The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-07-29
Pg The War and It's Causes.
81 Ehi .pin. fliaar..I "a q" ! 1lE-ligIr,IE %

4 Ifith| lNRt-sA 'SYh fAS|SUpINh
~ Napoleon land. Bismarck could; no
asFee as to tho division OF tho CGnntrie
Ellgbg the Rhine how: much should b.
and corporate into, France, and
\ hbNg gmnch should tbe seized and absorbed
10y Prussia This comes out IN two way
1 1 III Hint BY the pnhlit atfoft ID tile Iiop1oE
4 ll9let ofnwhat pun ports 10 he q isketoh o.
LEI secret treaty proposed BY FFanoe,i tc
! Gfi issia afor d division Of the1 IGhenlst
e6antry between them; and, second, BE The
! disclosure offthe substance Of o eGnYersR.
tt6h said TO have been held recently bG.
tween tho French Emperor and tie Paris
correspond denti Of tho London tltgEdplF
in Which Prussia Is charged with asking
3 mitch and too SCOT n The alleged
seGet treaty Is put. fofha as d props 6Bihon
kof4 France ito 1Ptuasia;pini which the
fifther agrees ID 9 recognize e the
tee6lit acdhisih6ns 81 . Prussia, and
E.tS aclulasce in .btheu consolidation
6f 8tatess of n SOuth Germany
with the North German Unt61S iilst
lI1lS8ia Is to agree to the acquisition Of
Luxembo bouEg by France, and to nlend her
assistance to France In the absorption Of
Belgium: ); Another article, Of this alleged
Iecret proposition Is an alliance, offensive
Ind defensive, between France and Prtls-
iia, This, although 1t comes before the
Eyes Of the world through the leading
English journal, Is probably the Berlin
Ref7lbh Dfswhat occurred FIN these Aego.
tati56s.s , Tie French EEefsion, MhiGh Is
that given by the London Telegraph, ad.
niS that Napoleon demanded Luxem.
bourg in 1865 as an equivalent for French
usttr9lity in the war between Prussia and
Austria, but that Bismarck demanded Hol.
land as q further equivalent for Prussia,
TlB the French Emperor, according t0I
tlel IelegrapFS correspondent, refused,
with tho declaration that lie would con-
stler any attack upon the Independence
Of Holland by, Prussia ass q deelaratiop Of
war. The hct Of this interview by the
7slegrdphS correspondent seems to be as
well v0uched as the "Secret Treaty" is
by the London LSMss,1 yrt4gjaD u
Here then we have the two a6lest, most
crafty and most. powerful schemers Of
EuEppe charged with negotiations looking
10, an agreement 10 plunlcr8n annihilate
two unolendihg neighbofing nations, and
the sharing Of their territory between
thenE (and each Of them, !. after the plot
failel, taking the high moral ground Of
having rejected the scheme. The truth is
most likely TO be found midway between
the86 two statements. lloi one who Is
familiar with the French Emperor,
the ambition and traditions OF his
family, and the ancient and con.
slant claim Of the French people for
tle Rhine astheir northeastern frontier
and no one who understands the grand
and iar.sweeping policy marked out for
Prussia by Bismarck, and who remembers
how remorselessly 1t has thus far been
carried out in practice, by the absorption
and amihilation iofthe feeble States that
stood in the way Of his policy-can be de-
ceived by the protestatiOns on either side,
because Napoleon felt outraged by the
threat against the independence Of Hol-
land, or because Bismarck refused on &C.
count Of regard for Belgium. That such
negotiations were on foot, and that there
WPgA great deal Of CnnsillRration nf them
probable that they fell through, because
'the high contracting parties" could not
agree upon q mutually satisfactory dlvl'
sion6 Of thespoils.
Under the light OF these disclosures,
what Wretched stuff was all the fuss and
indignation and virtue and national dignl-
" affected on both. sides as growing out
Of the candidature Of the poor little
Hohenzollern prince, and the slight offer
ed 10 Count Benedeti in tho garden at
Ems, and tho nice distinctions drawn by
King William between his duty to dis
ayow the Hohenzollern affair as head OF
the family, and his refusal TO do 1t as King
of Prussia! What miserably petty pre-
texH for the gigantic war they knew they
werC about 10 wage on other grounds !
One Of them, in pursuance Of logg cher
ishel ambition and tradition going back
far bcyond the time Of the Bona
rartes, desired To move its frontier
10 tic Rhine by the seizure Of
the territory Of at least three friend
w. nations; and the other, in the pro-
motion Of a new and aggraudizing policy,
desired to absorb all the territory Of an
other friendly power lying between It's
present frontier and tho North Sen. ~IHOl-
land and Belgium, were to be the two
nrincipal victims. Whilst they were qui-
etly pursuing their usual course, devoted
TO Industry, commerce and the Civiliztng
influences Of our day, abstainiDg from any
meddlesomeinter terference with their neigh
bors, content to bo peaceful and useful,
with no improper ambitions. two eminent
" useful, worthy and inotfensive nations,
those two master intrigueB, Napoleon
and Bismarck, were plotting their ami
hilation as nations, and their reduction to
mere make weights 'in the balance Of
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