St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-23
THE TENSION SPREADS.
Emperor Williams Utterances
and Their Effect.


PARIS, July 22.-The abrupt appear
ance at Berlin and London of conspicu-
Gus mention of a recent alleged CORE
spondence between Count Won Munster,
the German ambassador to France, and
his imperial master, William H.. COM
ing, as it did, suspiciOuSly close upon
the departure from England for Norway
of the kaiser, has not passed unnotlced
here. 1t must indeed be puerile mat
ter, supposlng 1t to effect ever so re-
motely the normally strained relations
maintaining between France and Ger
many, (which would not attract the alert
attention Of Frenchmen. Strangely
enough, the Partisan press sees nothing
in the tone assumed by the emperor in
putting aside the application Of his
minister to be relieved from the French
embassy TO demand more than briefly
cOntemptuous criticism.
DESTROYS. if possible, of ascertaining
what is thought in French official circles
of the significant and almost threaten
ing language attributed to the emperor
in the correspondence referred to, the
correspondent of the United Press to-
day called upon friend who is chief of
a bureau in the foreign office under Nj.
Ribot. The gentleman wears the cross
of the Legion OF Honor, and has been
in the French diplomatic service since
the days of 1871, when Theirs and the
national assembly camped out at Yer
sailles. On being shown clipping
containing an abstract of the CORE
spondence here alluded to, and asked
what, if anything, he knew of the mat
ter, and what, if anything, he would
say in connection Herewith. he spoke
as follows: ''There is no reason why [
should exercise any particular reserve
in speaking frankly on this subject, the
more so as there is nothing In it which
brings it within the purview Of my bu-
reau or of the Office of which it is
branch. The dispatch to which you
call my attention may be as veraciouS
as proof of Holy Writ; again, it may
be 'feeler;' or yet again, it may be just
an ordinary, everyday sort of falSes
hood. In any event, it concerns matt
ter of which the French foreign office is
not officially cogniZant."
Speaking more particularly of the re-
ply of the emperor to Count Won Nuns
ter, the official said: Let me say to
you that when the emperor advises his
servants that post of danger is post
of honor, he does not Startle listening
world with revelation. If he meant
to convey the impression that there
could he personal danger, under any
circumstances, to his representatives
here in Paris, he is merely guilty of one
more breach Of good taste and still an
other error of not oyer-ripe Judgment,
The republic is as strong to protect an
ambassador as it was his mother when
he sent her here as "feeler," or as it
is. for instance, to protect itself against
monarcEical cOnspiracies, whether
spawned along the Mediterranean. on
the banks of the Danube or the Rhine,
or Oh the northern shores of the British
channel" 1t is to be observed that the
matter entering INTO the gentleman's
remarks was no more significant than
the confident, even aggressive tone as
sumed in making them. by one attached
tosO peculiarly reticent and cautious "a
department of government as is the
French foreign office.