The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-21
TRIPLE ALLIANCES END.
AUsTRIA,s AGREEMENT WITH RUS
STA SHOWS 1T TO BE NEAR.

~ @tNDu ~ ~ ~
ROME, Nov. lathe Holy SEQ follows with
interest the transformations on the stage OF dip
iomatio Europe. Gradually a new world " BIO.
inn formed on tho Continent, without much
noise, like a repetition of slow and sure changes
which under the Second Empire renovated tho
policy OF Europe and brought into being the
state that arose from the war OF 1870. The
Triple Alliance is not yet dead, but IL is no
longer alive. When architects demolish a
building in q public place they leave the front
standing till the day when the new edifice rises
In the air. Then the front falls and the new
house appears before mems eyes. So the front
of the Triple Alliance seems intact, but while
It IN kept up until a second edifce Is formed tho
destruction Of the first building Is going on. The
stroke of tho pick into this immense mutual In
purance machine which opposing interests are
undermining has just been given by Austria.
Placed between Italia irredentd and the Pan
plavism of Moscow, the Austrian Empire had
felt tho need, under Herr Won Bismarck's mas
terful pressure, of making sure of a determi.
nate boundary when the days of complications
should arise. 1t signed the alliance with the
ouirinal in spite OF the repugnance Of the Cath
olio Emperor to guarantee to tho house Of Sa-
voy the possession of Rome as q capital.
But this necessity has come to an end. When
the Greco-Turkish confederation threatened to
set the Balkans on fire tho difference
between the interests of Italy and Austria
in tho East took q disquieting form. In the
final division of the Balkan peninsula Italy
dreams Of conquering the Adriatio and Dalma-
tia. Austria cannot yield to this ambition with
out opening O fatal wound in her side like the
famous German opening in the vosges. Tho
day that this difference came to light. the Italo-
Austrian alliance was shaken In its founda-
lions. Count Goluchowsh had just met with
o disappointment from Berlin. On coming in.
to power he visited the German Kaiser and
spoke to him as follows:
las Il Pole l am an object of suspicion to the
Germans Of Austria. / need an accession gift.
Tho alliance between Austria and Germany is at
bottom only q diplomatic fiction for Vienna,
which continues to BIO exposed to the acct
dents Of the East. Let Germany promise to
back us up on the lower Danube in case of con-
Hict." The Kaiser asked for time TO think it
over, and, as usually happens in such cases, re.
fused. The Count had his revenge when last
year he saw Francis Joseph receive Nicholas
III. with ostentatious kindness. He hoped for
something from Russia. This spring. accord
ing to always trustworthy information, the
director of the BdktpiatS telegraphed to Count
Mouravietf to inquire whether. If he accom-
panied his master to Peterhof, he might talk
over the Eastern question with him. The
Russian Chancellor hastened to answer in tho
affirmative. Secret conferences at which Gen.
Beck was present were held in tho Hofburg.
The chief of the Austrian general staff aston
ished the Ministers by the clcarness of his state
ments. He accompanied Francis Joseph and
Count Goluchowski. An understanding was
arrived at by the two sovereigns and the two
cabinets on the basis of these first deliberations.
They entered on an engagement on three
points, first, the maintenance or the integrity Of
Turkey; second, the statu quo in the Balkan
peninsula, wnere trouble was about.t TO spread
10 the frontiers IN consequence OF the difficulty
between !Greece and Turkey, and third, the
delimitation OF their respective zones of intlu-
ence between Austria and Russia. The last
point Is of. capital importance. AS it was dis
cussed with the maps OF the peninsula spread
out before them, il Ii called the photographic
agreement BY this compact Austria and
Russia undertake., even in case of war, TO each
move within fixed limits without trespasslng
on the others sphere. Austria finds herself
as a matter of fact protected In the direction Of
Danube. she becomes, in consequence. indie
pendent with regard to Rome, whose appe-
regard to Germany, whose Emperor, by his cloudy
mind and military pretensiOns, grated upon the
melancholy and proud soul OF Francis Joseph.
Italy feels the blow and is trying to concen-
trate herself upon London and Paris. Ger
many has a, become nervous, and when the phiIo.
with Russia at Vienna, William IL. made his
hasty. trip through Hungary. which hates
Russia ana is friendly to Germany. in order to
try TO maintain his preponderance at Vienna
through budapest; The administration of
Count Badenl and the exclusion OF the German
element from tho present Ministerial majority
are diminishing the German influence In the
lands on the hither side OF the Leitha. Under
these conditions. while still preserving the
front OF the building, attempts are being made
20 build up new shelters for the future.
The German Kaiser therefore at present is
concentrating all his efforts on the task of
drawing closer to Paris and to st. Petersburg.
The conflict between England and Lermuny
gives emphasis to this change. hen Miilian
II. sent mis- despatch TO President Kruger, Ber-
secure his rear IN case or an advance move
ment against England. The chemist Bethelot,
diplomatic laboratory, found himself unpre-
pared. He drew back, putting forward the
Ii. holds to his original plan. He is ready to
hold out to France. through the kind offices of
hnssiSS, the olive branch in order to arrange
embargo against John Bull. The Egyptian
question would be the starting point, the ex.
formed places that the Quail d'Orsay does not
oppose an absolute refusal to these endeavors,
on the thine in order not to ~irritale the ma.
tonal feeling. From tho Russian side plans OF
try. One of the combinations proposed is to
}eave to Germany Alsace, where German is the
language, and to restore to France Lorraine,
b00,O GOO, 900 francs, with which Germany would
buy the fleet needed for the struggle against
Another plan is to act side by side. ready to
fight as soon as a settlement Of accounts has
these diplomatic fireworks the Quai d'Orsay
keeps cool. Courted and needed, it plays the
pdrL OF u power, OF tho indispensable man, III
watches for its opportunity. Has not Ger,
many. England to contend with in every part OF
the klobei Must she not find "a market for the
goods with which its stores are filledl Can she
carry out her WettPoLitk. that wonderful,
dream of the Kaiser, II England carries out hel
African undertakingsl How can she breathe In
the world il she is compelled to keep at homei
VIII she not burst in her skinf
These are the cares that worry Germany
and no one knows them better than M. Hano
taux. Lord Salisbury sees the storm gathering
In the distance. He feels the coalition coming
HD Is Running his sails TO the wind. He ia dc
Tending himself. Since Napoleon Us time nj
European combination has ever cast 30 threaten
ing a shadow on the British Empire. He fight
with his right hand and treats with his left
dc ,boycotts Germany in the colon es and II
England. The German Consuls report abou
this commercial war in the East and in Africa
in Great Britain German houses find them
selves In danger of being obliged TO close Oh
account Of tho extinction OF their trade. Ii
Germany commercial houses no longer transac
business with London. II is u renewal Of III,
duel between Pitt ana Napoleon. Lord Sails
bury carries on negotiations at Rome, q
Paris. at Berlin; at Paris. where he offers al
alliance to the Quai d'Orsay, which holds back
and where by dint OF bank notes no is trying l.