New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-24
WESTMINSTER ANOMALY.
LEFT UNSAID AT THE OPEN
ING OF PARLIAMENT-ENGLlS
HOSTILITY TO GERMANY.


r,a Union Jack again fiutters over the Vic
-. Tower Of Westminster, and the morning
.srrnaIs devote many columns to the proceed
% Parliament These are the outward
.,r,s that England after transition period Of
, roon,hs during which Lord Salisbury and
A. chamberlain have been governing the En-
too ;s once moro under the control OF It's
.,.,oric legislative houses and that policies and
.ants arc TO be discussed from day 10 day by
ro,,tical leaders. Perhaps the strsngest anon
civ of the opening day with Its traditional
.cenes and mummery. was the silence main
Gained respecting the one question or paramount
cubI,c interest The long recess was ended; the
pseresses' gallery of the House Of Lords was
,,ronped with princesses and distinguished
company; the side galleries of the House of
Commons were filled with honorable members
who had been crowded out Of the benches be-
low: and there was high debate on Armenia.
the Venezuelan affair. international arbitration,
the Transvaal, Ashantee and Slam; but with all
this publicity not a word was said about Eng
lands relations with Germany
Since this letter will have been anticipated by
cehls dispatches and detailed reports OF the
opening Of Parliament 1t is hardly necessary TO
comment upon what was said all these i'm
nortant foreign questions. Possibly 1t will be
more profitable to consider what was left unsald,
and 10 lay stress upon the significance OF this
retcence and silence respecting the one subject
which has moved the English people more deep
Is than anything else since the general cleo
lions Certainly It is a curious fact, which ought
not to escape observation. that with tho full
opportunity for debate offered by the opening
night the German Emperor. whose sudden IN
tervention in the Transvaal affair provoked a
sudden outburst Of warlike feeling and patriotic
fervor throughout England and the Empire ana
inspired the most popular Government measure
Of recent times, should not have been mentioned
either in the Queens speech or in the first
nights debate which followed the reading Of 1t
By the Lord Chancellor from the Woolsack
SURPRISES AND TRANSFORMATIONS
This omission is more noticeable in view Of the
Series of startling surprises and transformations
of public opinion which have occurred since
Parliament was in session six months ago. 1t
ha. indeed been transition period. Then there
was faith IN the European concert as remedial
agency for affecting the pacificaton Of Asiatic
Turkey: now there is none Then there was
the old-time prejudice against Russia as the ir-
reconcilable foe, whose progress England must
resist in the Darda selles. Armenia. Afehanistan
and the Pacific; nov there Is indifference 10
her intrgues The Prime Minister has declared
that there is room enough for all in ASIA; MI
Yalfour has almos, invited Russia to take pos
session OF a winter port on the PACING; the
Cars supremacy in the Sultans councils Is
acknowledged without resentment; and unless
all signs fail, England Is no longer prepared TO
block Russias triumphal progress in the direc-
ton Of Constantinople. France. too, six months
sgo was looked upon as an unreasoning enemy
@. England; now 1t has been possible 10 ad-
Just one troublesome frontier question with her.
M " closer
friendly than they have been since the Cccupa-
ton Of Egypt. There has been moreover,
complete transformation OF opinion respecting
America. Six months ago II was the fashion to
sheer at the Monroe Doctrine as survival OF
Yankee braggadocio. q tai-twisting device or
the wicked American lingo; and the Venezuela
frontier dispute was one Of hundred intricate
Imperial controversies which would be settled
whenever there was leisure for IT, Now every
Minister Of the Crown and every leader OF the
Opp1sition offers eloquent tribute 20 the Monroe
Doctrine as a rational American policy the
prompt settlement Of the Venezuela question is
considered Of urgent Importance; and an Anglo
American arbitration alliance is the substance
q things hoped for
These changes in public sentiment and opinion
toward Russia France and the United States
not more remarkable than the sudden shifting
Of English feeling toward Germany. One Foreign
Minister after another has considered the main
tenance OF close relations with Germany the key
stone Of English diplomacy. 1t has been the cen
trail idea OF Lord Salisbury's conduct Of foreign
relations. Whether there were triple or quadrupe
alliances or Russian-French coalitions English
statesmen have considered it more important
than anything else that good understanding
should prevail between the greatest military
nation on the Continent and the strongest naval
lit
six months ago. 1t has been reversed during the
interval between the sessions Of Parliament. An
anti-German wave has swept over England Ger
many is the one European Power which s now
regarded with dislike and ill-dlsguised hostility.
Russia may invade Armenia dominate the
Sultan or secure the exclusive rights of passage
Of the Darcanelles obtain winter port on
the Pacific, and England will not be drawn into
war But the German Emperor has sent an irri-
tating dispatch 70 President Kruger, and the
memory Of II rankles In the English heart 1t Is
he. and not President Cleveland. who has excited
English resentment; and It is Germany that by
universal consent in England has come TO be
regarded as the enemy.
SIGNIFICANT SILENCE.
Yet the Gentleman Usher Of the Black Rod APP
pears In the Commons and the Queens Speech
is read from the Woolsack TO Her Majesty's most
worshipfui subjects in Parliament, and there is
not a word about Germany; and the debate pro-
ceeds in either house and the affairs Of Armenia
Venezuela. Ashantee. the Transvaal. SIAM are
discussed in detail; but the German Emperor
whose meddlesome activity has been the signal
for q naval demonstration and an outburst OF
patriotic enthusiasm passes without observation
Parliament is opened. and what has aroused the
deepest and most resen:ful indignation among
Englishmen during recent times is passed over IN
silence. Or. Jamesons raid is discussed naval
defence measures are announced as OF primary