The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-10-24
THE ANGLO-FRENCH DISPUTE
4 SEMI- 0FFICLAL NOTE ISSUED IN
 PARIS.

It Asserts There Is no Foundation for
 the Alarmist Rumors Regarding the
 Relations Between Great Britain and
 France-NevertheIess, War Prepara-
 tions Continue-The French Claims as
 Set Forth In the Yellow Book and
 SaIisbury's Answer to Them.
 Paris, Oct. 23.--A semi official note is- sued this evening says: "There is no foundation for the alarmist rumors re- garding the relations between France and Great Britain. It is equally incor- ures have been taken at any of our na- val ports.''
 The Fashoda yellow book is volumin- ous, but it does not include Major Mar chand's report, which will be publish ed later. The dispatches were largely anticipated by the English Fashoda blue book. The~diplomatic converse tions recorded show a curious endeavor on the French side to represent that Marchand's mission was quite as inn portant as General Kitchener's, on the ground that the struggle was against the Khalifa and barbarian.
 On September IS M. Delcasse, the for eign minister informed the British am- bassador to France, Sir Edmund Mon son, in explicit language that France did not regard Lord Salisbury's claim to the Soudan by virtue of conquest as applying to Fashoda, on the ground that the expedition under Captain Lieotard, which dated from a period long before the declaration in the house of com- ! mons by Sir Edward Gray, under sec retary of state for foreign affairs in Lord Roseberry's cabinet, as to the policy of the British government to- ward the Soudan and at time when the equatorial provinces were lost to civilization. In fact, M. Delcasse ar gued unless Great Britain possessed the sultan's mandate as well as the khedive's to acquire all former Egyp- tian provinces, France considered her. self equally entitled with England to possession of any point occupied by French officers.
 Judging from the yellow book dis patches, the foregoing represents the French standpoint; and that Delcasse contends that as Marchand reached Fashoda first, England has no right to demand an evacuation of Fashoda prior to negotia tions. On September 30 M. Delcasse declared to Sir Edmund Mon- sun that such a demand would be equivalent to an ultimatum, and, while he could afford to sacrifice Frances material interests, so long as her hGn- or was intact, for the sake of the An lo-French entente, no one could doubt what would be the reply of France to such a demand
 The subsequent dispatches appearing in the yellow book relate to conversa- tions between Baron de Gourcel, French ambassador in London, and Lord Sails bury, the latter contending that the capture of Khartoum entitled Egypt to possession of all the Mahdis dominions and the French ambassador arguing that Major Marchand had captured Fashoda before General Kitchener took Khartoum and that France had for a long time held several posts in the Bhar-El Gazal. Lord Salisbury retort- ed that the French forces in the re- gions referred to were too weak to con- stitute effective occupation. A final dispatch, dated October 12, from Baron de Gourcel to M. Delcasse records a conversation with Lord Salisbury, in which the French ambassador claimed access to the Nile through the Bahr-el- Gazal and asked an amicable delimita- ton of the respective spheres in inter- est of the two powers. He also repre- sented that it would be impossible for Major Marchand to retire until 1t was settled where he should go and how the evacuation was to be effected, Lord Sal isbury, after refecting very seriously, said he was not sufficiently acquaint ed with the geography of Africa to re- ply for the present regarding delimfta tion and, moreover, that he could not enter into projects of that nature with out consulting with his colleagues.
 Baron de Gourcel concludes the report of October 12 by saying: "I quilted him on these explanations which were pro- nounced in a conciliatory and friendly tone"