The San Francisco call., 1897-08-22

at the beginning OF hostiities is very often
paramount to a loss of the campaign. and per-
haps In no country more so than IN hossih'
VIII ere the dissatisfied element of the people
would surely cause an uprising in favor OF
more liberal government as soon as her own
soldiery became unable to suppress it.
In order, therefore, to impress Germany ana
Austria wi what they might expect from
Russia in case of hos tlities Alexander moved
his whole available army, excepting the gar
risons needed in the principal cities and the
few troops in the Caucasus and Siberia, TO the
eastern frontier of his empire and at the
same time entered into the most friendly re-
lations with France. A definite treaty for Of
fensive and defensive purposes has, as far as
the world knows, never been concluded be-
tween the two nations; but republican France
was satisfied that the absolute ruler OF all the
Russias condescended to make overtures to
her as the remotcst possibility of Russia taking
her part in the next war was considered by al
Frenehmen a good chance of regaining Alsace
and Lorraine. The eastward move OF the Rus
sian troops, the better tortificaton and provi-
sioning O.. all the strongholds in Poland and
along the Vistua River. and the building OF
many new railroads to facilitate quicker
moving of the troops was commenced in 1888.
Since 1886 CSC, 900 Russian soldiers have been
stationed all along the frontier from the Baltic
to the Black Sea. OF this number about
$4,000 men occupy the frontier of Prussia
proper, Posen and Sllesa and the remaining
5000 the Galician- ungariar frontier. This
latter army. consis ting OF 100000 line 1nfan-
try. 20 900 cavalry, 10000 artillery and
no. 600 irregular cavalry (CoSsacks) is sta
TONED on a large and barren territory, sparsely
intersected by railroads, aye! even by good
country roads. here towns, villages and ham
lets are few and far between. and where pro-
Wis for nd ha yo n
from great distances. Opposed to this army
on the other side of the frontier is an Austrian
army of $50, 900 men. which, though much in
ferior in numbers. is considered strong enough
to check any advance of the Russians, as 1t
holds the inner side of large circle, consists
entirely of line troops, and is completely
equipped with Uchatins guns and Mannlicher
repeating rifles.
Tue $50 900 men stationed in Poland and
the Baltic provinces are not opposed by any
ex ira Prussian force, as the perfect railroad
system and the quickness with which Prussia
could concentrate very large army al any
point threatened by Russia makes it unneces-
sary for her to keep more troops in this part
of the country than regularly stationed
and, so to say, belonging there. The expense
of keeping the large Russian army on the
frontier is enormous and has been great
burden to Russia, which is not over we'll sup
hands. Besides, France has reached the very
apex of her military strength as far as num-
bers are concerned, and she has already called
into her ranks every man available Tor MILL
tary purposes. while Germany and Austria,
thanks to their larger population could add
considerably to their present forces.
Nicholas ii, who does not seem to have In
herited his fathers aversion to Germany, has,
no doubt, taken all these points into consider
alton, and the massing OF troops on the iron
tier will now be discontinued, as the good
rela tions between the three Emperors are now
as good as ever they were in the lifetime of
Alexander II. All this was settled before
Emperor Francis Joseph went to ST. Pc ters-
burg, and neither the visit OF the German
Emperor last week nor of the French Pres1-
dent next week Will have any bearing on the
matter. and merely returns OF the visits
paid them by the Car few months ago.
Kaiser and President, however. were respect
lively accompanied by their Prime Ministers,
and that is a sure indication that important
matters have been and will be discussed
All indications point to desire of the Con
tinental powers TO tolerate no longer the ag-
gressive policy of England in Africa and Asia.
AS long as reasonable chance of European
war existed England, thanks TO her navy, did
pretty much as she pleased, no matter whether
her policy was detrimen tai to other coun tries
or not and, as consequence, England does
not possess single friend among the great
powers at the present time. conclusion to
check England s aggressions has undou btedly
been arrived at, and we may expect to learn
in the near future that England's voice will
henceforth have less weight in European
councils than 1t had before the death of Lord
Beaconsfeld. WILLIAM LoDTMANN.