Arizona weekly citizen., 1895-11-23
THE CLOUD HI THE FAk EAST.

Considering the intense feeling on af.
 fairs in the far east, the following review
 of the situation from Ha Per's Weekly
 will be read with interest:
 Ths recent rumor coming from Hong Kong to the London Times that Russia had concluded a treaty Wlth China by virtue of which the Chinese port of Port Arthur should becOme su subsi6ntieliy E Russian naval station, and the Russians should be permitted to build, and of course control, e branch of their trans
 Siberian railway through Chirese terri tory down to tha5 point, found wide be- lief for the very simple reason thst Rus sia, when she So cunulUgly labored to bring China under her ruling influence. must, logically, have had in view the great advap tages e could derIve from such stroke Of policy, aad that the command of Port Arthur as a terminus Of her great traEscontinentai rnilw8y, with the power ever Ch'n incidental to that arrangement, xas just the klpd of thing she would i.ks tO have. The rGn- clusl pn was thei efoFe natural tdat she
 would covet it, and that the rumor of
 bold attempt on her part to obtalu 1t had many elements If proba ability in its favor. That rumor Is indeed contra Gicted, but something similar is most likely to happen as soon as Russia dareF. Neither is the opinion expressed iu the English press that the rumored arrange
 ment would practically make China a
 mere province of ths Russian empire
 much exaggerated. Ruseis would, ia
 deed, in occupying so strong a position,
 seek completely 10 overawe the Chinese government and people to the exclusion
 of ali other influences, and to monopo- lize for her owH benefit all the commer- cigI as well as the military advantages accruing to the dCmiDst power.
 The oDly consideration which would deter Russia from venturing upon so uudisSuised A stroke Of aggranGizs- msut would bs the uncertainty as to what the other great powers of the world might do 10 tnwart her. This is question of diplomatic combin ations. That Great Brltsin would rather go to war thHn permit a corsunmation sI dangerous to her interests in the east, that she would have the sid of Japan, nov an important factor in the affairs cf the world, and that the British and the Japanese var hsets you'd be far more than 8 match for the Russ .an navy in those W8tals. may be looked upon Hs certain. OO the other hand, Russia nn doubt would count upon France as g certain ally, and the psrticipa of Franco in the war would create for Great Britain an exceedingly hazardous diversion. To keep France in check Germany would be looked %, ard the prospective attitude CT Germany Is doubtful. II is the traditional policy of the Prussian government to cultivate l Rmicsble relations with Russia, and it IS well known that tbe rsSent emperor of Germany follows ID this respect the ex l ample of his predecessors. But al l though the kingdom Of Prussia is the l preponderapt state in the German con- | federation, it does not fellow that Prus- i sian traditions will always absolutely | control the foreign pol cy of the German | empire. The commercial interests of | Germany in the far east, which are very | great, and which would be most serious | ly threatened by Russian +ncroach meuts, would certainly demand consid- | eratlon. Beeidee. Russia is cordially | hated by the German people, and even | in the army, whose pride has now and | then ben severely offended by the ! taunts Of Russian officers, there IS d l strong current of anti-Russian feeling. i Thes> influences migh. finally succeed i in turning Germany against the Erar O. Russian mbinatiop, ard oppose to it ! vastly superior array of forces.