The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-10
M. HANoTAUX ON RUSSIA ANI

for parliamentary customs and in gen. eral a wilful ignorance of the best par liamentary traditions-facts which ex- plain why M. Millerand in the Cham Der yesterday asked M. HanotauX to in- from parliament the country and the world whether there really existed a treaty between France and Russia, and, if so, to state it's stipulations and con- ditions. There is no statesman in the world worthy of the name who did not know beforehand that NJ. HanotauX would not reply to such question. Yet it is interesting to know the exact terms in which he couched his reply or rather refusal to reply He said:
 '"The various ministers of the last few years have all remained faithful, in our relations with Russia, to a line of political conduct which was not only drawn up in accordance with the we'll considered conceptions of our states men, but had been preluded by a na- tional and spontaneous expression of opinion. Recently, in tine course of
 their visit to the heads of the various states of Europe, two young sovereigns came to France to salute the govern ment of a friendly nation Not only did France observe toward her illus triOus guests the most natural laws of hospitality, but she showed in her wei
 come something cordial and at the same time so worthy of herself that it was felt
 throughout the world that a solemn act had been performed by this meeting between a great sovereign and 6 great people. From the president of the re- public and the elect of the nation down to the humblest citizens, and contributed to the eclat of those fetes, and there was witnessed the spectacle of the union in
 the same feeling of joy and confidence
 of all that is linked with the past and all that looks to the future.
 "We are to-day asked for eXplana- tions in regard to the political lines we are following which were not demand ed of our predecessors. 1 have only a
 word to reply to M. Millerand. What can and should be expressed in public has been expressed in measured terms, and in terms concerted and precise, by his majesty the emperor of Russia and the president of the republican, Cher | bourg in the presence of officers of the navy, at Paris in the presence of the representatives of the government and the nation, at Chalons in the presence of the chiefs and officers of the army. The minister for foreign affairs will not go beyond these declarations. The of | fee which he fills and a higher inter est which the chamber will understand
 make it his duty to add nothing re- gardng an understanding which mo- body nowadays thinks of denying or doubting"
 Later on, in reply to NJ. Francois | Deloncfe's trade against English ac- tion as opposed to French interests all over the world, also to M. Hubbard, M. Hanotaux made a, brief reference to the i Egyptian question. He said
 1 At the moment of accepting office the present government found itself in the presence of an expedition already be- gun, and M. Hubbard has been good enough to acknowledge that we had not at our disposal the practical means of preventing it from attaining the ob- ject aimed at. We found, moreover,
 a lawsuit instituted by the holders of Egyptian bonds as to he legitimacy of | the use made of certain funds for this | expedition. That suit has been contin- l ued by the bondholders, and we had | the advantage of seeing the thesis de- | tended by the French bondholders rec l ognized, ratified, and sanctioned by the l judges of the court of first instance, | You know that the Egyptian govern | hoc Ja1 tbat
 is at present before the Alexandria
 court, It is only natural that we should
 await a decision the nature of which
 will evidently have a. bearing on the
 conduct of subsequent negotiations. M. 1 Hubbard says: You do not affirm your
 policy loudly enough I confess that
 l do not see very clearly what advan- | tage there could be in speaking out to
 that extent Nor do I understand why, i instead of questioning us upon results
 obtained, all that we have done is pass 1 ed over in silence and we are constant l ly asked what we are intending to do. i That is just what I am unable to tell
 you and what no minister of foreign
 affairs could say here in public. As
 for the legitimate claims which France | ndS alWdyS put lOTWdrQ Tn the Egypt
 ian question, no one, our predecessors
 no more than ourselves, has ever
 dreamed of abandoning them. Each
 successive minister has felt himself backed by public opinion and the opin-
 ion of parliament in defending these
 claims and in asking for the execution
 of the gements made. I will add
 only one word. The policy followed
 during the last few years has had
 whatever may have been said, a result which should command attention
 While for some time France was, so to
 speak, alone in demanding the execu- ! tion of the engagements made, to-day | she no longer feels herself isolated in
 these same claims, and we f1atter our
 selves that a cause which touches the
 interests of all the powers will grad
 ually penetrate the most recalcitrant
 minds In any case, there is, even in
 this point of view, a progress, and I am,
 for my part, persuaded that if diploma
 cy should never hurry matters it should
 always perseVere to attain the end set
 before it.''-Paris Correspondence Lon ErN..