Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-08-04
WHAT THE asfoRET TREATY"
- MEANS.

14A 4
MEANS.
It Is not without cause that Great
Britain Is excited over the disclosures
concerning the Secret Treaty, as the
memorandum of the conversations be-
tween Bismarck on the one side, and
Napoleon and Benedict Oh the other,
is called. 1t is a renewal Of the alarm
produced by the absorption of the
Netherlands by France In 1895. The
great crime Of the French Revolution,
In the eyes of Pitt, was not so much
the creation Of republic to overthrow
the political systems Of Europe, as the
incorporation of the Netherlands with
France. This acquisition gave to the
mortal enemy Of England not only a
fertile and wealthy province, but a
district rich In manufacturing resources
and industries. 1t gave that enemy
control Of the mouths Of the Scheldt,
the Mouse and the Rhine Rivera. COM
manding the commerce of the North
It gave her seaports Of great import
ance, the chief of the list being Ant,
werp; and finally 1t extended
the maritime frontier Of France
so rs to cover and threaten the
English coasts of Essex, Suffolk and
Norfolk, which were comparatively
d~efenceless. Further, If this absorb
ton, should extend to the Texel, the
English coast would be largely encom'
passed by n hostile shore. The danger
from this annexation Of Belgium tc
France In the days Of the Revolution
were so formidable, that Pitt over
looked his hatred to the Republic, ant
his refusal to recognize it, by sending
Lord Malmesbury oil an extraordinary
mission to France In 1898, to negotiate
for the restoration of the Netherlands
and was willing that both England
and her allies should make "compen'
sations," by giving up part of theil
acquisitions. to accomplish n point he
had so much at heart, and which he
held to be of such vital Importance tc
his country. The French Directory,
perfectly aware Of the cause OF hi;
alarm, and as well aware Of the great
advantage Of the Netherlands and the
Rhine frontier to France, amused LORD
Malmesbury for a while by listening
to his propositions, and then held on
to the Netherlands--and France con-
tlnued to hold the country as long. a:
she could maintain her ground by force
of arms. It Is this same spectre Of
France In possession of that important
line OF coast, that rich manufacturing
kingdom, the mouths of those com.
mercial rivers, so alarming to the
younger Pitt, which Is again conjured
up by tile publication Of the sketch o.
the proposed or alleged basis Of
"secret treaty" No wonder there y
excitement In England, and catechis'
ing of the Ministry In Parliament 1.-THE
Premier answering with ''pallid lips,
and fierce demands for explanations In
the newspapers. Prussia may absorb
Hanover and extinguish minor States
by the dozen; Austria and Prussia
combined may trample down gallant
little Denmark but for France to
"rectify her frontier" by absorbing
Belgium-why that Is quite another
thing. England looks upon that with
quite a different eye from the CON-
placent regard with which she contem,
plated the threatened Acknowledgement
Of the United States. We may share
England's aversion to this threat to
extinguish the nationality Of Belgium
without sympathizing with her mo,
tives. With her 1t Is simply self
interest; with US it should be reluct-
ance to see an industrious, ~peaceable,
worthy people deprived of their indie,
pendence by an ambitious and power.
full neighbor. We have no doubt that
the consolidation of Belgium with
France Is ON the programme Of the
French Emperor, neutral or not neu'
trail as Belgium may be. 1t Is the
cherished faith of France that her
frontier should be nearly coincident
with the frontier Of ancient Ganl. 1t
has been made so OH the south by the
annexation of Nice and Savoy, and
neither her people nor the present
dynasty will ever rest contented
until it be made so on the northeast.
1t Is q maxim In France that the
frontier of the Rhine must become a
part of the international law Of Eu-
rope, because, as some Of her public
men assert, the boundary which was
hers In her Celtic and Roman days
was traced by the hand of Providence.