Omaha daily bee., 1884-08-16

dissolve parliament considering that
a new parliament will be more favorable
to them than the present. On the other
hand the liberals, knowing that the tories
will %criticise adversely, and if possible de-
feat, a sweeping scheme of redistribu-
rion, think that their best, if not their
only chance of getting such a scheme
promptly through parliament, lies in
passing the franchise bill first, because
then the tories will be sc willing to face
a general election, on the present allot-
ment of seats, but with Constituencies
swollen by the new voters, that they will
accept q redistribution scheme as the
lesser of two evils.
The strong point in the tory strategy
is their command of the house of lords,
enabling them to keep off tie franchise
bill, and thereby to secure, either now or
within the next eighteen months, a gen.
eral election in which the present voters
will be the arbiters. On the other hand,
the strength of the liberals lies in the
fact that the tories do not venture open.
ly to oppose the extension of the fran
chise. That would be unpopular, and it
would seem inconsistent with their con-
duct in lowering the borough franchise in
1867. Hence there is a certain unreality
in the language held by both parties.
The liberals declare that it
is impossible to pass two
such great measures as a franchise bill
and a redistribution bill in the same SEES
sion, impossible even to keep them pend
ing at the same time. The one train
before the other can be made up to fol.
low it. Yet their chief real motive is the
desire to have a means of compelling the
tories to accept the ministerial redistri-
button bill. The tories complain of the
u%nfairness of separating things so closely
connected, but their real motive is to
dictate a redistribution bill favorable to
themselves by the threat of precipitating
a dissolution on the present suffrage.
The question now is, "What will the
peers do when the bill goes up to them
again in November next?" They will
lave four months to think over the posi-
tson, and they will have heard a great
dAl said in the country not only about
the bill, but about themselves. They
may her feel that they have sufficiently
shown their independence, or they may
fear a further outbreak of popular indig-
nation. If thirty peers 60 over, or if a
somewhat larger number stay away, the
bill will then be carried. This of course
is the hope of the governmental hope
which they think good enough to out
weigh the worry and fatigue of an extra
| uauasnp or ma rlian,ant NTH thu ln.n sc
many measures which they have had to
drop in this session for the sake of closing
it at a date earlier than usual.
According to latest advices from China
the demands of France will be rejected
and the war already begun will have to
be fought out.
The capture of Kelung does not seem
to have been an affair out of which even
a French despatch writer can extract any
considerable amount of GLORY" No re-
s~istance was made, nc fighting occurred,
and no difficulty was encountered. The
admiral gave a signal; the troops went
ashore and the town was theirs. The
Chinese force retired" by which we
must understand that they ran away, as
they made no resistance and were seen
by nobody, even In rear view. So far as
is reported the only person who inter
posed any obstacle or objection to the
proceedings was the British vice consul,
who sent a paper protest to the admiral
and then went on board the British gun
boat. Blu ats the capture of the town cost
nothing In accomplishment it is not GER
tain that it will not involve a bill of some
kind to be paid hereafter. The British
vice consul warned the French admiral
that Kelung was protected under treaty
with England, and if the vice consul was
right in his statement the possibilities of
uncomfortable results are by no means
ject to the proceedings had in the case
there will be no running away, no easy
abandonment of the objection, and
the bloedless victory may prove to be
much more costly than it appears to
have been. From the first Frances most
serious danger in the east has been not
from Chinese troops, with whom French
soldiers can easily deal, but from posi-
BILE complications with western nations.
which have very complex relations and
interests in the east; and the danger in
this direction is rendered all the greater
by the fact that Frances European
neighbors are not particularly well pleased
to see the French power greatly extended
in Asia.
The information which Henry M
Stanley brings with him to England
from the Congo country is well calcu.
lated to awaken a new interest in the
pending diplomatic controversy over the
control of West Africa. 1t gives us
more accurate knowledge than we have
had yet respecting the extent and char
acter of the country tributary to the
Congo river, and amply vindicates the
wisdom of the policy which Mr.. Stanley
has pursued in his dealings with the ma
tive tribes of that region.
From the mouth of the Congo to Stan
ley Pool, 1400 mile farther inland than
from New Orleans to st. Paul, there are
satisfactory facilities for commercial ex-
changes in the numerous trading stations
which have been established between
these two points. The natives are on
the whole friendly and well disposed
toward white traders, but one tribe, the
Ba Sundis, manifesting any hostility to
them. The recent statement of Bracon-
nier to the effect that the Congo is not
nayioahla ahoya Stanlav Pool for ataam