The course pursued in Candahar is intelligible, though lament- able,
but we do not comprehend the object of these raids in the neighbourhood of Cabal. Lord HartIngton, questioned on the subject on Thursday, replied that armed gatherings of the Afghan tribes in the neighbourhood of Cabnl could not be per- mitted. Why not ? Apart from the morality of killing people with whom we have no quarrel, we intend to give Afghanistan an Ameer and independence. Why, then, not do it at once, in such a way that the Afghans will be convinced that we are sincere ? We should then have a party in the country, instead of finding in every man an enemy. The truth is, only Ab- durrahman or Yakoob is possible, and the Government cannot bear to acknowledge either without concessions as to Candahar which they will not make. That ill-judged attempt of Lord Lytton's to avoid a complete reversal of the Jingo policy will cost us millions yet, unless the Government shows both nerve and arbitrariness. Lord Ripon is evidently perplexed by the arguments of the old group.
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