New-York tribune., 1895-12-29
fBY CABLE TO THE rRrBUNE.]

tions Of Great Britain and the United states
has occurred since the Venezuela Com"iSs'o"
bill was passed week ago. the inter'ai nA"
been filled here with mummery suited " ~"
season. Princes, bishops, preachers. autho's ""'
all sorts and conditions of Englishnen nave
united in a Christmas carol in favor OF peace
This was a safe thing to do, because they kne"
In their hearts week aso that there "ouiu 70
no war It is one thing to cry Peace" "nen
there is no peace, and a.:other thing 70 pr'
claim it when everybody is ridiculing the IDEA
that war Is possible The newspapers lave pee"
printing many columns daily about the ven
ezuela affair and American opinion. but nothns
has happened here since the slaughter OF Amerl-
can securities which produced wan STee'
scare and enabled Mr.. Cleveland 10 Ioho" w
his Venezuela message with peadings IN oe"~'
ruptcy From that moment no Intelligent C"s
ushman has considered an outbreak OF war pos
sibe There might be some danger from nasty
action in Caracas from premature attempts
on the part Of the British Government TO press
an indemnity claim. but otherwise the situe'
ton has cleared. and all thought OF war u
at an end.
Lt is true that the English press has con-
tinued to discuss the Venezuela affair to the
exclusion OF European and Natior al politics; but
there was a reason for this apart from the faes
that nothing else was going on at home
or abroad That reason Englands ap-
probation Of the advantages of her positiof.
in the controversy with America. SO long az
President Cleveland appealed to England on
moral grounds to arbitrate frontier dispute
and not bully feeble republic, the advantage
was with the United States. The English con-
science was uneasy when Mr.. Chamberiaine
order for defending the frO..tier with Maxir3
guns was disclosed: It would have been stirred
more deeply If Lord Salisbury's dispatch deal
ing jauntily and contemptuously with the Mon:
roe Doctrine had been read by itself without tne
text of the Presidents message as counter
,rrltart AS It was Mr. Cleveland contrived bX
his remarkable method OF applying the Monroe
Doctrine and by his menacing language to e.
face all that was irritating in Mr.. Chamberlain's
orders and Lord Salisburys reply, and TO give
England the advantage Of position on moral
grounds The English could say: I'VE have
been wantony attacked, owing to the exigencies
Of American politics. Mr.. Cleveland has rem
dered arbitration impossible by assuming 10
dictate where the frontiers Of the Empire are
We have the moral support Of Europe and can
not accept dictation
This situation wa 20 cungenial TO the National
feeling that 1t has been pleasant for the English
TO read about It. All the journals have catered
to this taste Those American newspapers which
of impossible war by unnecessary peacemaking
have increased this appetite. Meanwhile the
English have looked on with amusement, ad-
miring their own camness and dignity, and de-
ploring the tendencies of American politics and the
excitable character of TIE American people, smil-
ing over Senator Gray's attempt to explain away
the Presidents message wondering what self
Instituted Commission Of Arbitration could ac-
complish, and deriving new sense OF British
resources for avering war from the slump In
American securities at critical juncture. The
English have thoroughly enjoyed the situation
during the holiday week, and have made the
prospect Of war common Joke whenever they
have met Americans Indeed. there has been =
striking contrast between. the seriousness with
which the newspapers have dealt with the So
called crisis in the relations Of the two countries
and the good-humored pleasantly and badinage
with which the menace of war has been laughed
down in business and social circles.
Rejecting men, however. have been sobere4
by the evidence OF the existence in America OF
strong body of hostile orinion to English methods
In diplomacy. That is recognized as something
too serious for a jest Whatever may be the
outcome OF the work of the Venezuela Commits
scn whatever blunders MI. Cleveland may have
made in applying the Monroe Doctrine and
giving warning Of bankruptcy three days after
threatening war, ii is also perceived that. what
ever may be the financial embarrassments In
washington and New-York. the Republican
party will ultimately deal with them In way
which will be hostile to British mercantile inter-
ests. The tariff BILL with its horizontal increase
Of duties, may be hung up in the Senate or be
vetoed by the President. but sooner or later the
Treasury will be filled and National credit re-
stored by legislation in line with that which for
a generation after the Civil War rendered Ameri-
can prosperity the marvel of the modern world.
Far from being in the interest Of England this
legislation will postpone indefinitely the triumph
OF free trade.
SO great a financial authority as 1.-The Econo-
mist admitted three weeks ago that the proper
method OF checking gold exports and averting
disaster was TO increase the revenues and con-
vert the deficiency into a surplus 1t Is leao out.
spoken now that the Republican House has
taken long step in that direction. but other
journals recognize clearly the blow which textile
and other British manufactures will ultimately
receive when the tariff Is readjusted to the con.
| dtions OF prosperity Something like q cold
wave has already swept over Bradford. Hudders-
field and Leeds. where the woollen trade with the
United States has increased tenfold since the
passage of the Wilson tariff. Indeed English
men are already saying under their br cath that
the slump IN American securities was a great
misfortune for England. since 1t has opened the
way for something like retaliation In tariff legis-
| latlon.
Another equally soberlng thought is forcibiy
expressed by THE Manchester Courier" which
says that the losses Of American investors seem
worthy Of being bracketed with the scarcely lesa
depressing circumstance that England now pro
| duces less than seventh of the wheat con.
sumed by her population. and is dependent upou
America and other countries for the remaining
six-sevenths. The Courier says that EnGush.
men should realize The terrible straits for frol