Omaha daily bee., 1896-03-07
OTHER LANDS THAN ours.


| -
The political outlook in Italy is dark, In.
deed. Admittedly. Crispi is the only states
man capable OF keeping in check the sub
terranean revolution with which the king
| dom has for some time been threatened
| The disastrous result of the African cam
pa'gn will materially strengthen the hands
| of the radical and socialist opposition to the
government. The prophecy that Crispi would
be the last prime minister Of the Sdvoyard
dynasty seems perilously near Of fllfllment.
| Under such circumstances 1t would be mad
ness for the government to persist in an
| improbable colonial enterprise, which was
| conceived in spirit Of vaingory. and which
| could at best add nothing to the military
or commercial resources of the kingdom. To
| sacrifice more men in the vain ambition TO
become a colonial power would be crime;
| in fact, the whole wretched business has been
series of criminal follies from beginning
| to end The suggestion that the powers
should intervene to put an end to the Abys-
snian war may be resented as humila-
tion yet 1t would be a friendly act on the
part of her European allies TO save Italy
| from running herself out of a sense Of false
pride.
British Intervention in Egypt began with
Beacontield's purchase of the khedive's share
| lin the Suez canal in 1875. Then came the
ulspdlCH Ol u bTltlSH agent 10 lODh INTO Jne
| Egyptian finances, following whom came the
joint commission representing French and
| English bondholders. Then came the dismissal
| of these commissioners by lsmail Pasha
the khedive. the dethronemcnt of Ismail
by the powers, who together undertook to
govern Egypt When Gambetta went out
of office in 1885, De Freycinet. his successor,
drew France out of this agreement, and
when Admiral Seymour bombarded Alexan-
dria Jnly of hot ho oh
sailed away, and since that time Great
Britain has been alone In governing Egypt.
The war in the Soudan followed, with the
annihilation of Hicks and the death of Cor
don, and Egypt became substantially a Brit
ish province. All the time the fiction that
Great Britain is only in Egypt to secure
to that country peace and good government
has been kept up, and the pledge has been
repeatedly given that when these ends had
been accomplished and Egypt had become
capable of self government, Great Britain
would withdraw. In British opinion that
time has not yet come, nor is it likely to
come so long as the Suez canal is the main
highway to India and so long as millions
of British capital is invested in Egypt, whose
loss would be threatened should either the
khedive or the porte become again supreme
in the Nile valley.
Up to the year 1881 the Russian navy was
not very formidable force. 1t had, indeed,
a considerable flotilla of small coast defense
ironcads, capable Of rendering good service
in the confined waters Of the Baltic, but was
weak in sea-going ships. In 1881 the coun-
Gil of the empire decided upon a twenty
years program, which was to include twenty
three battleshps, ten cruisers and large
number of smaller craft In the execution
of this program very great progress has now
been made, and the proposals of 1881 will
probably be exceeded before the year 1900
is reached Russia as a naval power stands
third today in the world. She has passed
Italy and Germany, and shows some inten-
ton of rivaling England By devoting the
greater part of the sum annually available
for shpbuilding to the construction of IRON
clads she has obtained large and modern
armored fleet. Since 1885 she has launched
sixteen battleships, two armored gunboats,
three armored cruisers and ten cruisers and
torpedo gunboats The sum devoted to new
construction during this period amounts to
more than S95 1000 900. The number of Off |
GERS and sailors has been increased, till in
1895 it stood at 1,245 officers, 2S4 engineers
and 10000 men. with large trained reserve |
AS to the quality Of the men there is no |
fault to be found SO far physique 10 con-
cerned. Whether the corruption which is so |
universal in official Russia has impaired the |
efficiency of the navy remains to be proved. |
Some sharp criticism has been aimed at the |
Black sea fleet, and whether or not it is JUS |
titled by the facts Is a question that cannot |
be decided offhand
Great Britain claims about 1000, 900 square
miles of Central Africa with total yearly |
trade of about f9, 100000. The French pos
sessions come next in extent, with an area
of about 100000 square miles, and with
yearly trade Of about f2,5O0,000. The Congo
Free State has about the same area, but its
general trade may be set down not more
than f7O0,00 in ALL The area of German
ri iS a
or, excluding German Southwest Africa, of
which only a small part lies to the north of
the line of the Zambesi, about $50 900 square
miles, with a trade value of about f15OO,O 900.
Portugal claims an area of some 100000
square miles. almost all of which is in trop-
ical Africa, and its trade may be
set down about f2, 100000. The total trade
Of Italian Africa is reckoned somewhat doubt
fully as about ,O00 and that of Liberia
at about the same. 1t appears, therefore,
that in Central Africa Great Britain takes
the lead in every way-in extent of possess
sions, in their total trade value, and in the
amount Of trade per square mile Of terri
tory.
The dry fiscal records of governments would
seem to be the last place in which one might
expect to find illustrations for the romance
If history. comparison between the annual
revenues of the Byzantine empire in the be-
ginning of the thirteenth century, and the
present revenues of the empire of the Otto
man Turks brings before the minds eye a
picture of the lost grandeur and wealth
If provinces over which now broods the
silence of desolation At the period men-
TONED the dominions of the Greek emperors
1T Constantinople had been impoverished by
he invasion Of the Frank crusaders and the
chief part of Asia Minor with its -four
shing cities had been wrested from the By
,antine monarchs by conquerng Islam; yet
he annual income of the successors of Con-
,tantne amounted to $3.50, 100000. The reve-
lues of the sultan's empire have shrunk to
80 600 900 per year Such is the blight which
Turkish misrule has brought upon some OF
he :airest regions Of the earth.