New-York tribune., 1879-10-28
OLD FOES NEW ALLIES.

Old FOES NEW ALLIES.
Whether the new compact between Germany
and Austria he formal alliance for mutual
defence or merely a diplomatic understanding
that thry are To act conformity in dealing with
European questions. the relations oi me wv"
Courts have been on n different basis since
the close Of the Ru>so-Tnrkish war. One ol
the objects of the Three Emperor Alliance was
the promotion OF the indcrcndcnce oi the va
sal States of the Porte, and the Gcihah
Chancellor in eiieotng recon'iha"oh pe-
tween the Russian and Austrian courts, pro-
posed that they should have IN equal sfare
in the rcadiustmcnt OF the Eastern question:
When the treaty of San Stetano was neSo-
tiated the Triple Alliance was v'rtuaiy prought
IA an end iuasmuch as one of the Powers had
r,dc-t,kcn To disrose of Il European question
which tbe three Courts had agreed should be
Settled Inv concerted action. When lgnatich
arrived at Vienna he asccrtalncd that DIS
marck had forestalled him. AndrasSy woGid
not sanction n charter of peace whlch hac not
been revised by Austria and Germany. Inc
German Chancellor had already convinced
him that Russian ambition must he re-
messed. that Austria had work to do
in the East, aud that double alliance wouid
he safer and more profitable than the league
of the three Emperors. The two statesmen
were in entire accord at the Berlin Congress.
The abrogation of the only clause i'll the
Treaty of Prague whi'h gave Austria any
right to intervene in the affairs of Germany,
the extension of the conquests in Bosnia and
the recent interchange of visits between En-
perors and their Ministers, have opened the
way for closer alliance between these great
States. 1t is obvious, however that the real
point of departure in the diplomacy of the
Continent was the negotiations at San Stefano.
From that moment new combination was
inevitable, and Germany and Austria, by race
and language. instinct and interest, were nat
ural allies.
Cordial as the understanding between the
two Courts undoubtedly is, no new alliance
can be closer than that which existed for
ten years between Russia and Germany.
The two ChancellOrs labored together
like Mazarin and Cromwell. In the Schleswig-
Hostein complications, Gortschakoff looked
on while Great Britain was snubbed and
Austria duped and as the years went on he
permitted Germany to have her will at Sa-
dowa and Sedan. But the two ChancelOrs
opencd in 1875, when Bismarck was irritated
by the excessive zeal manifested by GOrt-
schakoff in maintaining peace between Ger
many and France. Since that time the diplo-
matists of Berlin have been unremlttlng in
their exertions to supplant the Russian states
man, and the enlargement between the two
Chancelors has finally cl0udcd the relations
between the two Empires. There has been
shifting of alliances. On the threshold of his
career, Bismarck dstrusted the pupils of
Metternich later on he duped them into
joining in his attack uron Denmark, and
when he quarrelled with them over the spoils
of that iniquitous war. be compelled them in
the Treaty of Prague to sign away their
rights in the Fatherland. But whether this
years ally was friend or foe last year matters
little to Bismarck. 1t is now his aim
to restrict the influence of Russia in
European Turkey and at the same time to
place Austria under pressing obligations TO
Germany. Whatever may be his uteror
object whether the equivalent for the Aus
trian Provinces toward the Bosphorus will be
the German districts on the Leitha, or whether
another campaign with France is apprehended
Bismarck has no ideal ends. He Is practical
statesman. His object always lies directly
before him.
Bismarcks domestic policy also has a direct
bearing upon the new alliance. The military
establishment is q grievous burden when the
Fatherland Is strained and impoverished, and
he is under pressing obligations to make it
clear at all times that Germany is not kept in
the saddle for nauGht Her supremacy as the
strongest and most influential Power on the
Continent must never be questioned, and Ber-
lin must remain the political centre of Europe.
When all the world Is talking about his states
manship and his mysterious alliances, he
appeals to the patriotic impulses of his coun-
trymen His relations with Courts and Min
listers in the past give him no concern. This
years allies may be last years foes, and last
years allies may be this years foes, and it is
all one with him. He remains III the saddle,
the most conspicuous figure in European diplo-
macy, and nobody can lift him out of it.
THE GOVERNOR AND TIE TiTES