New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-21
LONDON TO PARIS.


VERSUS THE ENGLISH--FRENCH NO
TIONS OF PATRIOTISM AND ENG
JISH OR ANGLO AMERICAN
NOTIONS OF FRENCH SEA
MANSHIP-A SKETCH OF
TWO CAPTAINS.
Nice, April O.
Starting week ago from the Victoria station
y. rho London chatham and Dover Railway. I
CHANGED upon a striking illustration of the magni-
tpdo &c American travel from England to the Con-
tincnt on the platform was an American agent
of this English railway company. Mr. Thorne, to
whom Mr. Green. the station superintendent IN
troduced me- had never heard nor guessed that
there was in London an American representative
of an English railway company, nor couid LOT
a. moment conceive why there should be- nor what
occupation such a funCtionary could nave But
there he was in the flesh American all over
with that air of alertness and of beinG-I was
going to say ready t. shoot at sight, but perhaps
that is because | have been reading NJ. Paul
Bourgeois cowboy story. There is not much
shooting at sight in London. blu; there IS none
the less room in this staid city for some OF the
energy and quickness which are SO distlncuNeN
American and can be shown in other ways thah
with finger on the trigger.
1t at any rate pleasure 10 meet d N'''ii
tryman in this unexpected way. and the more 80
because of his official relation to an hnshSh cor
poraton His presence and his official relations 10
the Chatham and Dover meant clearly ehous"
,het for the particular work he had to do an
American was better fitted than any Enghsh-
man could be: as no doubt he is. He knows his
own countrymen and their ways. and what theE
like and do not like. and what inducements 10
Nv II
an Englishman a long time to find out these
simple things.
asked Mir ThOrne whether there was enough
American business to keep him occupied. He an
swered that his correspondence alone with Amer
,ca would take him all his time if he attended
TO it all himself and that his other duties were
Of course many. If you consider that the Chat-
ham and Dover is but one OF several companies
competing for the Anglo-Continental traffic YOU
begin to get a notion how important the Amerl-
can contribution to all this traffic must be- we
are supposed TO send 10000 travellers TO Europe
yearly during the summer months. FroDaDly
fve-sixths take ship from New-Iork TO Enghsh
ports. and all these find their way sooner or later
10 the Continent. If they were divided equally
among the three services which carry nearly the
whole traffic to French shores. they would De
valuable contingent But l imagine that much
a
or South Eastern and from Dover to Calais; the
IL o'clock morning service by this line with the
large steamers from Dover to Calais being by far
the best. Altogether there are three departures
and arrivals during the day by this one route
and as many more via Folkestone and via New
haven at as many different hours.
Three of the steamers which ply between
Dover and Calais leaving Dover at in connec-
zion with the II a. m. trains and Calais at $40
D. m in connection with the ll:3O l. IN. tram
from Paris. have no rivals on the channel III size
or speed. Yet ii is said that this. and for augh'
know other channel fleets. are shortly to pass
out of English hands and under the French nag.
The French Government has given notice that
the mails between Dover and Calais must after
n certain date be carried in French ships or al
least in ships differed and manned by trench-
men and flying the trcolor. one OF the ofhclaIs
of the Chatham and Dover Company told me last
year that they were willing enough. SO far as
they were concerned since the cross-channel ser
vice was not the profitable part Of the London 70
Paris business He seemed Indifferent to the
question of the flag and to the public or patriotic
considerations involved in the transfer ut is
business matter" was his answer. ! have heard
such answers before now. If man thinks ii for
his interest TO do something which he could not
Justify to himself personal grounds. or even
rs matter Of justice. he says "oh. that's bust
ness" and he keeps business conscience on
purpose for such transactions.
But il is known publicly that the French Gov
eminent has announced that it means 70 have a
monopoly Of the channel mail and passenger
traffic Nobody in England seems to take alarm
Perhaps ii is part Of the development Of the
International or cosmopolitan idea which has
taken hold of certain sections Of English society
The madmen who want TO abolish the national
defences of England and open road for French
invasion through a Channel Tunnel, may prob
ably be content to see the English flag hauled
down and the French flag go up The Peace-at-
any-price people and the international Arbitra-
tion League with our interesting friend, Mr..
Cremer. at the head would be certain to rejoice.
There is nothing 10 wonder at in that. But
neither do the sober-minded Englishmen seem TO
care The Press says nothing, and If so mucn as
q question has been asked in Parliament IL mas
attracted no attention. The English Postoiiice
may be relied on to concede whatever France
wishes. II is just regularly outwitted by for
e!gn governments by English steamship or
railway companies. Mir Hennker Heaton some
time since detected this department in the pay
ment OF. I think. about 900 year to the
French Government for carrying the Anglo-lnd-
ian mails from Calais across France, over and
above what they were entitled 10. Nothing IS u
he expected from such department.
But let us look at it from the other side. Sup
pose the English Government should meet TINS
French declaration by a counter declaration that
only English ships. flying the English flag and
Differed and manned by Englishmen should be
allowed TO bring mails into Dover harbor or take
them out Its right to do that is just as clear as
the right of the French Government TO make a
similar condition with respect 10 Calais. II each
Government adhered to its declaration the mail
service would come TO an end As neither Gov
eminent dare let such thing happen, the two
would have 10 come TO an agreement probably
a compromise The French, / presume, defend
their policy as one of patriotism, and some of
them as a policy OF protection. 1t is patriotism