The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1891. RUSSIAN AGGRESSION IN ASIA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 2490, 19 October 1891, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1891. RUSSIAN AGGRESSION IN ASIA.

The designs of the Russian expedition to the Pauiir Plateau have become so evident during the last few days that ifc is not surprising to hear that the countries interested ia that practically unknown country are about to take action to prevent encroachment upon their rights. Peaceful methods of settling the points at issue and deciding upon the spheres of the various countries are to be followed m the first instance, it being stated that a commission, representing we presume, Britain, China, Afghanistan, an 4 Bugsia, will proceed to the spot and carry ayi the work of delineating the nespecjtiyfi boundaries. Wlwt the value of the work will be when done may be estimated from the fact that it k only about four years ago, m 1887, that an agreement between England and Russia was arrived at, after extremely protracted negotiations h«4 many exasperating delays interposed hy ftflwjft, as to the respective spheres of influence ' pf tbeee two powers with regard to;

Afghanistan, and this agreement has not m the slightest degree prevented Russia from maintaining a steady ad vance India-wards. The Khanate of Bokhara has besn practically absorbed by Russia, and the encroachment upon the Pamir Plateau has been the next step. The Plateauisa tract of country, containing somewhere about twenty thousand square miles, situated on the north-east border of Afghanistan, and bounded on the west by Bokhara, on the north by the Sir-Darya district of Russia proper, and on the east by China. British [ndia extends northwards to within eighty miles of the Pamir Plateau, and so far ass is shown by the latest maps, the Indian frontier and the intervening country at this point possess no natural defences, such as a mountain range, that would check , the approach of an invading army, or that, could be fortified .apd garrisoned with that object. The Pamir does not appear to have been actually claimed as British territory,, but it has been recognised, even by Russia, until the other day, as being within the sphere of British influence. This influence came about, according to a Russian official statement, through the Khan of one of the neighbouring states having expelled the Chinese officials from the Pamir, and then placed himself under the protection of the Viceroy of India m return for an annual subsidy—much as the Ameer of Afghanistan is a British vassal, receiving a subsidy of £10,000 a month from the Indian Government. It is thus evident that the recent movements of the Russian expedition amount practically to an invasion of a country under a British protectorate, and the gravity of the situation is obvious. The menace to the Indian empire is also only too apparent. There are, however, aspects of the question on which our information is as yet imperfect. The Indian Government have been promoting explorations m the Pamir country for the last two years, and it is possible that it may have been found that it is neither valuable m itself nor as a part of the Indian frontier defence system. In any case, however, the Russian occupation of the Plateau is not a circumstance that can be regarded without uneasiness by those who desire to preserve our Indian Empire.