The Irish standard., 1896-04-18
THE Pope FAVORS RUSSIA
Rome's independence May After
All Depend Wholly Upon
II the Gar.
A New European World That Will
Perhaps Control Both the
East and West.
interesting Reading as Regards
What the Powers Intend
to Do.

w hSu III 1888 Russia l6COVSFSu n6T IN
dependence and liberty Of action in her
relations to the two empires of central
Europe Leo XIII. made one Of theose ex-
traordinary right abouts that astonish and
disconcertn men. AT that hour, on that
date. which divides the second half of the
diplomatic history Of the continent into
two portio1s, the Pope decided in his
prophetic mind ON three great plans, the
Franco Russian alliance, the policy OF re-
sisnance to the Triple Alliance, and, as an
International corollary, the unreserved
acceptance of the French republic. These
are three forms of but one thought,
order Witch might best serve his views
as regards italy and the independence Of
the Papacy Cabinets and statesmen We're
all astonished i'll different ways at this
evolution They found difficulty in un-
derstanding the plan Of the Pope in its
majestic order and its ideal grandeur.
From on high the Holy Father had
guessed what the transformations Of
Europe wouET be, and he early adapted
himself to them and put his seal on
them The Quai d'Orsay, at first puzzled,
with difficulty understood, the gentle and
pressing insistance of Rome; very often
Cardinal Rampolla was obliged to stir up
the zeal Of French diplomacy in order to
open up negotiations for an alliance with
the great empire of the Cars Today the
facts Justify the intuition of the White
Man. IL not the Triple Alliance, the
material rampantS of Italy against the
Pope, breaking UP into its constituent
elements? Who counts today on the mil
itary and diplomatic cooperation Of the
Quirinal?, Who hopes i'll the mainte
mace of Austrian influence in the Balk-
Rns2 Where are the intimate relations
OF 1887 between Berlin and the consulta?
1t is q new European world that is form
ing; il ia about to shape itself. to become
international, SO to speak. under the in
fuence of Russia, says the Catholic
K Standard and Times.
g* Russia, in fact, supported BY Trance, is
the arbiter Of Europe, She takes the
place, in the eyes of political prophets,
at. once Of the dream Of Lord Beaconsfeid
and Of the more real domination Of Herr
Won Bismarck. The organs inspired by
diplomacy, the Journal de Geneve, the
Neue Freie PTesse, the Post, the Allege-
meine Zeitung, the Paris Petit Journal,
testify to the progressive rise Of the
ears power on the horizon Russia has
not been content with snatching from
Japan, Manchuria and Corea, which that
bold little people had conquered by force
Of arms; she is about to take Japan's
place in those lands and to appropriate
them to herself, and she sets about it
with such a calm and so sure method
that even the English newspapers. not
daring to engage in a, struggle, have
reached the poit of thinking that all that is
done thereis well Gone. They think:tnat
Russia has the right Of possessing in:that
region a port. free form ice in winter and
they are already completely resigned to
the thought of seeing her build q new
Nladivcstock on the Gulf of Corea. You
will hardly find the English press SO
touchy when China and the extreme East
are in question. a word Of blame for the
events that have just taken place at
Seoul, where the king Of the country, the
fomer yassal Of China, has sought the pro-
lection Of Russian sailors landed for the
purpose, and sent to the Russian .em-
bassy, which for time will be the royal
palace of Corea.
Closer to us, at Sofa. all the efforts
in. I@,v 80,
ment with England, Germany, and Italy,
to maintain on the right bank Of the
Danube an Independent principality
have failed in the presence Of the ire
sistible pressure of Russia, which has OBJ
tanned its objects without war or VIC
lnece, in the first place by the suppress
sion OF the Stambuloff government, which
was the insurmountable obstacle to the
Russ.fying OF the Balkan peninsula, and
secondly, by the submission of Prince
Ferdinand to receive laws from Russia
ard to give her, as a pledge the "conver-
sion" to orthodoxy Of his son, the crown
prince. In the Armenian question it is
Russian that has brough about tue pres
ent solution, one which is no solution
which leaves everything in stata quo
and, by continuing the causes for dis
content in the Turkish empire keeps
epen ali the opportunities for its dissolu
tion and ruin, and consequently all the
hopes of those who are to inherit it.
These are the important events since
they announce the appearance in the
world Of something new, the almost lin.
contested predominance of Russian influ.
ence. Whatever may be the future thai
awaits us, we must look it in the face
and acknowledge that the power which
today spreads its wings over the world j:
no longer either England or Germany
but is, as the Pope foresaw, Russia united
to France She has reached in q very
short time degree Of superiority which
1t would be dangerous not to recognize
( and certainly useless to deny. Our cen
turies-old civiazstion viii therefore b'
confronted very Scon with another alC
sifferent civilization, Asiatic in origin