The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-28
AFRICAN CRISIS ALARMING.
RIVAL ARMED BANDS MIGHT BRING
A FRANCO-BRITISH WAR.


British Troops viii he Received
by French Troops Who Propose
to Remain in Possession of the
Disputed Territory.
Copyright, 1897, by the Associated Press.
London, Nov. H.-The rumor of a con-
fict between British and French forces
near Nikli, West Africa, is authoritative
ly denied, but the general credence that
was given to the rumor shows how grave
the situation. The reasons for disbelieving
the report are far from con-
vincng. Since the initiation
of the wild policy of sending
armed bands from Dahomey and Lagos,
led by hot-headed officers, to assert the
authority of their respective nations and
grab anything in sight which might still
be unoccupied, it has been believed that a
collision was bound to occur sooner or
later. Both governments have repeatedly
been warned to recall these rowing expe-
ditions and await the settlement of the de-
limitation commission now sitting in
Paris.
1t is difficult to apportion the blame for
this state of affairs. That the French
initiated the system of raiding the con-
tested territory in West Africa is indispu-
table, but the Colonial Columbus, as Sir
William Vernon Harcourt, the liberal lead
er, has nicknamed Joseph Chamberlain,
the secretary of state for the colonies, has
made serious false step in following suit.
If a diplomatic protest on the subject had
been promptly lodged in Paris and vigor-
ously pushed the whole question would
probably have been amicably settled by
this time. But instead of this the French
have been permitted to boldly invade the
limits of the British Lagos territory, fight
the natives and occupy towns so they
might more easily reach and occupy the
Say -Boussa-Nikki triangle, which is the
subject of the dispute. So far as known
the Marquis of Salisbury has not asked for
reparaton, or even for explanations, and
the whole story appears to be incredible.
If the Marquis of Salisbury and Mr. Cham
berlain has a settled policy regarding West
Africa, they have failed to make it known
and all they seem to be doing at present
is to impress the French with the fact of
Great Britains unlimited ''squeezabliity."
The present situation is fraught with
perilous humiliation and the loss of the lit
tie self-respect the tory minister has left.
For this the country and press, even the
conservative newspapers, are QGnlanulUS
reprisalS by the seizure, for instance, OF
the town of Boussa, lately seized by the
French, though believed to be Unmst talk
ably within the British sphere and by the
breaking off of the negotiations in Paris
until the acts of the Dahomeyites are for
mally disavowed. In the meanwhile an
other batch of eighty officers and non
commissioned officers sails from Liverpool
to-day for Lagos, West Coast of Africa,
accompanied by a battery of six 12-pound
Maxim Nordenfelt howitzers, specially
supplied by the colonial Office without con-
sultation with the war office.
1t is computed that when the forces In
process of being dispatched are Joined to
the troops already there, Great Britain
will have 250 officers and non-commission-
ed officers and 1900 troops in West
Africa.
Commenting upon this fact, the semi-of-
fetal Temps of Paris, says: The British
troops will be received by our troops, who
are already de facto in possession, and
who propose to remain so until the pending
negotiations are settled by equitable COM
pensations, legitimately shared by France
and England Until then we shall not
swerve."
If this means anything, it means that
France intends TO extract further grace
full concessions from the Marquis of Sails
bury similar to those in connection with
Siam, Tunis and Madagascar"
d. c. Murray the novelist, is proposing
a national subscription to erect in London
a statue of honor to George Washington.
Messrs. Bayard and Hay have both ap-
proved the scheme.
The Daily Chronicle, however questions
whether the statue might not result in
an embtterment of relations, and says:
Like all near relatives England and
America quarrel now and then. Perhaps
some day it might occur that boisterous
jingo would make the statue of the father
of his people the subject of an unedfying
demonstration
The engineering conference apparently
BODIES i'll to trades uniopism. The essense
of the provisional agreement is that the
masters union employers federation) is
to be free to introduce into any of the
federations workshops the conditions ex-
listing in any other workshop without re-
ference to the wishes of the trades I'M
ions. The employers have in mind the
system of piece work. in which the unions
have no voice, prevailing in certain work.
shops, and it is the right to substitute
individual agreements for collective bar
gains which the masters are asking the
unions to sign away. If this is accom-
plished it involves such vital changes in
the methods upon which industry has hith-
erto been conducted as to menace every
trades-union in the country Indeed, the
situation is regarded as being so critical
al
al convention of representatives of all or
ganized labor to discuss the matter. The
cotton trade crisis, which, it was hoped,
had passed, is again to the fore. The oper-
atives have consented to arbitration based
on the state of trade since Nov. /, but the
employers desire to make the period from
Sept. % TO the end of the year The opera
tives have practically unanimously reject
ed this proposition and their vote will be
communicated to the employers on Mon
day when they must either adopt the
Views of the men or precipitate lockout.
The newspapers were apparently too
previous in growing over the finding of
alleged important Venezuelan documents
at Greytown, which was Immediately hail
ed as settling the case, and as a useful re-
buff to American "meddlers in their neigh
bors concerns.
The colonial office now announces that
the value of the documents is believed to
be altogether Insignificant" and that
| they will not necessitate an alteration in
the statement of the British case as al
| ready submitted.
The warning of Count Goluchowskl, the
| Austrian Hungarian minister for foreign
affairs. against transatlantic competi-
| ttonB ic rn11ch discussed and A. fa vart