The record-union., 1898-10-16

| LONDON, Oct. 15.-The week opened
with am ominous rafting of sabers over
Fashoda, and ended with the,fumblings
| or revolutionary volcano i'm Paris.
The situation arising out of the ques-
ton between Great Britain and France
as to the right of occupation of Fasho-
da is extremely grave. Everything
hinges on the nature of the report OF
Major Marchand. the French COM
mander at Fashoda, which is on it's way
from khartoum to Paris.
The evacuation of Fashoda by the
French must, however take place. if
war between Great Britain and France
is to be averted. as the Marquis of
Salisbury has nailed his Colors to the
mast, and cannot recede from the posi-
ton he has taken up, and in which he
| received the unanimous support of the
country
The emphatic declarations of the
English press and public men have al
ready had a certain influence across
the channel and the inspired state
ments Of the French press belittle the
Importance of Fashoda, and shift the
ground to an underlined claim upon the
province of Bahr-el- Ghazal and port
on the Nile.
The mouthpiece of the French For
eign Office is preparing France for the
abandonment of Fashoda, by asserting
that Major Marchand overshot his
goal, and that instead of going to Fa-
shoda, he ought TO have stopped at the
confluence of the Bahr-el- Ghazal. Many
British publicists, however scout the
idea that France will be permitted to-
install herself hA Do
which is described as the paying reef
of the Soudan. All the rest of the re-
conquered territory as far as Fashoda,
Is comparatively valueIess, being most
ly desert ground, which cannot be made
10 pay for many years to come But
the Bahr-elGhaza territory is thick
~ populated. and has magnificent trade
prospects. During the Governorship of
the late General Gordon thei Ghazal had
immense exports of ivory, grain, bees
wax, skins, etc, while it contained for
ests of arrow root. Besides the cotton
grown there surpasses the Egyptian
product
The Chauvinist Paris papers are de-
nouncing Great Britain, and doing their
utmost to excite French feeling in the
matter. OthertFrench papers are MAX
ing bitter complaints of Russia's mac
tivity.
Gaulois' declares the time has ar
rived for Russia to repay the service
which France lent her in the far East
by helping Russia against Great Brit
ain while the "Patrie," after declaring
France had been betrayed by the Bris-
son Cabinet, demands the dispatch of
an ambassador to King Menelik of
Abyssinia, for the purpose of seek
ing an alliance with his 30O. 900 valiant.
faithful warriors, who will cooperate
with us in the event of hostilities at
Fashoda"
The moderate thinking section Of the
French press is earnestly urging a
peaceful arrangement of the affair.
These papers candidly admit that
France is no match fort Great Britain in
the event of war;
There has been a great deal of talk
about the possibility of war with
France and various preparations upon
the part Of Great Britain are re-
ported to have been made. For in
it is announced that a leading.
small arms firm at Birmingham was
asked this week whether ii was pre-
pared to turn OUT a thousand magazine
rifles weekly. The significance of this
will be appreciated when it is pointed
out that the British Government works
alone are capable of turning out 1000
rifles weekly.
1t is also rumored that war insur-
ances have been affected at Lloyds dur
ing the last few days, but they appear
to have been more in the character Of
bets than trading.