Arizona republican., 1898-08-03

will then have been accomplished. To the south and the west, however, be- tween the two branches of the upper Nile, lie provinces over the tribes of which the Khalifa was the nominal suzerian. Are these, also, to- be added to the Khedive's dominions? They are part of the visicn so dear to MT. Rhodes of an African empire stretch
 ing from Cape Town to Cairo. Above all, though news of the French expedi- lions that are wandering about some parts Of this territory are vague and contradictory, and though scme Of them have admittedly failed of their purpose, there is no doubt that French explorers are striving to gain a foot- ing about the upper waters of the Nile, and presumably hoisting the French flag with the usual Gallic zsal Every effort, however, to draw the govern ment has failed. It likes the maxim, Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" and it applies it as readily now to the Soudan as it did few months ago to China. Between neces
 sity and the imperial impulse, Anglo Egyptian dominion is not likely to rest long at Khartoum.
 Indeed, the final agreement between England and France over their respec- tive territories and trading privileges in the basin of the Niger will hardly end the rivalry of the two powers in Africa As French colonial expansion goes, the venture in West Africa has been remarkably successful The en- ergy and shrswdness of French off, cers have extended French possessions, strengthened French prestige there and prepared the way for a widening trade that is already profitable. On the coast and in some parts of the Mi ger basin French explorers and trad CTS have distinctly gained the advan- tage over their old and usually super i icr rivals English. All these cir cumstances are pleasing to Frenchmen 1 at home, especially to the energetic members of the colonial party. (The | hopes that decade and more agt Frenchmen had of their possessions in southeastern Asia gre oftener built now. upon In,ir colonies in Africa ) Sometimes they take the form of a | glowing vision that reveals great belt of French territory stretching across Central Africa from the At-an- tic to the Niger, from the Niger to the sources of the Congo, thence to the up per waters of the Nile and thence even
 to the Indian ocean. If the vision is particularly radiant, it may reveal also a stretch of territory along the Medfs- erranean and the Atlantic, beginning 1 at Tunis and Algeria, and extendire g through Morocco and the Spanish pos sessions in Northwest Africa aro1nd
 to the French dependencies there.
 Since French sta ions and French prestige cn the Niger and Lake Tchad became fairly secure, the habit of wan
 dering eastward into the country ab u the sources of the Nil2 has been gain ing steadily upon French officers That
 so far as the outer world knows, they
 have accomplished 1t le there, d.min- ishes neither their zeal TOT Englisf curiosity over their activity It was
 comparatively late in the day thai
 Englishmen discovered that similar
 parties had been raising the Frencf flag and concluding treaties with na.
 tive princes in the basin of the Niger
 and some fear in time similar un
 pleasant discovery about the upper waters of the Nile. England already has some pretensions to dominate there, and in the end the rivalry of tht two countries may be as threatenins as 1t was in the basin of the Niger.