The times., 1898-09-25
London Views of the Situation
in France and London.
ESTERHAZY AND HIS SHAME
He Has Disposed of His Secrets to an
to Appear ShOrtly-RecognftiOn of
Russia's Victory I'm the Pekfn
Palace Revolution.

! ential-watch each days events In Paris
with grave anxiety. Anything may hap
pen there in the nature of military coup
! d'etat with man like Gen. Zurlinden
posing as Boulanger posed, and posing
with the apparent sympathy of military
| circles
Happily, the Due d'Orleans has made
| himself ridiculous with his manifesto,
! and no one looks seriously to the Royal
| lists for mischief t
! Meanwhile, London has a Dreyfus sem
/ sation of its own Esterhazy is here pre-
pairing to startle us with his much-vaunt-
| ed disclosures. Originally he placed him
self in the hands of a syndicate, of whom
Mr.. Finch-Hatton is one. The syndicate
first offered Esterhazys secret to Sir Ed
ward Lawson, of the Telegraph, for, it is
said. 5000. Sir Edward being himself a
Jew. felt that his purchase of the secret
would be likely to create a misconception
| harmful to Dreyfus. Therefore. he hand
! ed the syndicate on to Mrs. Beere, of the
! Sunday Observer.
Esterhazy's Syndicate Dissolved.
The syndicate managed the affair in
such way that Mrs. Beere broke off ne
! gotiations and the syndicate. quarreling
among themselves, have dissolved.
EsterhaZy now has entered Into an ar
| rangement with London publisher, and
is at the present moment turning his Sc
| cret into book form for publication in five
| weeks time giving the full. true. and
/ particular account of the reason why the
Dreyfus dossier may not be made public.
and telling who were the real instigators
4 of the conspiracy against Dreyfus.
From all this ferment here and in Pa
ris one fact seems to London observers
! to stand out. clear BE the secret what
/ it may, be Dreyfus guilty or innocent, the
1 present French ministry has embarked
! upon a policy in regard to revision which
seems bound to bring them into collision
/ with the army represented by Gen.
Zurlinden. The latter seems, moreover.
! prepared to go all lengths. shown by
the incident of Wednesday. before the
correctional tribunal and in the transfer
of Col. Picquart from civil to a military
prison. History suggests what too often
/ happens in France when the governing
power gets on one side of the fence and
the army on the other.
Marchand's Location I'm Doubt.
England, on her part, has an uncom-
| Portable feeling that she never knows
| what pranks a French ministry may in
! dulge in abroad 10 divert the attention of
their public from such esclandres as this
Dreyfus affair. Nobody yet knows
whether Capt. Marchand is or is not at
! E-aS fria h.ra
inclined TO the belief that he is not, and
| that the white men who fired on the
| Khalifa,s boat are Belgians. But If II
| should prove to be Marchand, the French
! newspaper talk of this week about
French sacrifices in Africa in the cause
| of civilization indicates what temptation
a weak ministry might be under to make
trouble with England. Gen. Kitchener,
however, has shown himself as tactful
general as England ever had.
This week has made the Chinese puz-
zle more puZzling than ever. Just when
the ministerialists were congratulating
themselves upon the English diplomatic
successes at Pekin following MIR. Bal
four's tirmer hand at the foreign office
comes the news of a palace revolution
and places his pro-Russian stepmother
the empress dowager. in his stead. with
the probable restoration Of Ii Hung
Chang to power, with redoubied enmity
against England for securing his over
throw
What must now be clear even to Lord
Salisbury is that the Tsung II Yamen is a
body utterly incapable or independent ne
gotiation. Whatever is to be done in de-
fense of British interests must be done
at st. Petersburg, not at Pekin, and that
implies more than the present informal
acceptance of the principle of spheres of
influence, with Russia in Manchuria and
England in the Yangtse Valley
The "Open Door" Abandoned.
But there are still Manchuria conces-
sion hunters hammering at the doors of
the foreign Office and though Lord Sails
bury and his cabinet have been driven
practically to abandon the policy of the
"open door" and equal trade opportuni-
ties for all in every part of China these
clamorous British concessionaires make
the ministry timid of a frank and open
avowal of the fact.
Such an avowal, coupled with direct
pressure at st. Petersburg. such as Mr..
Balfour applied just before the Cars
peace manifesto changed the whole as
pect of affairs, would, experts, say give
England and America all they have a
right to expect within the British sphere
in China.
There is a widespread disposition today
to make glad over the change in Anglo
American relations, betokened by the
Chile-Argentina arbitration agreement.
What a change say some, must have
come over the American political atmos-
phere since ex-Secretary Olney's famous
war message, to permit the welcome now
given to the suggestion that Queen Vic
toria arbitrate between South American
republicsi Upon such foundation the St
, James Gazette, the faithful ministerial
organ, this afternoon builds a dream of
great possibilities in China 1t cordially
echoes what the Vienna correspondent of
the Standard says today of possible
joint move of Great Britain, America,
and Japan for solution of the Chinese
question. with Americans in the Phil
ippines," says the Standard correspond
ent, ''and the superiority of England ia
pan, and the United States over any other
possible combination clearly established,
the British lion would not hesitate to
strike. This would bring order in Asia
just as the fall of Omdurman has estab-
lished order along the Nile" Would that
it were true" adds the ST. James Gazette
OBITUARY NOTE.