The sun., 1894-10-22
THE BRrrIsH CABINET COUNCIL.


MILAN. Oct e.-The emotion produced on the
| stock exchanges and throughout the press Of
| Europe by last weeks sudden convocation OF a
| Cabinet Council in London has been out Of all
proportion TO the emotion excited by II in the
| various Cabinets Of the Continent As matter
| OF fact, no Foreign Office in Europe was in the
least disturbed by II. not even the Foreign Office
| OF France. II was by a curious coincidence, but
| by a coincidence only, that n Cabinet Council,
called in France Council Of Ministers" hap
pencd to be held In Paris. on the very same lay
on which the colleagues II Lord Rosebery.
quite Unexpectedly to themselves and to the
public. were hastily summoned TO meet the
British Premier in Downing street. This cir
cumstance. coupled with the simultaneous an
nouncement that Baron dc Courcel, who pre-
sided over the not very successful Behring Sea
arbitration, had been appointed to succeed NJ.
Decrais as French Ambassador In England. not
unnaturaly sufiiccd to color the excited public
mind on both sides of the channel with nm i'm
preston, invaluable tn the stock jobbers, that
diplomatic relations between France and Eng
dangerous tension.
Had the officials of the British Cabinet taken
the ordinary pains to prepare the press. even
twelve hours beforehand. for the incident,
great deal OF vague excitement and not little
msohievous stock gambling might easily have
been avoided. Had Sir Philip Currie been at
his old post In the British Foreign Offlce this
matter would have been attended to without
friction or fever. But Sir Philip. as you know,
Is now very busy in his post as British Am
bassador to Constantinope. and his successor in
Downing street, less familiar than Sir Philip
with the humors and the temper of the British
press and Of Lombard street. does not seem to
have realized the situation" until the mischief
had been done. As for his superiors the For
eign and Colonial Secretaries aud the Premier.
In n hasty conference between whom the sum-
moning Of the Council was decided upon, they
were all three of them too much absorbed with
the importance, not only TO British interests.
but to their own official existence, of the situa-
ton they had to deaf with TO remember the
rules and traditions Of official prudence IN such
cases made and provided.
This, at least, is the judgment passed upon
the incident by friend of mine here in Italy
who has long been on familiar terms both with
Lord Rosebery and Lord Ripon, and whose
views Of the subject matter submitted to and
discussed by the British Cabinet last week IL
may be worth while for you to put on record
now for the benefit Of your readers.
What happened in Paris while the French
and British press were all agog with this Cab
met Council" said this friend of mine to me to-
day. us much less important than what was
happening at the same time in Constantinople."
And what was happening there ?" asked.
Certain observation-disclosures" he quietly
answered, between the Sultan personally and
the Russian Admiral Avelan, over whose pres
ence with his fleet at Toulon last year all
France, you remember. went mad and whose
squadron was lying in Besika Bay while he
was breakfasting. dining and comforting with
the chief OF the Ottoman Empire You may be
quite sure that Lord Rosebcry and Lord Kim
hprlpy lant nd dN aI NJ
Turkish amiabilitics at Yildiz Kiosk by Sir
Philip Currie. and that neither OF them last
week was, or now Is, in any doubt a. to the
doubtless. also quite aware at this moment
that VI. Catalani, the clever Sicilian, who was
not long ago transferred by order of Crispi from
Copenhagen to Constant ntinople. has seen good
deal more OF the Ottoman Sultan during the
now now in Turkey My own advices roVf from ROME nSe
today intimate the possible return OF Catalani
to to take ak 5ns place % Baron Blanc
point. also, to other changes in the diplomatic
Representation Of Italy. all OF which will be
mainly determined by considerations developed
out Of the subject matter OF this sensational
Cabinet Council in London"
Cabinet Council :" asked WAS tSr It anything VI .
more than the question how best to protect the
exposed to peril in the far East by the victories
OF the japanese, and the consequent demorali-
This has been given out in London as the real
and only subject considered at the Council"
while il Is rns n prG the ts Rs
received at London from the far East. and par
Kong by Lord Ripon, and from Chefu and
Pekin by Lord Kimberly. made the subject OF
danger To British residents in China instant and
such light upon the difficulties likely 10 arise in
the immediate future much nearer home than
China, from any effective measures taken to
secure the safety of British residents In China,
as In the opinion of Lord RoSebery made
II of grave Importance to the political welfare of
his Government that his colleagues, not directly
the Colonial once. should be fully and inteiii-
gently committed to the support Of such meas
ures OF this, you will observe. no inklng has
irary. see that Lord Rosebery and his Govern
ment have been sharply taken to task in some
speakers as for example by Lord Salisbury's ex-
Solicitor General, Sir Edward Clarke. for max
the. protection OF British subjects in China,
which ought 10 have been prepared and pro-
vided for as soon as hostilities between China
and Japan became imminent. II would be easy
for Lord ROsebery or his friends tO explode all
ocm m rs " orngimg %9s PLAINLY Their m
nople and in the Levant, In its relations, actual
and prospective 10 the state of affairs in the far
East. hut think IL TO the credit of Lord Rose
berry, as an executive Minister, that he should
quietly allow himself To be charged with care
premature disclosure of a situation much too
serious TO he discussed with advantage just
now now IN the daily newspapers or "n th" political
As pressed my friend more fully 10 explain
his exact meaning he said IL am sure you
must very we'll understand my meaning, for we
have talked over this matter more than once
during the past twelve months. You cannot
surely have forgotten our conversations at the
time when your Government at Washington
was conducting those cxtTaOrdi mary proceedings
at Honolulu. the OstensIble and. tu Us in Europe,
incOmprehensiblc object Of which was 10 bring
about the restoration uf the Queen Of the sand
witch Islands, but the real outcome Of which
seems 10 have been To leopard the control by
your Government of positions in the Pacific
Ocean, which every man, woman, and child in
the United States must surely see, In the light Of
this great China-Japanese war, to be absolutely
vital to the peace, progress and prosperity of
your great states On the Pacific. The assault
which Japan Is now delivering with such scien-
tiic and deliberate energy upon the position
hitherto held by China, while il threatens in its
immediate consequences the lives and property
OF British and other residents ia China, aud the
commercial interests there Of Great Britain, in
wolves In It's ultimate results much wider and
more Formidable consequences for the political
edihce somewhat loosely called the British En-
pire. When China has been forced. as every
thing now indicates that she will be forced, To
abandon her claims Oyes IOrea, and IT, surTeII-
der, certainly for long time 10 come, TO Japan,
the first position among Asiatic pOWcrs on tke