With the Amir it is always the man who gets in his story or complaint first who wins, for the Afghan mind is readily prejudiced and chary of relinquishing first impressions, no matter how much truth lies in what is said by the man who speaks last. It is such cases as these, and more often than not an appeal to the higher power results in disaster to the applicant, which make the people chary of disputing the actions of the officials, and they therefore have to put up with as much justice as they can get, either by intrigue or bribery, and keep quiet, while the officials grow fat and rich, and become arrogant with continued prosperity, until one day they fly at game too high for them, and then come to grief and lose all, ending their days in prison or at the hands of the executioner. The late Amir one day told me that he trusted no one, and was so suspicious that he did not let his right hand know what the left one did; and with such men round him it is not surprising that he should have felt so. Another thing which is further detrimental to the country lies in the officials being consulted on all matters concerning the interests of the people, for the Amir has no means of ascertaining the views and wishes of the people himself, and has to accept what his officials say, and this gives them the opportunity of bringing about that which is to their interest, and it is due to this selfish disregard of anything but their own profit that the officials force the people in yearly increasing numbers to give up the cultivation of their land and seek work elsewhere.