Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1896-11-28
ornnn LANDS rmAN Guns.

Tho announcement was made by Sir
Charles pike IN recent speech that thre,
great powers of Europe, presumably Rus y
STA France aud Germany, seriously pro,
! posed aud recommended to the British gov
eminent not long ago the partition Of the
! Chinese empire among themselves. The
! proposition was not entertained, aud im-
meGiatoly lapscd into that lmitltss pcuum-
| bra Of diplomacy which contains the dark
! record OF secret intrigue and deceit that
! still makes up so large part OF a Euro
! pcan uhanCelor's work for his master M
! people, II there is such a thing as honor
! In diplomacy 1t Is time that 1t was newly
| analyzcd and defined Bsmarcks recent
/ revelations Of the existence OF secret troa-
| ties that went far to nulity others solcmnly
nCgotatCd; the disregard Of pledges which
! England shows In the cases Of the Armcu-
ans on the Que hand aud Egypt ON the other
and now this disclosure that three great
powers wcro ready to carve mp China to
satisfy their own -hungcr-lll these
facts tend 20 show that loudly as statesmen
may protest their scnsiuvCncss to the ma.
tionIl honor, they are far more concerned
FOR national greed and scllshncSS. Thou
shalt want ere | want" was the motto OF an
old English predatory family; and does IT
not stil apply with perfect fidelity to most
OF the nations OF the earth?
Since the arrival Of General Gallioni the
French have conducted affairs in very
high handed fashion in Madagascar As has
been reported already The general insisted
that 1t was the duty OF the queen to visit
him first, as representative Of France 1t is
related that the queen at first rchcllcd
against this humiliation, shedding many
passionate tears, but she was compelled TO
yield, OF course in the end. when she Wis
tied the generals quarters he addressed her
as your majesty" add then, after final
assurances Of French affection and SYM
pathy. proceeded to inform her that NADIA
gascar was hanccfurth French territory
and that its inhabitants were French sub
iCCts." Tie added that he counted on her
assistance in supprCssiug brgandagc and in
furnishing cowardly assassins and that she
would ever find him sincere friend as well
as a faithful servant q the republic. The
queen, who seemed puzzled by her anoma-
lous position rs monarch and subject, as
surcd the general that the Malagassy re-
gardcd him not only as father but as
mother also. and that as for herself, her
admira ton for him and the French was so
extreme that she proposed t. adopt the tri-
color at once as her own royal emblem.
The abolition of the Hova nag could scarcely
have been managed more tastefully. As
further intimatiOn OF their relative positions
the general retained his seat during his M
terview with the queen while the latter
stood. The situation must have been almost
as painful to his gallantry as soldier as to
Ler feelings as a woman.
The king of Prussias order chat the
colors of the province of Posen shall be
changed" is a suggestive one Posen was
a part of the old kingdom of Poland, and ie
colors have been the same as those Of that
kingdom, to wit red and white. The Poles
there have accordingly been able to retain
their old flag down to the present time. To
display the Polish flag as such is crime.
But the Poles have done it with impunity,
under tho pTcteNt that 1t not the lac
of Poland, but of POSen. This has given Of
Tense to their German neighbOrs, and has
even caused some irritation between Russia
and Germany the former accusing the lat
ter OF permitting the Poles to keep up
pretense of nationality Now the king of
Prussia orders that the colOrs of PoSon
shall be changed to black white and black,
conforming to those of Prussia itself. This
will Danish the Polish colors, and give the
Poles a fresh grievance Whether it will
molify and propitiate Russia in the slight
est degree is more doubtful
There are noteworthy signs in Russia OF
a distinct revulson of feeling in favor OF
Germany. The sentence of permanent sus-
pension which had been pronounced by tho
minister of the interior against Prince Met
cherski's paper, the Grashdaninc, for Ito
attack upon the French government during
the visit of the imperial couple to Paris,
has just beer repealed by the car himself
The St Petersburg Vodomosti, which is one
of tho most influential organs OF the Rus
sian press and supposed to derive It's in
formation from the government, urges
France frankly to abandon the notion oil
Alsace- Lorraine and to allow
Nicholas to arrange for her instead cor