The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-08
1t Has Given England a Chance
to ReaSSert Herself in the
Levant.
MAY NOW BULLY THE SULTAN.
Struggles of the Leaders of Cliques in
France and Germany Vividly
Portrayed.
copyright, 1895, by the New York Times.l


LONDON, ENG, Dec. THE pic
turesque episode of little Said's fight from
the Sultan's reach to a refuge inside the
British embassy gives welcome dash of
personal interest TO a situation which had
grown to become tiresome in its menacing
and yet meaningless strain upen every
body's nerves. Here at last is promise
Of something tangible and definite. Those
who describe Said as pro-Russian and
express surprise that he should turn to
the English for safety are mistaken. In
Sir William Whites time Said was his
closest friend, and it was White who made
him Grand Vizier. Since Whites death
the British influence in Constantinople
had gone to pieces, and possibly Said may
have listened to Russian whisperings, but
now that England is disposed to reassert
herself in the Levant, Said naturally flung
himself under the shelter of the union,
with his Oldest boy in arms.
This unexpected sensational incident
throws quite into the background now the
nearly three-week-old demand for double
guardships off the Golden Horn, for Eng
land has isolated action thrust upon her
quite independent of the so-called Euro
pean concert. There is report from
rather doubtful source tonight that the
Sultan has conceded the firmans asked for
to let additional guardships through the
DardanelIes; but even if this report be
true Said's presence in the English en-
bassy creates a far more interesting new
complication. There has been an enor-
nous increase this week of pro-Armenian
excitement here, due to the Armenian ex-
citement and the publication of a set of
CHASTITY photographs of slaughtered heaps
of victims, ana the popular pressure for
English action, independent if necessary,
has becfome SO powerful that Lord Sails
bury cah hardly disregard it. The episode
of Said S protection gives him chance to
bully the Sultan on grounds admirably
suited to tickle British fancy and generally
to take a line of his own, which will force
the other powers to acquiesce or show
their hands.
Reports of hurried Russian preparations
for action in the Black Sea continue to
multiply until it is extremely likely that
the coming week will disclose that Russia
and France have separated themselves
from the other powers in their attitude
toward the Sultan. Very probably it will
be found, also, that Germany at least de-
clines to say that she thinks they are
wrong, but for the moment it is risky to
predict what Germany's foreign policy will
be on any given question. Growing ex-
citement continues to be observable all
over Germany. 1t is believed that the
minor States have outvoted Prussia's rep
resentatives in the Bundesrath on the
question OF providing another socialist leg
islation for the whole empire with the re-
suit that the subject was not mentioned at
the opening of the Reichstag Tuesday.
All sorts ofrumors are ahoat OF impend-
ing demonstrations by the Grand Duke of
Baden and other important German princes
OF their disgust at what is going on in Ber-
lin. The Emperor's speech to the Grena-
der officers at Breslau Tuesday, which has
distanced all his previous exhibitions of
how a constitutional monarch should not
believe, has added acutely to the impress
sion of a crisis of some sort approaching.
1t is apparent that a tremendous struggle
is going on behind the court curtain as
to whether Won Koeller, Minister of the
Interior, who is responsible for the amazing
onslaught of the Social Democratic organ
ization, shall be dismissed or not. He is
in a semi-suspended state now IN obedi-
ence to a demand said to have been made
by Hohenlohe, backed by practically the
entire Ministry, but the whole pack of
court favorltes, with the Eulenburg fam
ily at their head, are bringing to the Kaiser
night and day appeals to keep Won Koeller
and defy and crush all elements of oppo-
sition as the Kings of Prussia were accus-
toned to do in the past. Truly, William
NAV be said to be at the turning of ways.
The Parisians take it for granted that
Hanoraux is to return to the French For
eign Office, the death of Berthelot's daugh-
ter giving to him decent pretext for re-
tiring. 1t was on the Madagascar treaty
that Hanotaux retired, and here his ad-
vice after being condemned has been fol-
lowed. Laroche, who is going out as
resident-general, is a Protestant and will
be careful to avoid those entanglements
with English and American missionaries
which Hanotaux declared would follow II
the Clericals and Chauvinists had their own
way, but in the Levant and the Far East he
is anti British, and if he resumes the for
eign portfolio it will bs remarked as of
evil omen here.
1t is difficult to throw any fresh hght on
the Venezuelan embroglio from this side
Of the water. A report was spread about
Thursday evening that Salisbury had writ
ten an exhaustive criticism of the Monroe
doctrine pretensions, which appeared to
have an authoritative source, but you Will
know before we do what he has said. 30 |
ong as the matter remains in the discus
sion stage English opinion will be unani-
mously against the idea of suffering any |
part of British Guiana as defined by the |
homberg line to be regarded as in dis
pute. That much is perfectly certain. At |
this time English politicians are unable to
believe that the American Government
intends seriously to press such a sug-
sfinn hattar ola of