36 



ASIA. 



dians. The moral support and encouragement 

 thus given to the agents must be valuable. 



In accordance with the same general plan of 

 bringing moral influences to bear upon the 

 conduct of Indian affairs, the present Congress 

 authorized the President to appoint a commis- 

 sion of philanthropic citizens to serve without 

 pay in such supervisory and visitorial duty as 

 might be assigned to them. No difficulty was 

 found in securing the services of men of the 

 highest character and known benevolence. By 

 an Executive order they were authorized to in- 

 spect all the accounts and records of the Bureau, 

 to be present at the purchases of Indian goods, 

 and advise as to the conduct of the same, 

 and visit and inspect the tribes in their res- 

 ervations, and examine the business of all the 

 agencies. The officers of the department were 

 also directed to give respectful heed to the 

 suggestions and reports of the commission. 

 No direct responsibility, either pecuniary or 

 administrative, was put upon the commission, 

 because it was believed that their usefulness 

 would not be increased thereby. They now 

 constitute an entirely disinterested body of in- 

 telligent advisers, with full power to throw 

 the light of the most searching scrutiny upon 

 the conduct of our relations with the Indiana, 

 and to give the public, through their reports, 

 the most reliable knowledge of the condition 

 and progress of the several tribes. 



ASIA. During the year 1869, no territorial 

 changes have taken place in Asia ; but a change 

 of vast importance, and which must affect the 

 destinies of this whole division of the world, 

 is irrepressibly drawing near. The indepen- 

 dence of the powerless States in Central Asia 

 must sooner or later come to an end. They, 

 even now, live entirely upon the mercy of 

 Russia and England. What remains to be de- 

 cided is, whether they shall fall to the one or 

 the otljer of these States ; and this constitutes 

 the Central Asian question, which is fast grow- 

 ing to be one of the foremost political ques- 

 tions of our age. Central Asia would make a 

 very large addition to the Kussian Empire; 

 and, as the powerful Kussians will, in the 

 course of time, have no difficulty in absorbing 

 these uncivilized and comparatively small 

 tribes into the compact Russian nationality, 

 both in Russia and in England, the develop- 

 ment of the Central Asian question is studied 

 with intense interest. Some, as Grant Duff, 

 the English Under-Secretary for India, believe 

 that the continuance of peace between the 

 two great European rivals in Central Asia is 

 for the present sufficiently secured by the cir- 

 cumstance that an almost inaccessible tract of 

 land, of nearly 800 miles, still constitutes an 

 insurmountable wall of separation between 

 the new Russian conquests and India. Others, 

 however, show that Russia, having now exclu- 

 sive possession of the Caspian Sea, the Aral 

 Sea, and ^ Oxus, could carry out aggressive de- 

 against India in a much easier way than 

 by a march through Central Asia. Steamships 



could carry a large Russian force to Affghanis- 

 tan and only the possession of, or, what would 

 be equal to it, the protectorate over, the northern 

 part of Afghanistan, or the territory of Cabul, 

 would be required for the Russians, to reach 

 the northwestern frontier of British India. It 

 will be seen, therefore, that Afghanistan is 

 becoming a country of considerable interest, 

 and we have, on that account, deemed it best 

 to include Afghanistan in the list of important 

 countries which are the subjects of special 

 articles in this volume of the AMEEICAN AN- 

 NUAL CYCLOPAEDIA. (See RUSSIA ; AFFGHANIS- 

 TAN.) 



None of the Asiatic countries have during the 

 year been the scene of such momentous inter- 

 nal changes as Japan. The long struggle be- 

 tween the Mikado on the one hand, and the 

 Tycoon and the northern Daimios on the other, 

 is at an end. A Parliament has met for the 

 first time, which, though it consisted merely 

 of princes and nobles, has yet introduced Japan 

 into the number of constitutional monarchies. 

 The Japanese have again made remarkable 

 progress in the reorganization of their army, 

 and of public instruction. The number of 

 young men who are pursuing their studies in 

 the United States and in Europe is increasing, 

 and emigration is bringing large numbers of 

 the people into close contact with foreign na- 

 tions. 



The Chinese Government has not verified 

 the sinister predictions that it would reject the 

 Burlingame treaties, and only try to hoodwink 

 the Governments of the United States and of 

 Europe. Toward the close of the year, the 

 treaties were formally ratified in Pekin, and 

 the relations with foreign powers were as ami- 

 cable as they had been at any previous period. 

 A large class of the population were hostile to 

 foreigners and Christians, and a number of 

 missionaries were cruelly massacred ; but the 

 Government on every occasion showed an 

 earnest desire to conform to the treaties, and 

 to remain on good terms with the treaty 

 powers. (See CHINA.) 



A serious difficulty arose between the two 

 great representatives of Asiatic Mohammedan- 

 ism, Turkey and Persia, concerning the regu- 

 lation of the frontier. For a time, a great war 

 appeared to be inevitable, and, as Russia was 

 reported to sympathize strongly with Persia, 

 it was even anticipated that through this con- 

 flict the Eastern question might enter a new 

 stage. These anticipations were, however, not 

 fulfilled, and the difficulty was for the present 

 amicably settled. (See PEESIA.) 



The opening of the Suez Canal will largely 

 increase the commerce of southwestern and 

 southern Asia, and thus probably awaken a 

 new life in the countries of these regions. The 

 vast projects of railroads and telegraph lines 

 which have for several years beeen under con- 

 sideration, or in the course of progress, and 

 which are to connect the Asiatic countries 

 with Europe and with each other, must thus 



