Smyrna times., 1882-03-08
Spectre Haunted Europe.

one another. The whole continent seem,
10 be Spectre-haumted Diplomatis,s arc
not playing outright with Bismarck =
IRON dice of war nor is one great State
oHerlnS to another the direct menace ot
unWonted military preparations vo,
political society throughout Europe !,
continually disquieted by morbid SUSPICION
is beating the air and fighting with
shadows as if overborne by a hideous
nightmare.
ms condition Of nervous agitation and
apprehension is illustrated bv two Incl
dents which have occurred within a for,
night. One is new chapter in the liter-
a'ure OF the Channel Tunnel, in which
/ 'hc dangers of that enterprise have been
grossly exaggerated. One English Jour
nal has We'd with another in pauic-mop-
gerlng. The helplessness and ipsccnritv =
OF the United Kingdom have been OPENLY
/ proclaimed. Dover has been described h,.
ono OF the highest military authorities as
fortress defended with pop-cuns which
could he knocked 10 pieces in an hour bv
the ire OF single iron-clad. The Cham
mel squadron has been found 10 consist of
Ihree Old iron-clads, defective in ,lesion
ana awkward in manGuvring, which have
ceased to be regarded as strong and
enlelent armored vessels The fiftv thous-
ana volunteers, who were brought toretb-
er within twentyfour hours for review al
! lhdsor last summer, are dismissed con.
/ temptuoualy as a handful of troops that
/ would be utterly powerless to resist a for
elSn army OF invasion marching on Lon
don. The facility with which the garrison
st Dover could be surprised, and horde
OF Soldiety shot through the Channel TIM
mel, is illustrated by hundred hypotb-
eses, every one of which appeals to the
tmorouSness and credulity of nation
tLat never Will be slaves" to aught save
! pahlc-terror and the Spectres ola disorder
! Ell imagination. Without pausing to con
sider now any nation except France could
steal march upon England nor how that
nation could get possession of the Dover
end OF the tunnel before war had heen
| formally declared and all proper precau-
tons taken to secure the defence of the
/ fortress and even the destruction of the
submarine passage itself, the military
critics and public prints fall an easy prey
to the morbid anxiety which pervades all
European States.
Inc second illustration is found in The
excitement caused in various capitals bv
two speeches made by General Skobelef.
the most popular soldier in the Russian
service. In one of these harangues be
boasted that by its victories in the Trans
caspian region and by its intrigues in
Central Asia and Persia, his Government
h"d secured an advance-pOst on the road
10 Herat and could occupy Merry at it's
convenience; and in the other he pro-
claimed the sympathy of the Northern
| Slavs with their brethren Ofthe same race.
the South IN Slavs, in Dalmatia. Bosnia.
Herzegovina, Servia and Montenegro.
who were either resisting the Austrian
consumption or recOiling from the despotic
sway Of the Hapsburgs. Appealing to the
community of feeling existing between
tkosO two great divisions ofthe Slav camp.
he declared that they would stand side bv
side in the great battle with the Teuton
which was inevitable, and could not long
be deferred. In these two speeches, de-
spite his own avowal of soberness and
moderation, there was more champagne
than water, yet the panic-mong gers
throughout Europe have been chattering
for fortnight. These utterances are in
terpreted as menace to England from
the side OF Afghanistan, to Germany from
the east, and to Austria from the Balkan
peninsula. The movement of Russian
engineers in the direction of Sarakhs. the
rectifcatiOn Of the Persian frontier, the
growth of a race feeling in South Slavonia,
the spread of disaffectiOn among Austria's S
two millions of Adriatic Slavs. the Russian
sympathies Of the Montegrin and Servian
Courts, and the aggressiveness of Pan
Slarism in Moscow, are magnified, each
in turn, as OminSus signs of war and de-
vastation, menacing the peace of the
whole continent General Shobeleff may
be sternly reproved apon his arrival in St.
Petersburg, and cautioned against any
premature displays of oratory in future
bat his indiscretiOns have served to set ON
edge that feeling of excessive distrust and
abnormal suspicion which is so readily ex-
cited in the Europe of to-day.
And why is that feeling of morbid APP
prehension so readily excited? Why does
Shobeleff's fervid PanvSlavism cause un-
easiness in Berlin and Vienna? Why
does England discuss with a sense of un-
defnable dread and with many signs of
mental perturbation the military dangers
of the Channel Tunnel? There is only
one reason, 1t is because the spirit of
militarism is rampant throughout Europe,
save in the little island which breads to
have its "wet ditch" undermined The
armaments Of the great States cost two,
three, or even four times as much as the
actual requirements of each demand, vet
the sense of insecurity is increased. AS
much as $4,000, 100000 is used in paying
the interest of national debts and in main
tanning military establishments and other
branches of the public service, where less
than $2,000,OO0OOO was required ten or
fifteen years ago; yet, with these stupeMd-
GUS armaments, and with the Indebtedness
of Europe aggrSgating $25OOO, 1000,
with an interest charge of SIS OOO. 900. as