The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-01-05

on holiday and that there was not sin
gle Boer under arms anywhere on the
| Veldt.
Ihls false news impelled the Johannes
burg crowd to give Jameson the signal for
a forward rush. They promised to have
the Beers subjugated and the town in his
hands by the time he arrived. Then mys-
terlously 1000 Beers rose up in Jameson s
path while similar force appeared to ter
rorlze the cowardly Johannesburg mob,
with the results that Jameson, WiIIoughby,
| White and all the officials of her Majesty
are in Boer prison, and the flower of the
Rhodes mounted police is dead or in
chains. There is loud talk here of the
necessity of proving that Rhodes knew
what was going on. 1t may occur later to
| somebody to inquire whether Cham berlain
also had not some premonition that when
jameson made his break the Beers would
| be there to meet it.
| No one will be surprised to learn that
this flood of fiery excitement has clean
swept the Venezuelan affair out of public
consciousness. Just as Washington
roughly pushed Constantinople aside as
| the center OF British interest, so it is in
turn wholly obscured by Pretoria.
do not know that this is wholly mis-
fortune, because the sort of information
that Englishmen have been getting from
America did not serve as basis for any
specially luminous meditation But it is at
least to be regretted that national pre-
occupation in Transvaal matters prevents
Henry Norman's admirable dispatches
from getting the attention that they de-
serve. His complete, carefully fortified ex-
position of the strictly abstract character
OF the Schomburg line has been received
here quite as revelation. But far more
important, | conceive to be, is his success
IN convincing some section of the English
public that the American people as a whole
feel deeply on this whole subject and stand
firm in support of the principle involved
AS L said week ago, the most aggra-
waiting, mischievous feature of the entire
business has been the practical unanimity
with which the dispatches from New Y ork
sneered at our President, extolled the
tlmldlty OF w all street as an expression of
the best elements of our civilization and
reiterated tirelessly the suggestion that the
whole agitation was deliberately started by
knavish politicians and kept alive only by
the ignorant lingo rabble.
Norman's dispatches come like a burst
OF sunshine throughout fog to dispel this
dangerous, almost criminal delusion. The
effect would, as [ have said, have been
vastly greater if every body were not think
ing of something; but even as it Is, you
find the Times to-day for the first time
cautiously admitting that a reopening of
the case, and an arbitration on some such
new basis as that proposed by Carl Schurz
are not wholly impossible. This marks a
notable change in what may be called
England's official attitude.
Mention ought to be made too of a re-
markedly wise and intelligent letter in the
Times from Amyas Northcott of Chicago,
a young man who is evidently not a sew
enth son for nothing. 1t is by far the most
sensible message that any Englishman
| among US has yet delivered to his coun-
trymen at home and / should think that
1t also had itG effect on the Times. At all
events English public opinion has been
fairly started or a new and helpful task
And there are enough reasons for believing
that official action Will be found following
along after it.
The chances that this American comph-
world will give rise to interesting party
debates and divisions when Parliament
meets next month have been somewhat
| ieopardized by Lord Rosebery's surpris-
lngly insincere attacks on Lord SaIisburv's
conduct of the Armenian business. His
own party papers condemn them, and to
the general public they seem quite outside
the limits of recognized political contro-
versy. This is a pity, because Salisbury
and Chamberlain, by calling no Cabinet
council since November, have undoubt-
edly invited criticism as taking too much
| on themselves through a period of such
difficulty and menace. Very likely this
criticism will find sober, weighty spokes-
men in the House of Commons, but Lord
Rosebery's spiteful ineptitude has already
discounted its force with the community
| at large.
In the crush and friction of larger events
little attention has been given to the fact
| that Hungary is celebrating this year the
| thousandth anniversary of the Magyar
conquest and settlement OF Pannonia.
The Hungarians themselves began the
festival Wednesday and are to keep it up
all the year, but the outside worlds inter
est 10 CId4HIeu IOr the great 6XnlDltlOn TO
be opened shortly at Budapest, which
| will be unique in kind and more like a
| national monument than a commercial
show. 1t would be impossible to exagger-
ate the earnestness with which the whole
| Magyar race have thrown themselves into
making of this exhibition thing never to
| be forgotten, and literally scores of thou
sand of adult Hungarians are working
| this winter to learn foreign languages,
| particularly English, in order to be able to
welcome and entertain the huge con-
course Of visitors that they fond1y ex-
pect. Their concentration on this one
| idea is curiously shown by the Buda-
pest press, which usually makes q
speciality of discussing foreign politics
with utmost freedom and vigor, but now
| for months has been as dumb as an oyster
as if in dread to contribute a single hasty
word toward any Misunderstanding which
might make mid-Europe available for
| tourist traffic next summer.
With New Years day the law went into
effect here, giving to magistrates sum-
| mary iuriSdlct ion to, grant Sepa,ation