Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-23
rHE GEEAr 80 QUEsTION.
Bad Outlook for Eug sud if a Conflict
is Reached.
- a Va ~. Tlnes

From ne Nelo York Times.
PARIS, March 30.-How is it that Down
Ing street. which could manage the cX-
pulsion Of the Irish refugees and of a
dozen or more other refugees Of different
nationalities, including that Egyptian
refugee of whom I wrote a couple of
months ago. is powerless in the case of
Diumnal-ed- Dim, whom they hunted out
Of Egypt and out Of Turkey. and chased
like a wild beast through lndi" and
AfgAanistan? Diumnal continues toreside
at the Hotel de Sec, where the expelled
Egyptian put mp during his hriet visit to
Paris. He continues to forward his in
cendiary newspapers to Constantinople,
so Tripoli. even TO Cairo and Alexandria,
bv bales, for distribution among the true
believers. He continues TO be the Mahdfs
mOuthpicce he continues TO receive dis
patches from the theatre of the war, and
those dispatches are seldom more than
foHr and twenty hours behind the tele-
grams sent TO the British War Office and
to their newspapers by the correspond
ents of the Stdnd1rd. and the Dam Ne,rS,
and the Ieleqr0Db. People marvel at the
immunity enjoyed by Diumnal-that
is to say those people who know of his
existence-fOr he does not force him
self uTon public notice, as do, unfortu-
nately for their cause, the sons Of Erin,
and ask what is the mysterious influence
which has protected this stranger. What
can be the motives Of the French Govern
ments tolerance? Is he backed bv Rus
sia? Does the great Chancellor cover him
with his peisf lie would be clever man
who could answer those questions autaOri-
tatively, and do not propose 10 try to do
so. but simply to tell how he is once more
in possession of details concerning the re-
cent gkirmishes near Suakin, which. il
true, remind YOU Of that scene in an old
French vaudeville where the husband. IN
relating the discovery Of lover at his
wife's feet. SAYS: "And by the way that
! slammed the door behind me they must
have seen that such things are not to my
taste"
Gen. Graham is a good deal like that
angry husband; his retreat after each
combat has doubtless convinced Osman
Digna that 'such things were not to his
taste" oit7or. Abu Klea, Kesibjan. FL
Teb, and Tamauieb were, undoubtedly.
successful engagements for the British
arms, and so have been those more re-
cent near the wells Of IIashin. But they
were dearly bought; they were barren
victories which merely FASTENED the fall
of Khartoum, Of Berber, Of Kassala
and Of Sinkat. and the British eX-
the end proposed as they were
when the fir redcOat landed
at Alexandria. Worse, indeed, is
their position ;han it was before their adj
vance began. for WOlselev. who was so
confident that ne predicted to the day
when the British flag would float over
Khart0um. is forced 10 fall back first to
korti, and then to Dongola, and Graham
heSitates 70 remain i'm any position beyond
% y uf of fsl arffT of bo a 80 LOT
Tine English have lost all their prestige in
Egypt, and. which Is worse, all their
prestige on the continent where q Ger
man military critic publishes that elf the
SCudln be conquered next year il will be
by the Italians" and a French wit re-
marks that Jules Janin's definition Of
cra' fish NAV be parodiad for Albion's
heroes: Little red soldiers who move
backward" They fight gallautlv,
THOUGH, fer all that, ana their officers
know hOw ~ die Ike gentlemen ii they
do not know much about their protest.
for every encounter has demonstrated
their entire Ignorance Of the Ci.mentarv
principl Of the art Of war. OaIv ona
formation have they ever a'tountel-
the square, or more properly speaking,
the column. AGAINST cavalry. AVID tbIs
is so clum.ilv done that In every in
stance ore Of ifs faces has been broken.
and the harf-f0-hand melee which
eusued within tie square has only heen a
victory THROUGH English pluck. Never,
either, DOES the British commander seem
to have rec0un9tred his ground; the use
OF fankers appears to be unknown; the
enemy can creep up unseen while the en-
Rineers are constructing a Zereba, and
more than once has IL happened. as with
the doughty Baker Pasha, that the inter
walls and distances were so carelessly cal
culated that the eschelons Of the column
fired into each other instead of into the
masses Of their assailants.
A terrible lookout is there for England
should the quarrel with Russia eliminate
in war. The Russians have had better
schooling in field operations than theu
adversaries; the lessons learned at Plevna
and on the Ak LON. before Kars, and il
the detiles Of the Balkans are more valu
able than anything taught in Zululand
by the Ashantees, or in the last campaign
against the Afghans. and in two of these
at least. there We're episodes not altogether
10 England's advantage. Military mel
only judge Of military matters in the
future from past military events, anC
from what we have seen we mus
conclude that a war with Russi;
cannot result otherwise than in tn
total destruction OF England's domination
in the Indian peninsula. / do not belev
in the imminence Of that war, nOtwith
staining the great tension of the relation
between the two nations. The Whit
Car will not yield on question wherein
is involved his prestige with his Asiati
subjects. Nor can Mr.. Gladstone afIor
70 brave public opinion by an abandon
ment of the region which he has promise
TO protect. But the Russians are no
quite ready TO fight Just yet; they hav
not yet enough troops In the neghboi
hood OF the debatable groun
60 risk conflict which cannC
be localized absolutely, and ia
which The native rising in India has no
yet been entirely arranged, although, vo
may be assured now, this rising is a par
OF the programme, while. on the othe
hand, nv Gladstone knows that. tbOup
10000 En@lishmen and $4,000 Sepoys an
Sikhs may bo sufficient 10 defend IN
Indian frontier, the distance is long B,
tween the British possessions and Hera
and that in the mountains Il is quiteasdin
cult 10 manWuvre large bodies of men a
IN the desert Both parties are interoste
IN the adjournment Of the conflict. how
ever Inevitable IL may be in the future.
But 20 return 20 the affairs of the Sot
dan; the eXpeditionary column lost IA
more heavily than Is admitted I'm the on
cial report. They admit having killed 81
camels In the defense Of the zerebas; j
the dispatch which / have read 10 Is a
serted that tue road TO Suakin ia cr0wdo