18 



AFGHANISTAN. 



were tlu-reforo in the position to declare that 

 England was pledged to secure Zultikar for the 

 AiuctT. The Kuxsian minister, obedient to 

 the dominant sentiment, endeavored now to 

 minimize the concession to which he had con- 

 sented in principle, that the line should be 

 drawn on the IK-ri Rud, "at a point north of 

 Zultikar." 



The question as to the extension of the ter- 

 ritory to IK- conceded was scarcely raised when 

 the Liberal Government in England went out 

 of office. The anti-Russian speeches of Lord 

 Salisbury before taking office, in conjunction 

 with the choice of so pronounced a Russophobe 

 as Lord Randolph Churchill as the head of the 

 India Office, led the Russians to anticipate a 

 vigorous and militant policy that would over- 

 turn the basis for a friendly understanding 

 already attained. The Marquis of Salisbury 

 quieted the general fear by his statement in 

 Parliament that, as he found the business in 

 the process of settlement, it became the duty 

 of the new Government " to take up the policy 

 where it had been left, and to conduct it to 

 roch an issue as seemed consistent with the 

 public interest." He laid down as a " domi- 

 nant condition " of his policy that the pledges 

 giren by the outgoing Government should be 

 fulfilled. The Tory Government insisted, how- 

 ever, on the largest construction of the terms 

 of the Russian engagement with reference to 

 Zulfilcar. The line proposed started at the 

 Heri Rud, north of the pass, taking in the de- 

 file leading from Persia Afghan, as well as the 

 pasture-lands along the river that go by the 

 name of Zulfikar, but leaving to Russia the 

 interior valley and the other defile, besides 

 other positions in dangerous proximity to the 

 wells and salt lakes of their new possessions, 

 that were claimed by England for the Ameer. 

 To give up these, they declared, would he sur- 

 rendering "the key to Russia's house." The 

 n-arert road from Akrobat to the wells of 



nlla Hairan Taka, and the pasturages of the 

 ffurrounding valley, lies through the country 



aimed by England. M. de Giers distinctly 



Fwad to concede this portion of the disputed 

 territory in the preliminary negotiations that 



vetdtd the agreement to abandon Zulfikar. 



wia offered to allow the matter to be settled 



the commissioners on the spot, but the 



proposal wns rejected. In the beginning of 



the Aftrhans began to mass troops again 



on the border. The Russians thereupon ad- 



rmnced in force to Zulfikar. The British bound- 



ommissioners retired to Herat, and were 



itod into the city by the Afghans. 



the Ameer * return from India his troops 



been at work improving the fortifications. 



The a*i*tance of English engineer officers was 



Accepted. Lord Salisbury demanded that 



nwian troops should be withdrawn from 



d positions in the Zulfikar Pass 



vndinff negotiations. Russia agreed, on the 



condition that the Afghans should not occupy 



the positions evacuated. The discussion over 



ALABAMA. 



Zulfikar was finally brought to a termination in 

 the beginning of September by a compromise. 

 The Russian Government, after making topo- 

 graphical inquiries, considerably modified their 

 position, abandoning to the Ameer the whole 

 of Zulfikar Pass proper. 



ALABAMA. State Government. The following 

 were the State officers during the year : Gov- 

 ernor, Edward A. O'Neal, Democrat; Secretary 

 of State, Ellis Phelan ; Treasurer, Frederick H. 

 Smith ; Auditor, M. C. Burke ; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, Thomas K McOlellan ; Superintendent of 

 Education, Solomon Palmer ; Railroad Com- 

 missioners, Henry R. Shorter, L. W. Lawler, 

 and W. C. Tunstall; Commissioner of Agricult- 

 ure, E. C. Betts. Judiciary, Supreme Court : 

 Chief-Justice, George W. Stone ; Associate Jus- 

 tices, H. M. Somerville and David Clopton. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature, which 

 was in session at the close of the year, ad- 

 journed in February. Among its notable 

 achievements were the defeat of the restrictive 

 railroad bills and the reduction of the tax-rate 

 from six and a half to six mills. The road laws, 

 founded on a social and economic condition 

 whose base was African slavery, have been 

 proved ineffectual under a system of free labor. 

 These laws are left as they were, except in some 

 counties where the people clamored loudly for 

 a change. 



A law was passed providing for instruction of 

 all pupils in all schools and colleges supported 

 in whole or in part by public money, or under 

 State control, in hygiene and physiology, with 

 special reference to the effects of alcoholic 

 drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the hu- 

 man system. 



Another law modifies the common-law lia- 

 bility of employers to their workmen, in cases 

 of death or injury resulting from carelessness 

 or defective materials or faulty construction. 



Other acts of the session are the following: 



For repairing the buildings at Talladega, known as 

 the Alabama Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and 

 the Blind. 



To prevent public drunkenness. 



For the revision and codification of the public stat- 

 utes of this State, both civil and criminal. 



For the appointment of inspectors of timber and 

 lumber. 



To amend an act to amend an act to revive and com- 

 plete the geological and agricultural survey of the State, 

 approved Feb. 19, 1883. 



To authorize the Governor to employ an expert ac- 

 countant to act as examiner of public accounts and to 

 define his duties. 



Further to define and regulate the convict system 

 of Alabama. 



For the sale of such lands as have been or may be 

 selected under and by virtue of an act of Congress 

 entitled/' An act to increase the endowment of the 

 University of Alabama from the public lands in said 

 tote," approved April 23, 1884; and for the applica- 

 tion ot all moneys arising from such sales 



I o authorize the Alabama State Bar Association to 

 pstitute and prosecute proceedings to disbar prac- 

 ticing attorneys. 



To allow the oral examination of witnesses in courts 

 of chancery. 



To prescribe a uniform mode of executing convey- 

 ances of lands and of every interest therein. 



