The daily gazette., 1882-04-04
From the N. Y. sun.
EngRamsl,n TnnnaI nhntn-

Engaamd's Tumnel Panic.
The fear of invasion which selzed the
British public ten years ago, after the
capture Of Paris by the Germans, has
been repeated and surpassed by the
alarm about the Dover tunnel. Field
Marshal Moltke's recent declaration that
no good General would ever risk tuch A
route OF invasion, when, by electric or
other appliances, his army could be
drowned or suffocated may have given a
momentary gleam If comfort. but the
dread and the forebOding ale now dense
as ever. Ardent patriots suspect the
German strategist Of trying to lull the
British lion with false sense OF securi-
ty; tlmid capitalists ask why life should
bea burden through apprehension for the
sake of travellers who have q tendency
to saasickne 8; while even eminent mill
tary authorities, like the Duke Of Gam
bridge and Sir Garnet Wolseley, warn
their country against the perlls Of the
tunnel, and Gen. John Douglas pub
fishes This appeal in London news
paper:
"If once the tunnel Is made, this coun-
try will live in perpetual state of
scare, as bad as If we were actually at
war. II forts are to be built, they will
require armiIg and manning aud keep
Ing up, ,and where are the troops to come
from, and who is to pay the expense? II
the railways are to pay the expense If
all this, where are The dividends to come
fromp Providence has given
us the sea as our safeguard. Why should
we fly in the face Cf Providence, and
throw our safety away for what, after
all, Is mercantile speculation, and cer-
talDly caunot be called necessity"
1t may be imagined, when bold SOL
diers are In this state of mind about the
possibilities of the tunnel, with what
terror II strikes the average British
householder. and civilian. To distant
observers this degree OF apprehension
over single impracticable line of nlll-
tary approach seems absurd. That
Russia or Germany should be able, un-
perceived, to surprise aud hold the tuu-
mel aud its Dover head, is little les
than preposterous; 1t is hardly coDceiv-
able that even French army could ap-
proach within ten miles Of the Cont
mental end without discovery and tele-
graphic or other seasonable warning
| from the tunnel authorities there. But,
we're this approach possible, the tunnel
could quickly be made not only impass-
able, TO an army, but the grave Of any
force already ih it. The author If the
pamphlet which, initiating "The Battle
Of Doiking," invents tunnel invasion
OF England, introduces soldiers dis
gu sed as tourists to seize the works at
1 the hnvnf and thar tl,~t h.
accident all the appliances for prevent
ing accets thrC ugh the tunnel failed tC
work. With so liberal allowances Il
favor invasion, there is no need If pre-
supposlng any tunnel at all.
The real danger is evidently not II
any enc tunnel, but In tie future multi
plication OF such connections betW eel
the island and the Continent. L.
conceivable that with q great man,
lints there might be negligence o
treachery that would be advautaQeou
to an invading force. This notion wa
in the MUD If Napoleon III. tweN
years ago, when he used this language
"The English will hesitate lon
about allowing tunnel to be built, 70
fear lest we should invade them; bu
if first tunnel be made and succeeds
a second and third will quickly b
constructed, and then the English al
lance would bring us at once new Dol
sibilities and some new dangers.
We went to war having the Euglis
for our allies, they would send the
troops over through the tunnels, an
We might have large army on ou
shores in few hours; but if the Brit
ish Governmen subsequently, disagree
with MS as to the conduct of the ws
or the time for concluding peace, whi
would our position be then Pr
But even if the cost and capacity {
the Dover tunnel should not prsver
the building of other tunnels ther,
any more than the Mont Gents boz
stops the way of other Alpine bore
such tunnels would appear more like
trap to tempt the enemy than higl
way for HIM. And what, in any even
would he accomplished to make
worth while for France to run the ris
of having whole army destroyed in
! tnnnelp Not tho conquest of Engla NJ
but simply that landing on the Goa
which, with the constantly increasin
speed OF vessels, could with less dar
ger be made by ordinary transport
and since the English Generals rely {
the navy for the main protection
the islands, surely the Dover ex
from the tunnel could be put direct
under the fire of the nayy's guns,