Arizona republican., 1899-01-16
FRANCES NAVY
Preparations Going on as an Offset
 to inc English.

London, Jan. 15.-It is S gnifcant Of
 the strained relations between Eng
 land and France that the English gov
 srnment began preparing the navy fer
 active service when the dispute with
 France ever the possession of Fash
 oda was at it's height. Similar prep
 eraticns are going forward in France
 There is the same quiet but the same
 persistent activity at TCulon, Cher
 bCIrg and Brest-the chief French na-
 val StationS-the same accumulation O.
 supplies and of muticns Cf war, and
 the same heed to every detail in the
 equipment Of the Mediterranean and of > the channel squadrOrS fer any eX- tigeney. There was more to be done in France than there was in England and
 it has heen accomplished less quickly
 and with less-machine like precision;
 but on both sides of the channEG there
 has been equal effCrt, and in beth na-
 val services there is 8 simi'a sense of
 threatening contingencies.
 Still mere quickly, the French gov ernment is increasing it's forces in it's co,Cnies-in West Africa most Of all:
 while in Paris, in the scanty intervals Of their deliberations over the Dreyfus case and their preoccupatiOn with the chambers, the premier and the minis ters Of war. mariegn and foreign af- fairs have been busy with pllns for the better defense of the French poses sicns abroad in which for CEca ap- preciation of pressing needs has 3llly cd personal professional and depart ment jealousies. The French g0ve' IT, ! ment, which enjoys nc such overflow | ing treasury as does the English, is probably still more eagsr to seize a favorable opportunity for experiments : in naval mobilization and for new pro iects of national defense; but qualy in | Paris and in Londcn the cause of both . encourages the party that believes the conflicting colonial Interests of the |. two, countries cannot be finally adjust ed by negotiation.
 Whatever remoter contingencies may be, this naval readiness passes for | the present as a part of the prepara- ticn for inc discussion of English and of French rights in the Bahr-el-Gha7 7al | that is socm to begin. The debate is sure to be lCng and intricate, with tedious delays for the gathering of in formation as to actual conditions in ' the disputed territory and it's very vague frontiers, but sober and inform ed opinion Cn either side Of the chan mel seems to anticipate a peaceful cut come. If England and Egypt have just claim to the province as a part O. the khedive's dOminions, seized fer time by the mahdi and the khalifa but virtually reconquered by the vic tCry before OmduTnan the Frenc1 have the advantage Of the possession of few posts in it established by Major Marchand and presubaby sti occupied. To abandon these may touch French pride, tut they are like ly to be unreal to the Gallic ina gina tion than was Fashoda. the evacuation h of which, after all. have wounded it . far mere keenly. The policy Of the | open door prssupp -ses English wi ! lfngness to give French trade full and I free access on the Upper Nile. and the z most ardent colonial enthusiasts in . Paris can scarcely contend that there are any French commercial interests in the Bahr-el-Gha7al that WCu d not ', thus ha satisfied. If. as it is probable, V ae negotiations extend to tae conflict ' ing colonial interests Of France and O. t England in evrv uuartel- cf the world, : diplomacy wculd be in it's clement in ! he finding of price elsewhere f7r the . evacuation Of Major Marchand's fe7b'e C posts. Russia has no interest in \ frica or New Foundland, and unless .here should be suggestion of ccmpen- z ;aH'cn tc France in the far e2st-an i unlikely contingency-it would stand | llone Above all, the burdens Of war md the decline of trade with England |. md with Fnglish visitors to Paris ard l. O the Riviera, since the irritation be- ( ween the two peoples began, are much !, nore tangible to the French bcurgeo | SC, than all Africa and all Africa to |, )cct. while the approaching journeys = Prin If Wales O France promise to appeal to French e, quite as much Ss events P n the Niger CT the Nile