The times., 1898-11-06


soup of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. a
Question by ItseIf-Sir Alfred Mil
ner's RecaII-LiberaI Leadership.
London, Nov. 5.-Newspaper readers
were fully prepared for the formal an
nouncement with which Lord Salisbury
electrified the brilliant company at last
nights Mansion House banquet France
has done what a fortnight ago her for
eign minister declared she would never
do. She has recalled Major Marchand
and his Senegalese from Fashoda.
Would that were the end of the busi-
ness. but il is very far from that.
What France has done she has done al
most at the pointsof the bayonet. She
dared not face war, and war could on
ly be avoided by eating the leek So she
has eaten it No doubt she has brought
humiliation upon herself by thrusting
herself where she knew she had no
right. but who shall say the price Eng
land and all Europe may yet have\to
pay for today's triumph?
An Eviction Summons.
To nine out of ten Frenchmen Fasho-
da is nothing But to be handed. at
the end of an unsheathed sword. an
eviction summons. and to be compelled
to Quit on such summary warning is,
in the words of that soberest and sanest
of French writer's, Francis de Pressense.
to drain Frances cup of humiliation
10 the dregs.".
NJ. de Pressense actually foreshad-
ows. in an article published here this
morning, the practical suspension of
Anglo-French friendly intercourse as
one immediate result. He says, in the
Manchester Guardian: Since England
does not want to talk. since she pre-
fers the summary way, France has on
ly 10 follow her lead. Major Marchand
shall be called back. Not a word shall
be lost on connected questions: Fasho-
do is, and shall remain. a question by
itself Nobody need be astonished TO
see the French government little dis
posed to renew a conversation so alb
ruptly broken. Baron de Courcel (the
former ambassador in London) is on
the wing. 1t is a long time since he
not take French leave? Why send too
soon after his departure new ambas-
sador? A charge d 'affaires is perfectly
sufficient TO receive summonses. Such is
the state of mind, if not exactly of
statesmen like NJ. Delcasse, who sees
both sides of the question and knows
the necessity of an understanding be-
tween two great liberal nations, at any
rate. of many people even in the gov
ermental sphere"
The Situation Not Peaceful.
Thus England and France stand to-
day, England somewhat rampant in her
imperialism, France smarting and al
most desperately uneasy at the home
Mutation. This does not bode well for
the Cars vision of international peace
England, one feels, has done the inev-
table thing in insisting that the Nile
is Egypt. and that Egypt is unalterably
British, but she allowed her jingoes
within and outside the cabinet TO tuck
up their sleeves with over ostentaton,
as does a man who spoils for a fight.
and. as II. de Pressense says, instead
Of making it easy for France to repair
h1r mistake, she insisted on making it
as painful and bitter as possible
Salisbury Not n Jingo.
What the outcome may be no man
ren say. 1t depends as much on raf-
faire Dreyfus as anything else. Lord
Salisbury himself is no jingo, and would
gladly negotiate outstanding African
questions in the friendliest spirit of
give and take, with, however. one vital
limitation imposed by English public
opinion. over the whole watershed of
the Nile England must retain undisput-
ed jurisdiction. France can have no
foothold there, though. If she grants
commercial facilities to England in the
Congo basin, England would assure her
by treaty that freedom of trade on the
Nile which always prevails wherever
the English flag goes. Beyond the wa
tershed of the Nile lies vast tract
which is the hinterland both of the
Egyptian provinces and the French
Congo. Here England gladly would
agree upon a friendly division of terri
tory.
The question of the moment, however,
if whether France intends to follow NJ
de Pressense's prediction and fatty Se-
cline all further negotiations In that
case England has but one course open.
She will make her occupation of the
whole Nile basin so effective by posts
and stations as to be beyond all chance
of disturbance by the Marchand or
Siotard missions from the west But
a6at way lies an open sore between
England and France. for who shall say
how many years to come?
The Recall of Sir Alfred Miner.
News comes from the Cape that Sir
Alfred Miner has been suddenly sum-
moned home. In a dispatch of October
/ an idea was detailed. then prevalent
in official circles, that Lord Cromer's
presence at the foreign office, as glo-
rified first secretary, would be the best
means of strengthening Lord Salisbury
in the management of momentous for
eign affairs, and of strengthening the
administration without exciting the diff
ticulties which any change of the port
folios of Mr.. Baifour and Mr.. Chamber
has, of course, raised difficulties, but it
may very we'll be that Sir Alfred Mil
ner's summons home is connected with
some such change as was then fore
shadowed. Sir Alfred's splendid record
in Egypt marks him out as the man