Lord Cranbrook, on Friday week, read to the Lords a
letter from Sir F. Roberts, which disposes of one point favourably. The British Commander in Afghanistan has no intention of defending the policy of executing Afghan soldiers for resist- ance. He flatly denies that he did execute any, though he offered rewards for their capture, intending to arrest only those who attacked the British Residency. One or two men were summarily executed for mutilating British soldiers, but none were hanged; and Sir F. Roberts declares that the wounded were attended in our own dispensaries, that the strictest disci- pline has been maintained, and that no complaints have been received against the Europeans. All that is very satisfactory, but it must be remembered that the Correspondents, and espe- cially one correspondent who approves of terror, distinctly re- ported that batches of Afghans had been hanged for resistance; and Sir F. Roberts inserts in his letter one doubtful sentence about Yakoob Khan regarding his soldiers as rebels, which he considered a justification for his proclamations. So wide-spread was the belief in these executions, that Sir Donald Stewart actually remonstrated against them. It is, however, very use- less to discuss the matter until the lists have arrived, and Sir Charles Dilke has rightly postponed his motion until they have appeared.
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