tsŁ^ t<^^ «dS^ «^^ ?i^ <*i^ ?<i^

EX-KING OF AFGHANISTAN

They point to two and a half years of patient, stolid
work. They detail the improvements already to be seen
in the country. And if ever there was a ruler who
started at scratch, it was the present King of Afghanis-
tan. When, bursting into stricken and satiated Kabul
at the head of his troops in October of 1929, he even-
tually dragged the bandit king to his shame and his
death, he searched the Treasury and the Palace rooms
to find bareness and desolation. It was probably the
first case in history of a national exchequer being un-
lined with even a silver coin. Robbers had left not a
rupee. There was no bullion, no. gold ornaments, no
jewels, no State decorations, no deposit in valuable metal.

Literally, a man ruled in Kabul without the price of
a meal for himself. There was little or no army. In
any case, the soldiers could not be paid. There was no
credit, and there was no cadre of officials ready to pro-
cure the means of carrying on. There was no system of
issuing appeals, commands, or proclamations to the
people. There were no police, and if there were some
rifles, there was no ammunition.

Men were starving. The granaries were empty, and
the grain fields had been neglected for a more richly
promising harvest. The cold winter threatened to last
for ever. Save for the undoubted fact that the Kabulis
had had enough fighting and bloodshed to tide them
over for many months, there was nothing to prevent a
state of confusion and misery transcending everything
that had passed before.

To appreciate the sum of Nadir Shah's achievement,
it is necessary to compare this picture with the situa-
tion to-day. There is a Parliament, democratically and
honestly conducted. There is a Senate, to be likened
to an "Upper House, and elected members of the people
are permitted to speak for their own classes and pass

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