The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-12-20
EUROPEAN POLITICS.
sseLAND IN rHE MrDirEnRArEAM


views OF Hish Continental Authority.
ZuRrcH Nov 3o-Many symptoms. public
and private. concur to show impartial OBJ
servers 1T this storm centre Of Europe
that England IL beginning. at least dim
IT, to perceive the very serious slGnIh-
canoe for her OF the activity OF Russia on
the Danube and In the Mediterranean. You
will understand why call this stsnch. pros
porous. and energetic Swiss city storm
centre" The good people OF Zurich are not
so aggressively Protestant as they were per-
hsps, in the days OF IwinRlL Like the Swiss
in general, they have a great talent for mind
ing their own business. In which respect as
in many others, they differ essentially from
the English. They are thoroughly well salts
fed with their own position In the world, and
even In this epoch Of RiHantic armies they
feel such q we'll grounded confidence In
the natural strength Of their noun
tain land. and Of the united cantons.
that they are not wasting any money on a
military budget But they stand firmly By
their traditions, one Of which lie that no for
eign power shall m eddie with Intellectual free
dom at Zurich. While. therefore. they are not
likely to initiate the laundering stupidity Of
the English Home Secretary. Asquith. who
gave up the most conspicuous public square
in London to q glorilcation CT the Chicago
dynamiters by q meeting OF Anarchists and
Communists. they afford protection. as for
years past they have afforded IL. and "colgn
OF vantage" to the most active leaders OF revo-
lutionary thought aud purpose from all parts
OF Europe. This makes Zurich what l have
called IT, a 4" storm centre" from which an i'm
partial cosm opolltan observer who keeps his
eyes and ears open may study with profit the
political weather OF tho Old World. without
rubjecting himself. even unconsciously. to the
DETECTING and misleading influences OF ma
tionAl passion, which continually blur the
atmosphere OF public opinion In capitals like
Paris or Berlin.
so ut this time. when all over Europe
that international concert OF action be-
tween the revolutionary elements OF which
Lord Beaconsheld alone among English
statesmen twenty years ago foresaw and
pointed out the threatening development,
has become an accomplished fact. there
are apt to be found at a given moment In
March three or four men OF different national
tiles who constitute what may be called On in
formal committee OF ways and means OF the
European revolution. charged. not. indeed. to
raise funds or devise I'm I'm m edlate programme
OF action. but TO exchange Information and
views as to what Is passing or coming to the
front In the countries which they severally
represent. The great continental govern
ments are we'll aware OF this. and on one pre-
text or another those governments are always
represented In Zurich not In any ostensible
or Official way. but by agents, sometimes liv-
ing here as idlers possessing means. with
taste for historic or philosophical studies;
som stlmes as military officers on leave. or
retired from active service.
With an agent In the latter category whom
I found here not long ago. after having
met him during the summer as q tourist In
quite another part or Europe. have had Of
late some very interesting conversations. l
need not say that l have n o positive n o wledge
as to his errand here, and I have no right to
designate him In any way. further than by
SAYING that he has served with dstinc-
ton In the navy OF one OF the strongest
OF the European powers; and that In the
course OF his career he has seen a good deal.
not only OF both OF the Americas. but OF Aus
tralia. Australasia. and China asked him
yesterday. In the course OF general CONVERSE
ton. what In bis opinion would be the effect
on the position OF England as Mediterran can
power Of the demonstrations which began
with the arrival OF the Russian feet at Toulon.
and are now expected to be followed up not
only by the establishment OF a Russian naval
station In the Levant, but by q visit OF the
Russian Admiral. with at least one OF his
squadron. to ConstAntinople. He replied:
That question covers q great deal OF
ground. and Is not to be answered hastily
The position OF England as a Mediter-
ranean power IL obviously weakened as soon
as II 10 seriously challenged, because II de-
ponds more on the naval prestige Of Eng
land than on any treaty arrangem ents or ac-
auired rights. So long as England held the
fortified harbor OF Corfu. holding at the same
time Malta and Gibraltar. her position in the
Mediterranean rested on a solid basis Of ma
terial fact. Naval strength In our time Is |
mainly a question OF coaling. Though Gibral- |
tar is not now and never has been. and with |
out a large expenditure OF money cannot be |
made to be. an adequate. coallnG station for |
any fleet intended to dominate the Mediter- |
rsnean. II at all events has certain measure |
Of value as a eoallng station. So has Malta. |
Corfu. after the completion OF the admirable |
Notifications which the English. who had |
spent 80 much money on them. blew up when
they turned the island over to Greece could |
have been made to-day coallng station OF
the first class. With these three stations
in hard an English feet OF the first rank
would have been effective aud formidable
from the pillars OF Hercules to the Bosporus-
Without Corfu. and In the actual condition OF
Malta and Gibraltar. such an English feet
once assembled in the Levant. would be prae-
tcally at the mercy OF any equal force opsr-
Atng against 1t. as for example. French
squadron might operate from Touon Mar
ssillos and Biserta. Biserta In particular Is
tho real key OF naval power for tho future In
the Mediterranean. 30 long at least as ships
depend upon coal"
Would not an English squadron In the La
want be able to count upon the Italian ports1
asked at this point.
II Italy were an active ally OF England In .
Mediterranean conflict" my interlocutor re-
piled. she would need all her coallnR
resources for her own feet. You must
remember that practically all steamers
using the Mediterranean must be eoalsd
from northern and western Europe. The
coal supplies OF France can be brought
down by railway to the Mediterranean more
rapidly than the coal supplies OF any other
Mediterranean State; and the French squad
rons must always have this material advan-
tage over any other fleets operating in those
waters Thisis a fact which will be found 10 DO
OF paramount Importance In the next struggle
for the control Of the Mediterranean. Even Aus
tria. which in this particular is better placed
than Italy. 10 at q disadvantage "a com narad |