The Saint Paul globe., 1898-10-16

Way to Paris, an All Important
FactOr-MOderate French Press
COnciIiatOry - Carnegie Speaks
Constant OvatiOns.
Copyrighted, 1898, by the Associated Press.
LONDON, Oct. 15.-The week opened
with an ominous rattling of rabies over
the Fashoda question and ended with
the rumblings of q revolutionary out
break in Paris The situation arising
out of the question between Great
Britain and France as to the right OF j
occupying Fashoda is extremely grave.
Everything hinges on the nature of
the report of Maj. Marchand /, the
French commander at Fashoda, which
is now on its way from Khartoum to
Paris, thanks to the courtesy of the
British government in permitting one
of Marchands officers to use the Brit,
ish lines of communication. The eVac-
uation Of Fashoda by the French must
however take place, if war between
Great Britain and France Is to be
aVerted. The Marquis Of Salisbury has
nailed his cOlors to that and cannot
recede from the position he has taken
UP, and in which he has received tha
unanimous support Of the country. The
leaders, Lord Rosebery and Mr.. AS
quith, coming at this critical moment,
were very important. in that they DEM
onstrated to the world that the Liberal
party is solidly with the government
in the stand the latter has taken on
the Soudan question.
The Speaker, the organ of the Liberal
party, refers plainly this week to the
impOssibility Of relinquishing the Brit
ish claims and points out that If 1t
comes to war it will not be merely for
Fashoda, but for the maintenance OF
Great Britains place IN the world, plus
her undoubted rights. The Speaker
adds:
/"If we abandoned our claims, Eng
lishmen would not only lose the re-
spect Of others. but would lose their
own self-respect, and English states
manship would be dragged in the
mire."
PRESS EMPHATIC.
These emphatic declarations Of the
English press and public men have al
ready had a certain influence across
the channel and the inspired state
ments of the French press belittle ths
Importance Of Fashoda and shift the
ground to an underlined claim upon the
province of Bahr-el-GhaZal and a port
on the Nile. The mOuthpiece of the
French foreign office is preparing
France for the abandonment of Fasho>
da by asserting that Maj. Marchand
overshot his goal, and that instead OF
going to Fashoda. he ought to have
stopped at the confluence of the Bahr-
el-Ghaza1. Many British publicists
however scout the idea that France
will be permitted to install herself on
the Bahr-el-Ghazal, which is described
as the paying reef Of the Soudan.
All the rest of the reconquered terri
tory, as far as Fashoda territory is
concerned, is comparatively valueless,
being mostly desert, which cannot be
made to pay for many years to come.
But the Bahr-el-Ghazal territory is
thickly populated and has magnificent
trade prospects. During the governor
ship Of the late Gen. Gordon, Bahr-el-
Ghazal had immense exports Of ivory,
grain, beeswax, skins, ETC., while it con-
tained whole forests Of arrowroot. Be
sides, the cotton grown there surpasseS
the Egyptian product
The chauvinist Paris papers are de-
nOuncing Great Britain and are doing
their utmost to excite French feeling
in the matter. Other French papers are
making bitter complaints Of Russia's
inactivity.
HINT TO RUSSIA.
The Gaulois declares the time has ar
rived for Russia to repay the service
France rendered her in the far East
by helping Russia against Great Brit
tain, while the Patrie, after declaring
France had been betrayed by the Bris-
son cabinet, demands the dispatch Of
an ambassador to King MeneIik of
Abyssinia, for the purpose of seeking
an alliance with his 100000 valiant,
faithful warriors, who will cooperate
with us in the event Of hostilities at
Fashoda."
The Notwithstanding section Of the
French press is earnestly urging
peaceful arrangement of the affair
These papers candidly admit that
France is no match for Great Britain
in the event of war. There has been
a great deal of talk here about the
possibility of war with France, and
various preparations upon the part Of
the British government are reported to
have been made. For instance, it Is
announced that a leading small arms
firm at Birmingham was asked this
week whether it was prepared to turn
out a thousand magazine rifles week
ly. The significance Of this will be ap-
preciated when it is pointed out that
the British government works alone are
capable Of turning out 1900 magazine
rifles weekly.
1t is also rumored that war insur-
ances have been effected at Lloyds
during the last few days, but they ap-
pear to have been more in the charac-
ter of bets than trading.
M'KINLEY'S MEANING DIAGNOSED
Commenting on the Paris negotia-
tions, the Speaker says:
''It is clear there will be no abate-