Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-11-01
ENGLAND AID GIBRALTAR.

certain so.caIled Liberals of so cosmopol-
;tan turn of mind that they can see no
excellence in anymerely national sentiments
and associations, and at the game time SO
conservative that they would strip England
OF all her colonial possessions lest they
should lead her into difficulties in the
future. OF these Mr.. Robert Lowe, now
Lord Sherbrook, is Tor wasl very fair
example. He was long since an advocate
of the abandonment of India, and he was
prepared to counsel the same policy in
regard to Australia and Canada and the
crowd of other British colonies scattered
over the globe. How far Mr.. Gladstone
is in sympathy with the Lowe school OF
craftsmanship it is not easy to discover,
but there is reason for believing that he
has seriously contemplated the sale OF
Gibraltar, and this implies his consent to
the final extinction of British empire in
India. When this same proposition was
raised in 1865 it encountered so fierce
popular reception that no attempt
was made to press it. 1t is true
that since that time a change
has passed over English politics. What is
called JiDgoism has sustained defeat
IN the triumph of the Liberal party. The
Imperial policy of Lord Beaconsfeld has
been discredited by the disasters of
| Afghanistan. But on the other hand the
Liberal Government has been injured by
its series of failures In South Africa, and
a reaction has occurred to some extent on
behalf of the foreign policy of the Tories.
1t must not be forgotten that this question
of foreign policy has always been Glad
stones weak point. He has never shown
that pride of country, that jealousy of
external aggression or neglect, which are so
necessary to the maintenance OF strong
foreign policy. For this kind of work it
may be admitted that such man as Lord
Palmerston was far more capable than Mr..
Gladstone, though the latter is very
much ADLER statesman. To represent ma
tional sentiment faithfully, however, on
matters of this kind, Minister must not
be ahead OF his generation, but just level
with it. If he is ahead of it he is neces-
sarily out of sympathy with it, and fails to
represent it, and therefore no matter how
superior his wisdom may be, he is out of
place.
Now either we must admit that the En-
glish people have lost the qualities which
made the nation great, or we must refuse
to believe that they are willing, for any
consideration that can be named, to part
with Gibraltar. For it would be impos-
sible to select more crucial test of the
state of national intelligence and mental
alertness than this. Gibraltar has double
claim upon Englishmen. 1t is splendid
and fattering monument to their valer and
endurance in the past. And it is an in
dispensable link in the chain which binds
to them their great Indian possessions
The history of Gibraltar since l704 has
been part and parcel of the military and
naval history of England. 1t was there
that the immortal achievements of Elliott
and Rodney bafiied the most persistent
efforts of the hest science all Europe out
side of England could supply, for four
years. The s. Rock" has through these
feats, and also through its associations
as principal garrison place. become as
much a part of English territory as st.
Paul's Churchyard. And the thronging
memories of the past glories of the place
constitute plea for its retention which
few unsophisticated Britons could with.
stand. To sell such place is to sell part
of the imperishable renown of England
to traffic away portion Of her military
and naval prowess. There is disgrace in
the very thought of such a proceeding, and
SO the English people will declare, unless
they have already entered the rapids on
their way to &c shoot Niagara"
And when all sentiment is put rigor-
ously aside, still more formidable argu-
ment remains to be disposed of. Gibraltar
is the key of the Mediterranean. 1t is a
link in the chain of fortresses by which
the security of India is maintained. 1t
can never be safe to abandon it unless the
abandonment of India also has been deter
mined on, and if it is suffered to go the
world will expect to see Malta, and Alden,
and all the rest of the chain, disposed Of
in rapid succession, preliminary to the
withdrawal of the British forces from
Hindostan, and the practical obliteration
of Great Britain as a frst.class power.
Gibraltar is the first link in the great
chain, and it is also one of the most i'm
portant. And what has Mr.. Gladstone to
offer in exchange for it Spain cannot
compensate such a sacrifice with money.
She has not money in her lean treasury
to do that. Nor is it necessary to her.
She has no use for such fortress, unless
it be to menace Europe hereafter. II
would be surrender of an invaluable
possession for no adequate consideration,
and therefore nothing less than a wanton
sacrifice Of the honor of the country.
There have been times in England's his
tory when the Minister who proposed
such a sale would have been at
tainted of treason for his sinister
policy, but those were the times
when her statesmen studied her interests
at home and abroad with singleness of
purpose. To Mr.. Gladstone Gibraltar may
seem very useless possession, perhaps,
and yet it is ore which England cannot
afford to let go, for it is not only the key
to the Mediterranean-it is the key to her
foreign position and influence. Nor do we
believe that the reaction against Jingoism
which resulted in the accession of the
Liberals to power, indicated any change in
popular opinion upon this question. The
verdict which the English public pro-
nounced in 1865 we believe they are pre-
pared to repeat with added emphasis and
vehemence if Mr.. Gladstone so far mis-
takes the time as to make this proposition
seriously. It is not Jingoism that has