A great deal too much is made of the Russian
request to be allowed to discuss frontier matters with Afghanistan in a direct way, that is, by sending an Agent to Kabul. As they are forbidden by treaty to keep an Envoy there, they are accused of wishing to evade their engagements. We see no evidence of the evasion. They make their application openly to the British Government, they formally admit its right to protect Afghanistan, and they have opened no communica- tion with Habibullah. If the Czar had wished to commence an intrigue, he would have said nothing, and would have secretly sent to Kabul one of the five hundred officers who would have been delighted to perform so dangerous a service. The British Government is probably right in refusing per- mission pending further explanations, because any Russian agent in Kabul, whatever his business, would become a pivot for Afghan tribal intrigues, and his probable murder might produce diplomatic complications ; but we can scarcely wonder that this eternal suspiciousness leaves an impression on Russian minds of British unfriendliness.
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