—before we have taken the slightest step in the new war with Naples, if ever that is to commence—it appears that we are involved in the initiative of a third war, with our ally at Teheran ! It is like a dream. "We" never intended any such thing ; nor did the Anglo- Indians, who are much vexed, and opposed to the expense ; but our Government has done it all, and on principles which have been recognized officially. We are told by way of explanation, that there was not much necessity for us to interfere in Herat so long as Yar Mohammed was the Governor of Herat, for he was wayward, stubborn, independent, and could keep off the Per- sians ; whereas Said Mohammed Shan is an indolent, luxurious man, who leans upon Persian support ; and we must therefore correct that tendency to derange the balance of power in Central Asia. We have a treaty stipulation—the convention of 1853 with Persia, securing the neutrality of Herat. . And besides the balance of power, we have to keep an outpost of India, lest the Russians should come. This is the theory of the matter. It is quite too late in the day to expose the utter futility of the whole notion. The Russian's cannot get to India with an army, which would perish by the way. They work more securely by more insidious means. In conceivable circumstances they might bribe traitors among our own Indian subjects ; but while we con- tinue to improve the condition of the Indians, we keep out the Russians by preoccupying the ground on which they work. The "gate," moreover, is a city on a vast plain, as easy to be turned as Salisbury ; and if the Russians really were com- ing upon us in India, we could not do them a greater favour than to send off a part of our army to lose itself in the plains of Herat.
It is difficult to imagine a motive for such a crusade. If we were compiling a romance after the historical pattern, we might say, that having failed to secure the objects of the war with Rus- sia, being refused French cooperation in Naples, and anticipating disappointment for the military aspirations of the British people, our Government is providing them a diversion by the castigatory blow which is to be struck at Persia's exposed point, Bushire in the Persian Gulf.
