The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-02-06
POWER WANING.
fContinued from First Page.)

Lord Salisbury and LORD WClSe1ey are
in a better position to Judge how far
England can go in that direction, which
is not at all. The old proverb that cur
ses, like chickens, come home to roost'',
is being we'll illustrated in the situation
of England at this moment, She dare
not do what is right, for it is to be re-
marked that among all those braWllng
most loudly against the Turk not one
has yet volunteered to shoulder a rine
and risk his own skin in defence of the
Armenians 1t is to be vicariously. Not
even a Peter the Hermit. could put an
honest enthusiasm or chivalrous pur-
pose into such people: even If they did
start out, they probably would not get
further than the port of embarkation.
The position of England is dangerous
II she continues to submit to be tiouted
by tine Sultan. The sixty millions OF
Moslems of India are known to be dis
cussing the situation with eager inter-
est, and it may be taken for certain
that emissaries of the Sultan have long
before now penetrated into the bazars
and among the villages of Musselman
India. But it is true that England will
not fight unless driven to the WALL AS
Prince Bismarck said, she is too fat
The very thought that her wealth is
in danger paralyzes the whole body
polite. Rather than risk it and their
sense of ease the classes who have
brought England to her present posi-
ton will make any compromise to save
their wealth. There are plenty of
scribes ready to describe it as another
case Of peace with honor"
Meantime, to show their confidence,
London is to be fortified. In case Of the
successful landing of an enemy on the
shores OF England, five millions Of people
are to be nemmed in by circle of
redoubts, where, if the investment
could only be maintained for. two
months. hunger and rioting would
bring matters to- an end. But where
would India; South Africa, Australia
and Canada be by that time? The idea
that such a catastrophe as that indi-
Gated could ever happen to England may
seem preposterous; tut the very fact that
the English Government feels it necessa-
ry to prepare for such an eventuality as
the siege of London is dramatic to an
intense degree. Sir Charles Dixie, who
is held to be an authority in politico-mi-
litary matters, urges in strenuous words
the necessity of preparing the defense OF
the empire at it's heart; for it is not in
India or in the distant colonies that dan
ger is to be feared, but in the English
Channel and on the banks of the Thames
that the struggle for England's power
will be fought out.
A good many persons have regarded
the declaration of Paris OF 1856, by
which neutral flag covered everything
but contraband of war, on the ground
that it was destined for the nourish-
nient of the enemy's forces. Admiral
Aube, when lately Minister of Marine in
France, declared that in the next naval
war in which France might be engaged
England being indicated, the French
cruisers would make no prizes among
the enemy's merchantmen. It would be
war to the knife. War entered on in
such a spirit is one that England would
have every reason to dread. Her land
gone out OF cultivation, her population
concentrated in a few spots, with bulk
of the people absolutely without any ma
terial interest in their country, and de-
pending solely for snstenance on the pro-
fits Of exports, the returns from home
trade, and the interest of money loaned,
there is no country III the world so I'M
prepared to cope with such coalition as
England has raised against herself: in
Europe. So far back as 1881 league
of the Mediterranean States against Eng
land was not mooted. but the time was
not yet GENE to make it effective, and
England had not yet gone into Egypt.
Her course on the banks of the Nile, and
her dc-in-the-manger policy toward the
rest of Europe in regard to Africa, how
ever, have helped TO mature events and
combination that will no longer toll
crate her exclusive domination of the
Mediterranean is gradually assuming
definite shape. Undoubtedly the first
step for England to take in order to reha-
bilitate herself in the eyes of the world
would be to retire from Egypt and re-
store to that country, under the protec-
ton and guarantee of united Europe,
the independence OF which she deprived
il in 1882, and which her agents have
been assiduously erdeayoring ever since
to render Impossible. Unfortunately
the influences that prevail over the Gov
ernment of England. and pelmeate all
its relations with other countries. and
with her colonies. are such that It is al
most hopeless to expect change in the
right direction. Unless Lord Salisbury
proves stronger man than has yet been