It may prove that the great event of the week
has been General Roberts's proclamation to the Afghans. In this docu- ment, badly reported by Reuter, and not published by the India
Office, the General, "by order of the vieereno
announces the
abdication of Yakoob Khan and the occupation of several dis- tricts by the British, requests the Sirdara to retain their function of maintaining order, promises protection to the people in the occupied cities, and insists upon their obedience. He also sig- nifies that the general administration of Afghanistan will he settled after consultation with the Sirdars and other leading -persons. As we have argued elsewhere, this proclama- tion indicates an intention to set lip or accept a vassal Prince, and will involve much serious work, even if the Afghans, seeing in it a determination permanently to control them, do not make one final effort to expel the invader. General Roberts has collected supplies for five months, and has hutted his men for the winter ; has summoned all troops from the Peiwar, thus abandoning the Kurtun route;
and is engaged in opening the route by Jellalabad and. Dhakka, which is closed as yet by the Ghilzais.