The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-03-22

1896, by the Associated Press. France,
it is generally believed here, is burn
ing her fingers with the Egyptian
question. The French government, it
is asserted, expected the cooperation
anticipated by Great Britain, as the
Marquis of Salisbury assured himself
that he had the support of Emperor
William in the matter, and the latter
is said to have informed the British
premier that Great Britain could rely
upon the support of Germany and
Austria if she aided Italy The Mar
quis of Salisbury, it appears, had not
consulted with the Congo Free state
authorities before announcing the gov
ernment's decision. France, conse
quently, found herself confronted with
a plan fully prearranged and, it Is sta
ted, she now shows a disposition to
%CLIMB DOWN"
from the attitude she assumed when
the government issued it's note on We'd
nesday last, saying that the proposed
advance up the Nile was a great sur
prise to the government of France, and
would serve to embitter the anti-En
glish feeling in that country a. a time
when a better understanding was
promised; and adding that Great Brit
aims explanation that the advance is
necessary to the interest of Egypt, is
viewed with sarcasm in France. The
wording of this note is now saddled on
the premier, Nj. Bourgoise, who, it is
asserted, issued it without consulting
the rest of the ministers.
The opposition in France to the use
of the Egyptian reserve fund to defray
the expenses of the expedition to Don
COLA does not avail, for, as the British
under secretary of state for foreign
affairs, Mr.. Curzon, expressed in the
house of commons yesterday, there are
two funds controlled by the
EGYPTIAN DEBT COMMITTEE. !
One of these, the larger fund, is de-
rived from a conversion of the Egyp-
tan debt, and it requires the unan-
imous consent of the powers to author
ize the expenditure of the whole or any
part of it. But the second and smaller
reserve fund, amounting to about
$12, 800, 600, can be used with the con-
sent of a majority of the committee
and Great Britain has q. majority of
the committee on her side, even if
France and Russia refuse their con-
sent, for the approval of Germany,
Austria and Italy to the use of the re-
serve fund has already been obtained.
Then again, French newspapers ar
que that Egypt has no right to repel
the Dervishes taking the ground that
if she does so they will be driven south
and may disturb the French, Belgian
and German possessions in Central At
RIGA. Such an argument, naturally,
does not carry much weight here and
the British newspapers retort that
everybody must
PROTECT HIMSELF.
In spite of the bold front put upon
the matter here, there is no denying
that there is a feeling in Great Brit
ain that the Nile expedition is likely to
turn out to be something in the nature
of disturbing a hornets nest, and the
support of Italy, in case matters as
sumo a serious aspect, is problemat-
icel.
Russian traveller, Eliziffe, who is
thoroughly familiar with the situation,
estimates that the forces at the dis
posal of the Mahdi number about $780,,
900 men, Of which 10000 are beggarS, all
trained and disciplined. The Mahdi is
believed to have 100000 rifles, but it is
said they are as a rule. of obsofate
character, and that only 10000 Reming
tons. which form part of his store of
artillery is concerned. it is not believed
that he has more than the guns cap
tured upon the OCCASION of the defeat
of Hicks Pasha.. but it is intimated
that, like King Menelik, of Abyssinia,
the Mahdi has been secretly purchas-
ing arms and ammunition for some
time past, and it may be found that
his troops are quite as we'll armed as
those of the Negus, and that the
CAPTURE OF THE SOUDAN
will not be accomplished without the
expenditure of much blood and treas
ure, and that the end will not be' at
tanned without drawing largely upon
the British troops now in England In
fact, the more the matter Is looked in
to, the more serious the outlook ap-
pears, and anything in the shape of a
picnic or walk-over need not be an
ticipated. The Mahdis, as is well
known, can fight with terrible deter
mination. skill and ferocity, and they
cam endure hardships beneath which
the best European troops would speed
ily succumb. The Mahdis' chief lieu
tenants are Cheruf and VahldieShow.
The Khalif's flag is black, Cheruf's is
green. indicating that he is direct
descendant of the Prophet Mahomet,
and Vahldieshow' is red.
Much interest is manifested in legal
and other circles in the bill introduced
at the instance of the lord chancellor.
Lord Salisbury, for the suppression of
INCIDENT EVIDENCE.
This measure was read for the sec
ond time in the house of lords yester-
day. BY it's provisions a judge is en-
powered to order evidence which he
thinks would be prejudicial to public
morals not to be published. The lord
chief justice, Baron Russell of Killo-
wen, is known to be opposed to the
bill. and it is quoted that the master
of the rolls. Baron Esher. president