The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-01
THE SUN, SATURDAY. JANUARY 1, 1893.

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World. That the craving for transmarine
dominion is not yet extinct in Italy may
be inferred from the despatch Of an italian
squadron to Chinese waters, although 1t
Is not easy to foresee with which Of the
great maritime powers abe Is likely to
cooperate. For the moment the interests
Of England and Germany in the far East
are conflicting, n they will remain 80
unless a partition Of the Chinese seacoast
can DO arranged. Under these circum.
stances, the Italian Government may find
Itself in an awkward p~redicament. Its
warships cannot assist the English, for
that would place 1t In hostility to the
Triple Alliance. Should they. on the other
hand, support the Germans, Italy will for
felt the protection Of England, upon which
she has been counting in the event Of a
war with France. On the whole, 1t is
clear that King HUMBERT's Government
will have Its share OF anxiety in 1898.
With regard to Russia's European policy,
It need only be said that there Is at present
no prospect of any material reform in her
internal administration. Still far distant
seems the PRONUNCIATION Of that Constitu-
ton which was signed by ALEXANDER IL
on the eve of his assassination. Neither Is
there any indication Of an early move to.
ward Constantinople or toward the ABSORB.
ton Of Turkish Armenia. BY using the
so-called concert of the powers to
shield the Sultan from the penal.
ties Of misrule, the statesmen of st.
Petersburg expected to convert him
into a vassal of the Gear. The ease,
however, with which the Turkish Army
crushed the Greeks, has rehabilitated
ABDUL HAMID In his own esteem n In
that Of his Ottoman subjects, with the re.
suit that the Sultan's acceptance Of the
Cars suzerainty is further of to-day than
1t seemed sixty years ago, when the treaty
Of Unkiar Skelessi was concluded. During
1898 Russia's eyes will be turned east
ward to the acquisition of an ice-free port
on the Pacific and Of practical ~ascendancy
to the north of the Great Wall.
To Spain and to the Alphonsine dynasty
the new year offers but a cherries prospect.
1t Is true that the rebellion in the Philip.
pine Islands seems to have been suppressed,
but the reinstatement of Spanish authority
In Cuba Is further Off than 1t was a year
ago. The important victory lately gained
over Gen. PANDo by Gen. CALIxTo GARCIA
and the capture by the latter of Victoria de
las Tunas, Guisa. and other interior towns
have completed the d~islodgment Of the
Spaniards from the whole Of the province of
Santiago with the exception Of the seaports,
and the evidence attainable appears to
show hat the Cuban civil authorities are
discharging In that province all the regular
functions of a government. In the prov.
inces Of Puerto Principe and Santa Clara,
also. the revolutionists are preponderant,
though they have not yet organized there a
system of civil administration. Even in the
other provinces. those, namely, Of Matan-
zas, Havana, and Pinar del Rio, the Spanish
troops, when moving, or when stationed in
the smaller towns, are exposed to incessant
attack at the hands of the patriot forces,
who have repeatedly penetrated into
the suburbs Of the capital. The at
tempt of Governor. General BLANoo to
protect the sugar planters has failed. and
by his appeal to our Government for elee-
mosynary aid he has confessed his inability
to feed the non-combatants who lave con.
gregated in the towns. Meanwhile, the
Constitution for Cuba, which has been pro-
claimed by a royal decree, has been
rejected by the revolutionists in the field,
and it is by this time recognized, alike at
Havana and Madrid, that Spain can
recover the island only by force of arms.
AS a matter of fact, however, the home
Government has already sent to Cuba all
the soldiers that 1t could spare, and
1t has nearly reached the limit of
its financial resources. The problem,
therefore, confronting Gen. BLANoo is how
to accomplish, with far fewer men and
much less money, what Gen. WEYLER
failed to perform, namely. the ~subjugation
of the rebels. At the same time, the AL.
phonsine Dynasty is In a precarious condi-
ton. There are signs of commotion among
the Carlists. who are strong" in the Basque
Provinces, in Navarro, in Aragon, and in
Catalonia; the Republicans and Socialists
are becoming restless; the Liberals are
only held together by the Influence of
SAGAsTA, who is far advanced in years; and
the Conservatives, who, under CANovAs,
were the mainstay Of the monarchy, are
now rent asunder RoBLEDo, the head Of
one faction of the Conservatives, has pub
licly signifed a willingness to combine
with Carlists and Republicans for the pur-
pose Of renewing in Cuba the ferocious
methods of warfare practiced by WEYLER,
while SILvELA, the chief Of the other fac.
ton, has not hesitated to avow that SPANS
recovery of the island Is impossible. The
fear Of disturbances In the Peninsula will, of
Itself, suffice to prevent the despatch of any
considerable reinforcements to the Carib.
bean, even If the Treasury should be able to
support the additional expenditure. and,
should a Carlist uprising occur, some of the
troops now stationed in Cuba would nave
to be recalled.
On the African Continent there seems no
likelihood of another collision between
British subjects and the Transvaal Repub-
lilo during the year now begun. 1t is rather
on the Niger and the Nile that attention
will be concentrated. Although a treaty
between France and England, concluded
some years ago, defined their respective
spheres of influence in the Niger basin, q