The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-05-21 00:00:00

PRANCE AND TUNIS.
The Standard of Monday published the following, sent by
their Special Correspondent :

TUNIS, Saturday.

I am now in a position to add to the details sent
yesterday concerning the coercion of the Bey into
placing his signattre to the frreaty with France.
In the morning M. Roustan sent the Bey 6, letter,
stating that General Breard, acting as Plenipotentiary
for the French Republic' would, accompanied by a
certain number of French troop; collie to the Palace
to receive the Bey's adherence to the demands made
by his Government. The letter gave assurances that
the Bey would, by accepting the terms, save his
dynasty, and that his territory would be respected.
The Bey replied at once that he was quiet ready to
receive the rep:esentative of France, but that he was
altogether unable to understand the display of military
force at the gates of his capital, unless it was to intimi-
date him, which he was unwill!ng to believe.
tie itoapitulated Rousta,n's reiterated and formal
assurances that the sole object of the advance of French
troops into Tunisian territory was the punishment of
the Kroumirs, statements which it was impossible to
reconcile with the-present position.
At four o'clock M. Roustan presented himself at
Castel Said, where the Bey is staying, and half an
hour later General Br6ard arrived. A. squadron of
cavalry and a battery of artillery were posted close to
the Palace, and remained there until after the condi-
tions, of which I yesterday telegraphed you the
principal points, were signed,
A witness of the proceedings described to me the
scene in the Palace as a most painful one.
The Bey at first declined to read a document so
forced upon him. It was then read aloud by M.
Rousbe,n.
The greatest alarm prevailed in the Palace, and
especially in the Harem, for the Bey's personal safety,
as the French had threatened to substitute in his
place his younger brother Sidi Taib. _ _

: -
The Princesses sent message after message to him,
mploring him to sign the document.
At last the Bey gave way and placed his signature
to the conditions. He then expressed a hope that at
least the humiliation of an entry of the French troops
into Tunis would be spared to him; but the General
saAd coldly that he received orders only from his own
Government.

Although the details of the conditions are not yet
known, great murmuring and discontent against the
Bey for accepting them prevail, and fresh risings in
provinces are considered imminent. The full text of
the conditions has not been communicated to the
foreign Consuls. It is supposed that the motive for
this silence is that the French have not yet decided
upon all the places upon the coast whose names will
be inserted in the convention and occupied by them.
M. Roustan is nominated French Minister and
Resident at Tunis for the French Republic.

The Paris Correspondent of The Times, writing on Tues-
day, says

The day before yesterday Lord Lyons, who was
unwell, sent to M. St. Hilaire a note from the
English Cabinet asking France in a frendly manner to
let it know her intentions respecting Biserta. M. St.
Hilaire, in a pretty long and rather elaborate Note,
declares that France has no intention of incurring at
Biserta the 150,000,000 f. of expenses which the improve-
ment of that port would necessitate without compensa-
tion or advantage of some kind. The French
Minister adds that France, having already 2,500,000
Arabs always ready for revolt, has no thought of
adding to them the 1,600,000 Arabs of Tunis, and
without pledging the future in an absolute manner,
he, nevertheless, affirms in his reply that she has
not the slightest idea of annexation, and hopes
England will trust her declarations. Lord Gran-
ville's note and M. S. Hilaire's reply will appear
in the Supplement to the Yellow-book, which will
bring up the documents to the treaty, and will be dis-
tributed on Thursday. M. St. Hilaire affirms that
he has never had a conversation with General Cialdini
respecting the treaty, consequently the alleged
telegram from the latter giving an outline of the
treaty is a fabrication.
A telegram dated Constantinople, May 17, says
The Porte has telegraphed a circular to the Powers,
protesting against the French treaty with the Bey of
Tunis.

A despatch from Tunis, published in Paris, state
that the Bey has not addressed any protest to the
Sultan against the Treaty with Franc 3, but has
simply sent his Majesty a letter explaining that he
signed it because he could not do otherwise. It is
reported that if the Porte seeks to depose the Bey,
France will maintain him in power. A Constantinople
telegram says, however, that the Porte has no such
intention.

The Morning Advertiser thinks "French journalists
are moderate and even generous in their tone upon the
Tunis question. If the sort of language used by
English journals had been used in Paris when Cyprus
was handed over to this country by the Sultan, we
should have had the whole English nation at fever-
heat. But, so far as we have seen, the French press
treats this splenetic outburst with good-humoured
sarcasm rather than serious resentment, and, consider-
ing the violent tone taken on this side of the Channel,
exhibits a calmness which is at once a lesson and a
rebuke. The French will do well to reflect that the
fiery articles which are the subject of their complaints
are written for home consumption only."

The Daily News remarks that "practically France
accepts Tunis in lieu of Alsace-Lorraine. Germany,
we venture to think, has the best of the bargain. The
stage surely in its wildest extravagances never wit-
nessed a greater burlesque of conquest and heroism
than this conquest of Tunis. What France has done
in Tunis, Spain surely can accomplish in Morocco.
France is not now the disturber of Europe. She is
simply the perturber of the weaker minds in some
European nations. Her feverish unrest is a dangerous
symptom for herself. The anger of Italy and the
adroit friendship of Germany will combine to thwart
France in her search for allies in anticipation of an
opportunity of avenging the defeats of 1870."