The San Francisco call., 1896-04-05
England More Concerned in the
Matabele Uprising Than
Other African Affairs.
RUssIA's TACTICS ARE FELT.
Indications That the Car Is Irving
to Hasten an Encounter
With Japan.
rcopyright, 1896. by the New York Tim.s.1

LONDON, Eng, April 4.-Easter is a
cool season this year with vegetation ONE
three weeks ahead of the normal state but
with less sunshine and cheerfulness about
its holiday effects than usual The exodus
of Londoners to seashore and country, &C
cording to railway figures, is greatly in
excess Of ordinary years, but one gathers
that people are coming back sooner tha n
they usually do. 1t is preoccupied time,
and Parliament sets the example of eager
ness to get back 10 its place of business bv
taking mere hasty weeks vacation.
Parliamentary recesses may mean all
sorts of things. They have a short one
here because the general outlook is trouble.
some and there is important work to be
done. They take an exceptionally long
one III France, that is the Deputies of the
Chamber do, for exactly the same reasons.
Evidently France is to make large bids for
our undivided attention this summer.
No one can understand what is happen
ing without laying hold of the fact that
Bourgeois has suddenly become striking.
impressive personality in the French i'm
agination.
With the possible exception of Jules Fer
ry,whose fame was unpopularity, Bourgeois
gets more individual attention now than
any French politician since Gambetta.
When Paris heard few weeks ago that
the people of the south were yelling
''Vive Bourgeois!" whenever the Presi-
Dental junketing party halted, the thing
created some surprise; but Eow Paris
itseh has caught the infection, and it is
bourgeois everywhere. The growth of the
legend this past week has been peculiarly
gourdIike. 1t seemed the merest chance
on Monday II his scratch majority of seven
did not vanish altogether. -Four days later
he had a majority of ninety in the ch lam
Der TO do with what he liked and when
he disclosed that what he liked was that
the Deputies should adjourn for seven
weeks they trooped off in all docility.
leaving him absolute master of the stu
alton.
Previous generations used tb laugh at
the story of the man asking la Partisan
bookseller for a copy of the French consti-
tuition and receiving the reply, 1--WE do
not keep periodical literature" and the
joke may be revived now once more for
current use.
The senate's session yesterday was the
opening scene OF new revolutionary
drama which will alter other things besides
the constitution before it ends. The
Senate spat in impotent rage at Bourgeois.
and he sneered in it's face like second
Robespierre, shrugged his shoulders and
went away with hard smile on his lips.
The Senate is to meet again April21, a full
month before the chamber, and will begin
war on the Madagascar treaty, on the
foreign policy, on everything else minis.
terial which it can reach. After yester-
days events, however, its cartridges are
all blank. Bourgeois treats 1t as settled
principle now that hostile vote in the
Senate has no party significance, and will
go on as he has begun, ignoring all that
the Senate does, but meantime preparing
throughout France merciless return
blow under which the senatorial majority
Will reel. zAs with us, one-third of the
Senators retire at time, and their sue
cessors are not elected by direct popular
suffrage. The municipal councils, to be
chosen the first week in May, will have
the selection of nearly 100 new Senators.
and those who are retiring are almost to
man moderate Republicans or Monarch.
lists.
Bourgeois and his followers are straining
every nerve, and the letter of the election
laws as well, to sweep their councils into
the radical camp, and from all one hears
of the provincial effervescence of enthu.
siasm, il is very likely that he will do it.
In the battle royal between the rising
new savior of society and intrenched priv
ilege in the Senate. the Berthelot incident
has rather faded out of view. We know
now that he was thrown out at Russla's
behest. Ostensibly his fault was that he
announced definite programme of in
ternational procedure for France without
consulting Russia first. Really he was put
aside because he was too candid and log
ically inf1exible to suit Russia's elusive
non-committal diplomacy. Like Baron
De Council here, Berthelot fell and said
that France must settle whether she
wanted quarrel with Germany or with
England and having decided, make friends
With the other. Russia's plan for France
Is that she should be friends with nobody
and yet be allowed to fight with nobody,
but just keep all Europe anxiously run
ming up fresh bills for armies and navies
that it is afraid to use-a process which
may bankrupt Europe, but brings only
grist to Russia s mill.
The Pail Mall Gazette's Paris CORE
spondent is insisting that an Anglo French
agreement has been arranged, but l do not
credit it, for the simple reason that Eng
land would not buy anything. since it can
do perfectly without it. and no French
Ministry could afford to make such deal
without having heavy price in hand to
show.
Here in England. for the moment, the
Matabele uprising rather thrusts other Al
rican matters into the background. There