New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-20

.patternr dishes and plates. Marquis
Tscnp is to them ludicrous parsonage who
has somehow strayed out of his proper
sphere, which they suppose to be some such &C.
centric dramatic creation rs the feast
of Lanterns" They are firmly convinced
that il is unnecessary to have any prac-
ticol knowledge of the Chinese Empire. anu
thot tboro can he no serious idea of n real war
ritb sucb q ridiculous Power. No doubt TINS
singular journalistic attitude is partly que 10
that national vanity which no amount oil pun
ishment can eradicate from the French CHAR
acter. A people who always account to them
selves for their reyerses by the convenient eK-
nlopotion-g nous sommeS hahis and who re-
fuse 70 admit that after all they may only have
bcon BETRAYED bv their own carelcssneSs ana
lack Of preparation, will probably 60 on be-
Loving in their superiority and invinclDllty 10
the end of the chapter.
But there is another cause Tor the attltuoo VI
French journalism toward China. The French
press has very little enterprise The french
iournol is not n newspaper. 1t does not under
tol,o to inform its readers as to the progress OF
events outside of France. Its expenditures upon
FOREIGN dispatches are very small. And while
10 news columns are thus bare of foreign IN
telligcnce, its editorial columns are equally IN
nocent of all Trustworthy information on Wha'
is happening abroad. Thus 1t Is that inc
French press. instead of guiding the nation
wisely in the present critical juncture, misIeads
If by dwelling stubbornly upon what the
ALLEGED honor of the country demands, and by
ignoring the obvious dangers involved Ill Il war
90, .la rnI nIht
French statesmen that such war must 10 II
calamity, no matter what its outcome lhey oi
course realize that the prime necessity lor tllelr
country to-day is absolute freedom from foreign
entanglcments. They see that Germany Is
weaving a net around France. isolating her Ill
the midst of Europe, and so ordering innings
that when Bismarck is ready war Tor very cX-
istencc may be forced upon her. Yet ut such u
time her military resources are threatened Wl'h
! that wasting disease represented by long
drawn war in n distant and unhealthy country
and the press, which ought to be the nation
hest counsellor at such Il moment, Is swayed by
! ignorance and made contemplate by lrvOllty.
! If French journalism would take some ideas
from that of the United States it would GER
family be the better for the borrowing The
| adoption, even pilI"llA' VI 'n' nm ~ -
! tenn of ncws-gathering would speedily compel q
| complctc revolution in editing. The publication
! of fuller news from abroad would make ncccs-
sary n more intelligent treatment OF foreign
topics cditorially, aud would insenSibly level
down that truly barbarous national concert
which has so long rendered Frcnchmrn the
worst Informed people in Europe concerning all
matters outside their own country. Nor can the
French press ever be to France what the press
! is 10 the United States and England until this
reform i, accomplished. The journals which at
present are little more than chronicles ol
! cphcmcral local ideas, and reckless iactlona
organs must become newspapers III the literal
| sense of the term before they can be influential
| for good, and before they can command the re-
! spcct or the attention of the rest OF the world
! At present the French press j. far more hind
rance than a help to the republic.