EX-KING OF AFGHANISTAN

take away with them the confidence that was intended
to be transmitted by this good news. Such news must
have travelled swiftly, for nothing like it had been
heard before in the history of Afghanistan.

There follow considerable details concerning the
Majli$-i-Shora9 or Council of State. A Council is elected,
and each member sits regularly in Kabul for the term
of three years. It is the claim of the present Government
that this is the first time in the history of the country that
such freedom has been given to the subjects to choose
their own representatives. Certainly, in past years,
little attention has been paid to the elections, and the
sense of bitterness against the Government has led to
a general cynicism over the deliberations of the poor
victims of the electoral system who were dragged to
Kabul, there to assent to various schemes, more or less
unintelligible, which were put before them for their
approval.

The very spirit and fire of the man who rules Kabul,
and" conquered by his bravery from the scratch mark,
reveals itself in some of the provisions for the government
of his wild people. The public and the Press are ad-
mitted to the sessions of the Parliament, though as a
precaution, the six newspapers of Kabul are under a
certain surveillance by Government officials. The King
can himself pass an emergency measure, though it must
be approved by the next session of Parliament or
rejected by them,

The decisions of the Council of State must not clash
with the laws of Islam (hereby proving the ascendancy
of the village mullah to his old place of power) and
must be in conformity with the policy of the Government,
Nadir Shah, who took so many chances with his own
safety, is taking no risks with his crown.

Side by side with the Council of State, is the Council

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