The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-06-07
TME GERnAN WAR QUESTION.
4 war connaentIy Looked For--Sot
Much Hope for the Proposed Com

Correspondence orhe london Times.
PARIS, May 10.
There does not, am sorry TO say,
seem to be much confidence among the
| public generally, that the efforts now
made to avoid war, will be successful,
| and it is very doubtful whether the rep
resentatives of the Powers now engaged
| in that praiseworthy task are them
selves sanguine as to the result. The
| programme drawn up by the French
| Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the
assent of the Russian and English Am
| bassadors, is by this time under con-
sideraIion in London and St. Peters
! burg. It, L believe, goes no further
than merely to indicate the questions
| to be treated-the Duchies, Venitia, and
the contemplated revision of the Fed
eral Constitution of Germany, but does
not suggest any particular solution oi
either OF them. The fact OF Austria
| consenting even to discuss that of We
nitia may, perhaps, be thought favora-
| Bile; but it is too much to expect that
she would, in Difference TO the decision
| OF Congress which will be without the
i means or the wish to enforce il, purely
i and simply sacrifice, before war and
| without compensation, what she might
| still hold after it, and what she deems
| Indispensable for the defence of her
! German Provinces. Neither is 1t ex-
| pected that all the Powers would ac-
| cept the only mode by which the queS-
ton of the Duchies might be settled
| that is, allowing the population to free
| ly choose their own Sovereign. Nor is
| il likely that Italy would abandon,
should a Congress so determine, her
| claim on Venltla, or even that Nenitla
should be restored to her former condi-
| ton as an Independent republic. The
very fact of n Congress meeting in the
! present advanced state of affairs would
| be extraordinary, and its success still
| more so. The representatives of the
] Powers who met in conference in Lon
don before the war against Denmark,
had matters before them, comparative
| ly speaking, of tritling territorial inn
porIance, and they separated without
agreeing. Is it probable, then, that
with nlOmentous questions, such as
those from which three great Powers
are on the point of coming into coils
| ion happier result will be obtained?
The public does not believe that, with
the single exception of England, whose
anxiety to prevent IAN European war
no one doubts, either of the parties is
thoroughly in earnest in these negotia-
tions. They call to mind the fruitless
mission of the English Ambassador to
| Vienna in 1859, at the special recon-
mendation of the Emperor Napoleon,
alter the war, and all that was to he
gained and lost by it had been already
| decided in the secret councils of Plum
| biares. While NJ. Drouyn de Lhuys is
allowed to draw up the plan of Con-
gress, the Emperor does not conceal
| from those about him the opinion that
| war must come of it, that Europe really
| needs remodeling, and that, whoever
may lose, France must OF necessity
| gain by it.
When we hear that Prussia, Austria
and Italy have ceased to push on their
armamentS, then, indeed, we may be-
ers and entreaties, we find them going
on with the same vigor; while we see
| the King of Prussia calling Heaven to
| witness the justice of a cause which
Heaven cannot sanction, and, on the
| other hand, Gen. Benedek, in his pro-
clnmation 10 the army, of which he has
| lust been appointed to the command in
chief, manileSting no less firm reliance
on Divine favor, and Italy, with no
choice but war or bankruptcy, it re-
quires strong faith indeed to believe
! in the successful issue of their over
lures.
The appointment of Garabaldi to n
command, and the introduction of a
| revolutionary elementin Italian affairs
caused much dissatisfaction in official
! quarters here. The thing, however, is
done, and there is no help for it. A
| portion of the Florence correspondence
in the Moniteur, which is usually ar
ranged from the dispatches OF the
French Minister at that Court, is de-
/ voted to alternating as much as possi-
1 BILE the significance assigned by the
public to it. The calling out Ofthe vol
unteers as defined and regulated by
the recent decree does not present the
revolutionary character of the spon-
taneOus enrOllments for the expedition
| OF 1860. The precautions and reserves
| specified in the decree, the conditions
AS regards the engagements and pro-
motions, and the Iact that Cara bald,
down 10 the day of his retirement,
belonged 10 the regular army, show
| that the volunteer force is, in reality,
u supplementary corps, only -distin-
| guished from the others in being call
ed out TO service otherwise than by the
annual levy of the contingents, and in
the more limited period of servitude.
The correspondent of the r8LontteuT
Though the field is still open to
diplomatic arrangements, it is inpos-
si6le to diregard the wide spread move
ment- OF public opinion throughout
Italy; and henceforth there can be no
| doubt that ii the Venitian question is
not soon settled amicably, il will ire
sisLably throw Italy into all the hazards
OF war.