itary demonstration on the Afghan
frontier. Strange to say, the military authorities, who are usually very
bellicose, deprecated such a movement, on the ground that a military
demonstration in a country like Afghanistan might easily develop into a
serious campaign, and that a serious campaign ought not to be undertaken
in that region until after the completion of the strategical railways
from Orenburg to Tashkent.

As this important line has now been completed, and other strategic lines
are in contemplation, the question arises whether Russia meditates an
attack on India. It is a question which is not easily answered. No doubt
there are many Russians who think it would be a grand thing to annex
our Indian Empire, with its teeming millions and its imaginary fabulous
treasures, and not a few young officers imagine that it would be an easy
task. Further, it is certain that the problem of an invasion has been
studied by the Headquarters Staff in St. Petersburg, just as the problem
of an invasion of England has been studied by the Headquarters Staff in
Berlin. It may be pretty safely asserted, however, that the idea of a
conquest of India has never been seriously entertained in the Russian
official world. What has been seriously entertained, not only in the
official world, but by the Government itself, is the idea--strongly
recommended by the late General Skobelef--that Russia should, as quickly
as possible, get within striking distance of our Indian possessions, so
that she may always be able to bring strong diplomatic pressure on the
British Government, and in the event of a conflict immobilise a large
part of the British army.

The expansive tendency in the direction of the Persian Gulf and
the Indian Ocean was considerably weakened by the completion of the
Trans-Siberian Railway and the rapid development of an aggressive policy
in the Far east. Never, perhaps, has the construction of a single line
produced such deep and lasting changes in the sphere of Weltpolitik.

As soon as the Trans-Siberian was being rapidly constructed a
magnificent prospect opened up to the gaze of imaginative politicians in
St. Petersburg. The foreground was Manchuria a region of 364,000 square
miles, endowed by nature with enormous mineral resources, and
presenting a splendid field for agricultural colonisation and commercial
enterprise. Beyond was seen Korea, geographically an appendix of
Manchuria, possessing splendid harbours, and occupied