Omaha daily bee., 1885-08-15

sultan TO oppose her Colonial asplratlonsc
and hints have slresdy been sent from
Berlin that the British representative
must be sacrificed before q more concllis.
tory attitude on the part of the German
government can be hoped for. Lord
Salisbury has o difficult task before him.
The threatening attitude which the
German government has assumed toward
Zanzibar was the subject Of discussion
during the early part of the week la the
British house of The under
secretary of foreign affairs stated that adj
vices In the possession of the government
showed that ''the chiefs of the various
districts remained steadfast In their 10y
atty to the sultan" This statement Is
misleading, since the territory which
Germany desires to cover by q protect.
crate Is occupied by chiefs who have
hitherto given allegiance, not to Zanzibar,
but to the sultan CT Vitu, and with
whom Germany hos secured treaties
through the Germsn East Africa
society. The Sultan Of Zanzibar has,
however, always claimed suzsralnty over
Vitu, though he was never able to en-
force it. The territory belonging to
u IN zlbar only extends from fifty to q
hundred miles back from the sesboard,
and the possession by Germany Of the
lands of the Vitu tribes would render
impossible all further extention of the
frontier country eastward, Sultan Sey-
did Burgash obj scts to the Germans OBJ.
tanning territory Immediately to the rear
of Zanzibar, ana consequently the pres
ent trouble arises. How fer England
will SUPPORT Sultan Seydid remains to be
seen.
Late London sdvices say that the Mill
tary party In st. Petersburg Is again
elsted over the prospects of speedy hos
t%llities with Great Britain, and 1t is be-
lieved that Russian delays are mainly for
the purpose of p%ostponing military move
ments until the heat in Central Asia be.
comes a little less fierce. The fact re-
mains, however, that the Anglo Russian
situation has many times this yssr been
far more threatening than 1t Is at pres.
eut, and that even the easily excited
spectators Ct Europe and America re.
fuse to pay much attention to the un-
ceasIpg stream of warlike rumors.
Russia Ia steadily fixing things for a
long stay In the newly acquired territory
north of Herst. Recent dispatches an
nouncs that Ia n quencs of ''rumors'
that the Afghsns were ''marsing" troops
near Penjdeh, etrong Russian reinforce
ments have been dispatched TO that point.
This means that the Russians have simply
invented q very fltmsy xcuss for concen-
trsting a powerful force whers 1t will be
most convenient to use for offensive
operations. The movement Is an an
swer to the British advance In
the direction of Candahar. Mean
while the Russians are not neg
Letting their line of communics-
tons, q fact clearly ahown by the plau-
ming Of O new town at Merv, including
citadel, gardens, barracks, and bazsrs.
The old town Is inclosed in an immense
mud wall larger and stronger than the wall
at Cock Tepe, behind which the Tekks
TurcomRn warriors held Skobeletf at bay
through a long and costly siege. 1t is so
large that the Russians a w, as soon as
Merv was occupied, that 1t would afford
no protection to any garrison they
could afford to maintain In the oasis, and
hence they early forced the inhabit-
ants of the Turcoman stronghold
to build q small citadel for the czAr.
The building of an entire new town
means that the Russians are determined
not only to avoid future danger of being
shut up between the old Merv walls, but
that they desire to break up the Turco-
man population and destroy the national
or tribal spirit which has conferred In
Merv. Clearly the extension of the
czar's empire which ''oaved I'M the old
frontier of A~fghanistan Is intended to be
permanent and well secur,d.
The conviction of Riel for treason, and
his sentence to death, has caused a great
sensation among the French people of
the Quebec province. The French fur
nished their quota of troops to put down
the rebellion IN the northwest, but none
the less they were denounced by the
Orange party as In sympathy with Its
lie lders, and the priests were charged
with exciting the lt-breeds to rebel.
In this there was juat so much truth that
tho French Canadians regard Rel and
his associates as the victims of a policy
which aims at the obllteration of the
French element In the northwest, and
~ III SOhiCIlcE ulLl NC
verely, even while they were
working for the restoration of order.
They now resent the proposal to take
his life as a blow at the French race in
Canada. If the Ottawa government are
wise they will let him run. 1t must be
very impollte on their part to do any
thing that will deepen antipRthies be-
tween the provinces of the dominion so
soon after its union under one govern
ment. The vigor and succeru of their
military operations against the rebels
will suffice for the prevention of such
experiments ss this of Rlels In the
future. 1t will be q mistake to sully the
Victory by acts of a character which tend
to create permanent bad blood.
The black flags ara at 1t again in Anam,
this time In the southern provinces, sew
eral thousands of Christians having been
driven into Quinhon, which Is south of
Hue. This will be a good opportunity
for the French to spread their influence
once score, The frat aggressions In that
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