Omaha daily bee., 1885-01-24

SNiOAhNo wan SaA Ntht
and Germany the more valuable
ir. case of a great war.
German colonization Is making rapid
progress on the western coast Of Africa.
An official report wal received to-day,
stating that the German expedition had
formslly annexed Oglst Brahim, In the
Dooruda country, a few miles north of
S~enegambia. The action is understood
to have been taken in pursuance
Of an agreement with Francs,
whish country has hitherto
claimed a protectorate over this re-
glon. A report of a more sensational
character comes from Sierra Leone, to
the effect that the German flag has been
hoisted In the interior of that country,
which has long been held by England.
This news, if confirmed, may lead to
serious complications with England, as
she will probably be %indlsposed to give
up any portion Of the fertile colony of
Sierra Leone, or allow Germans an out
let to the sea through her coast posses
sions.
The recent action of the German gov.
eminent In taking possession of the
northeast coast Of New Guinea and the
adjacent islands is not regarded with ia.
vor by Australia. The colonists complain
that the home government has not prop.
erly protected their interests. The
islands taken possession of by Germany
are valuable In themselves, and more i'm
portant to Australia from the use that
can be made of them. In the hands of a
European nation they can BIO made q
penal settlement, or In case of war
they may be made o base
of operations against Australia.
The colonists have not been lacking In
for esight In this matter, but have been
unable to impress the British government
with a sense of the danger they appre.
hended. Some two years ago Queensland
made an attempt TO do q little colonizlng
on Its own account. Accordingly
it took formal steps to up.
propriate all of New Guinea not
then held by the Dutch. The English
government promptly informed the am
bilious colony that when 1t wanted to as.
sumo the responsibility of taking posses
sion of new territory, it knew the mode
of procedure, and would act on it's OWL
account. The colonists excused their
action on the ground that If England did
not take possession of New Guinea, Ger
many would. The English foreign min
lister then informed the colonists that,
though q company had been formed to
~colonize New Guinea, the German govern
ment would not in any way support the
movement. The colonists were not con-
viuced, but the foreign minister spoke as
one having authority. 1t now appears
that the colonists were right. Germany
has taken possession of the part Of the
island Queensland would have occupied
IL backed by the mother country.
This Is n of the many questions which
are constantly arising to convince Aus
tralia and other British colonies in the
Pacific that their interests cannot be prop
erly cared for by the home government.
England has her hands full at home and
in Africa. To Australia the idea of
having a penal colony established In an
adjacent island is extremely objection
able. The colony has suffered enough in
repute by the existence of a penal colony
at New Caledonia, without submitting to
q new association of ideas of that nature.
Austria if taking very radical steps
towards the suppression Of socialism and
nihilism. An anti-socialism bill has been
introduced in The ~reichstag, which far
exceeds the German anti -socialist
measure In the severity Of it's provisions.
IT forb!ds the formation of clubs; pro.
vides for government control of charita-
BILE societies in order to prevent the
covering up of socialist plots; en-
powers the authorities to for.
bid any public meeting and
confiscate socialist pamphlets, whether
printed In Austria or abroad, and makes
ipkeepers, librarians, etc. liable to pun.
ishment if such pamphlets shall be found
in their possession. The last clause of
the bill provides that persons accused of
socialistic %offsnses ahall be tried without
jury. The act, if adopted, will remain In
force five years. The explosive bill, also
introduced to-day. allows punishment by
death where the culprits could toreaee
the fatal effects of their deeds, and i'm
prIsonment for from five years to life for
various offences, such as selling or using
explosives without authority. The bill
provides that offenders shall be- tried by
jury.
Japan makes a good thing out of the
recent ~scrimmsgs in Corea, and would
doubtless like a~notheron the eame terms.
A japanese garrison of 1000 sol6isrs at
Seoul will greatly strengthen that coun-
try's grip upon Corea, particularly since
the Coreans have no army TO spsak of.
But China has yet to belheard from, and
may Insist, as once before was done,
upon having a garrison at Seoul jus; al
big as Japan's. At any rate the Corean
business is not all settled yet, aad may at
some time develop an ''eastern question"
of considerable proportions.
The statement made by Jules Ferry in
the French chamber respecting opera
In China shows that a determined
eff rt is to be made to accomplish some
thing decisive. The fact seems to be
dawning on the French government,
which has been quite clear to the balance
of the world for some months, that 80 far,
the progress of Its arms on the China
coasts has not been either brilliant or sub.
.stantial. For some reason or other the
''victories" announced have not yielded
very important results and Chinese bride