A Blue-book has been published dealing with the later stages
of the Tibetan Expedition and its results. It is chiefly remarkable for the difference of opinion which it shows between the Imperial Government and the Govern- ment of India on the question of the appointment of a Resident at Lhasa and the retention of the Chumbi Valley. Both these proposals were vetoed by the Secretary of State, and the British Commissioner was instructed to make no terms involving either. Sir Francis Younghusband, however, considered that he was acting in accordance with his instructions in arranging for the payment of the indemnity to be spread over seventy-five years, Chumbi to be retained meanwhile as a guarantee. The Government repudiated this clause, and in several despatches censured the Commissioner for a serious breach of discipline. We have dealt with the matter elsewhere, and need only say here that Sir Francis Youngbusband seems to us to have acted within the dis- cretion which belongs to all responsible officials, that the tone of the Government's correspondence is most unfortunate, and that their action in publishing such despatches is an un- warranted slight upon a distinguished public servant.
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