The age-herald., 1898-03-10

of the jingoes.
 Salisbury, as usual, is temporizing It is Sald that his attitude in many of the re- cent disputes has been dictated by the queens statement to him that she would never again sign "a declaration of war chamoeriain, on the contrary insists upon meeung France with the sternest of fronts ale ueclares that the national honor de- pends upon it, that Great Britain cannot maintain her position in West Africa with out war and that to withdraw her troons and surrender the vast and 1nde,,a,oned territory of the interior to France would oe ulpoef shame. In Chamberlain's opin- lon tne prize is well worth fighting for. considering the fact that England's mar KeuS are everywhere lesSenjng- if wo11ld seem that he is right
 The position of Liberia, the black re- pupnc on the West Coast, Is, to say the least, unpleasant. It lies at the month of the Niger, which is the marrow of tba bone of contention. If England or France owned Liberia the Niger question would be settled, and it goes without saving that both England and France would like to own own II. It IS certainty that neither of them could take it without war between themselves, leaving 6ut-ef considers f1,,,5, that Germany would probably internose Wilhelm's mailed fist" the moment fhe game of grab developed. Moreover. the lhlted States would have something to
 
 pet Of ours We send ministers to it and many missionaries and own some property there. One of the few American lines of steamships runs from New York to I.i- beria and It's agents are constantly at work in the south endeavoring to induce negroes to emigrate. Many of them have done so. l have not heard that they have beneftted by the change, but the Ameri- can negro is easily guled by promises of lmpossloilities, as witness the great Kansas exodus of some years ago. All of this gives us an interest in Liberia and we would not like to see it gobbled either by John Bull or John Crapaud
 The acerbity of Frances temper has been increased by the fact that while British soldiers are facing her troops on the Niger, England has uncompromisingly refused to allow her a foothold on the Nile. The Nile territory is, in fact. of more importance to England than all of the rest of Africa put together, and her intention to control 1t absolutely has been evident for a great many years. The in- terest of France in the Nile comes from the fact that it has vast possessions in Central Africa as well as on the West Coast and Madagascar is now a French protectorate. In the event of a conference between the two governments to decide their Niger equities the French are cer- tain to interject the Nile question. It will not do them any good, for that is a DOT  tion of Africa which even Salisbury would fight for There is now a French expedi- tion at Fashoda, which is between Wade lai and Khartoum, and the English do not like it. Sir Colon Scott Moncrief explained to them three years ago that a civilized nation in control of land near the head waters of the Nile could at it's pleasure flood Egypt, or cut off it's water supply altogether. England now dominates every foot of the Nile Valley not owned by bar barians and does not purpose that any other power shall divide her "sphere' It is vital to her to control the entire Nile because of Egypt and vital to her to con- trol Egypt because through Egypt is the highway to her East Indian possessions.
 
 In the meantime Wilhelm Is cannily ex- tending his influence-cajoling his grand mother openly, backing Paul Kruger se- cretly and absorbing thousand square miles of territory every month so It is question of markets, which is a ques- tion of money.-H. s. Garfield in Chicago Herald.