American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-11-02

! THE London correspondent of the Chi
cago Inter- Ocean, in a long letter on the
situation in Europe, thus speaks of the
conference of the crowned heads at Ber-
lin:
| The meeting of the three Emperors is
already beginning to be forgotten. Hap
penuing at this dull season of the year,
newspaper editors looked upon it as a spe-
cial manifestation of the goodness of Prov
| idence toward themselves. In proof of
| their gratitude they dispatched special
correspondents-who learned nothing and
published leaders which told nothing.
10 judge.frOm the accounts which reached
us, the whole affair must have rather re-
| semblcd a circus, in which everybody rides
after everybody else, changes his clio hes
some dozen times in a remarkably short
| space Of time, and in order to provoke the
| mirth of the spectators, each appears in
| the costume which his colleague or rival
| has quilted. The imagination refuses to
follow the marvelOusly rapid acts of
! change of the pious William, how at one
moasent he Wore the Austrian uniform
| with Russian orders, aud at another Rus
sian uniform with Austrian orders. and so
Oh indefinitely, each of the three Empe-
rors following. or rather changing suits.
Probably all this Kaleidoscope perform
ance had a deep political meaning. and sig
nitied to the gaping crowd that each SOW
| ereign was perfectly ready to change his
politics a. any moment to suit his own
personal fancy. or to further his own per-
sonal ambition. That the courtiers who
surrounded each monarch should have
been delighted to play their game of SOL
low my LEADER is not wonderful The
turnkey instinct is still strong in the mill
tary nations, and the bait of ribbons
and stars Is too strong to be over
come without greater effort
in mess-rooms and barrack-yards. The
political significance of the Berlin meeting
ser ms to reduce itself to determination
on the part of the three EmperOrs to
maintain the present state of things in
Europe until one or the other finds it con-
venient-and himself, with the aid of
France, strong enOugh-tO disturb it.
two years, and this party is represented
by Count Andrassy, the Austro-Hungari-
an Chancellor. The most cOntented
thank God that no written record of the
deliberations of the assembled Emperors
and ChMcellOrs exists their spokesman
is Prince GOrtschakOff. The most careful
to offend, and most anxious to be allowed
to digest its ,resent prey in silence, repre-
scented by Prince Bismarck, say that an
era of universal peace and cOntentment
has been inaugurated. and that no one
thinks or wishes to disturb the happy
united families which respectively make
up the German, the Austrian, and the
Russian Empires. One thing is clear
enough, for the time present the center of
political life and action is no longer Paris
but Berlin. Western Europe and Western
civilization, as represented by Italy,
France, and England, are kept at a dis
lance. Berlin aspires to be arbitcr of the
world-the barbarian again hopes to die
tate laws to the Roman. For the first
IA general congress in which France is
represented neither directly nor Indirect
ly. Her policy may at times have been in
spired bv vanity. but it has always been
unseltish and full of instruction for the
word at large. She has ever been ready
to try upon herself the experiments in
revolution which she urged upon others,
and wherever they might lead, she fol-
lowed them without hesitation, to tile
efsS- Her Uncompromfsirg logic has
been too often her ruin; but none can
ever reprOach her with sacrificing others
to the ruin which she was not ready TO
share. Prince Bismarck. by this inter
view, tells France plainly and brutaily,
that her hopes of revenge. for the present,
at least. must be postponed; that Austria,
in spite of her wounded pride, and Russia.
at tine price of delaying her projects, had
agreed to recognize the German Empire
as it is now constituted. By their pres
ence at Berlin, the two mOnarchS gave
their formal adhesion to the new partition
of Europe. and France who well knows
that for many a long year she must wait
to recover her former strength or else find
Il powerful ally, is told to look on and
take to heart the bitter lesson.
In the meantime France must stand
alone tomorrow as she stands alone to-
day The policy of NJ Theirs, when he
refused to listen to the majority in favor
of universal military service, has received
Il rebuff. The President of the French
Republic wanted a highly-orgauized, rap
idly-trained army. in order that he might
the more quickly be in a position to offer
a valuable alliance to any of the dissatis-
fled sovereigns of Europe. An armed ma
ton took too long time to suit the i'm
patience of a man already more than 20
years of age. Gambetta. who can afford
to wait. was si!enced, and his desire to
make France so strong as to be able TO
take the field without allies was Overruled.
Time will prove which statesman was the
more far-seeing.