GUN RUNNING AND THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER. Gun Running and the
North-West Frontier. By the Hon. Arnold Koppel. (John Murray. 9s, net.)—Mr.Keppere object in writing this book is "to emphasize the connexion between the operations of the blockading squadron [in the Persian Gulf] and the preser- vation of peace on the Pathan border." As we road we find him dealing with another closely related subject, the attitude and intentions of the Amir of Afghanistan. This last factor in the situation is the most intractable. We can make the blockade effective, and 90 greatly diminish, to say the least, the danger from hostile clans on the border ; but with Afghanistan it is very difficult to deal effectively. The Amir shows friendship to us— he was positively effusive when he paid British India a visit some years ago—but he knew perfectly well that this friendship does not make him popular at home, and one easy way of showing his
subjects what he really feels is to foment the disturbances which give us so much trouble on the north-west frontier. About these things Mr. Koppel writes in an interesting way. One thing occurs to us. Some of the guns, we are told, are of English manufacture. Would it be possible to detect and punish the traitors who sell them P
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