Hitherto in Afghanistan freedom of movement had been permitted. There was nothing to prevent the entire population of a village from crossing the border if the majority of its elders were so inclined. Abdur Rahman checked this liberty, instituting a system which allowed none but the authorised to move between the great centres of the country or to venture beyond its frontiers. It is not to be supposed that he was able to maintain free from abuse his new order of government. Spoliation and embezzlement had existed so long in Afghanistan that recourse to them had become second nature to every functionary. Each official, whether he were the product of the new order or a remnant of the old, was corrupt and regarded abuse of office as the customary symbol of administrative power. The existence of such a practice necessarily threw into confusion any attempt at reform; and, although Abdur Rahman produced much elaborate machinery, departmental disorders continued unabated. In Kabul, in spite of many high-sounding titles, the methods of the new order were still regulated by the principles of the old. To the ignorant or to the zealous this condition of affairs may perhaps be disappointing; but in any Oriental government the first and only thought of the official classes is the enhancement of their own interests and the enrichment of their private coffers. Abdur Rahman put a stop to the sale of public offices, but he could not control the disbursement and acceptance of bribes by which such offices can be awarded; and, from the highest to the lowest, while success favours the delinquent, his crime attracts no attention so long as he may distribute his favours. Even under Abdur Rahman it was rarely that officials of importance were brought to book, while to-day the Throne itself visits the avaricious by exacting the repletion of its privy purse at the expense of justice. [Illustration: TOMB OF THE EMPEROR BABER NEAR KABUL]