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AMANULLAH

and the House of Lords. The nobility were not for-
gotten, in a country where there is and always will be
a sharp dividing-line between those who can trace their
ancestry back to the old ruling houses, and those who
till the soil. The art of war still held pride of place in
the hero worship of the commoner. But here, under the
guidance of the new King,, were noblemen of war
striving for peace, and names immortally written on the
scroll of warfare, now appearing on the lists of those
who had triumphed in the art of seeking peace.

One of the most recent proclamations made by Nadir
Shah epitomises the new spirit. It categorically details
the freedom of the subject, the liberty to vote, and the
democracy of the new system of government. The
** Independence of the State *' is put down as of primary
importance in the new programme of government.
" Individual freedom from interference" is given
emphasis, thus recalling the bad old days when no man
knew what would be called his and what belonged to the
State, when no man knew whether he was tending flocks
or tilling land for himself or for a rapacious collector
of taxes.

It seems strange to read these days of a law forbidding
" slavery or forced labour," but these evils were included
among those banned by the new ruler. This is 1932,
but the peasant in the highest uplands needed to be
assured that he would no longer toil through the hot
noonday, nor shiver on the heights in mid-winter, to
add to another's power and riches.

" The safety of personal property is guaranteed*"
Here is a fine boast. The declaration does not say
whether the safety is to be assured from robber or from
State official, but this much perhaps is left to the small
imagination of the village crowd round the Government
envoy in the village, called by beat of drum, who perhaps

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