Washington sentinel., 1899-03-11

AN ENGLISH SPEAKING BoYcoTT.
Lancet
A bitter cry goes up from all the
interests-and they are numerous
which in southern Europe, and especially
on the Mediterranean, subsist upon the
English speaking sojourner. The first
note in the lugubrious contest was struck
by France who has been heavily hit by
the abstention OF her British and Ameri.
can clientele, Not only in Paris, but
more particularly on the Riviera, the
hotels, the restaurants. the cafes, the
theatres, the public vehicles, the great
shops, have not done halt their usual
business, while, according to a leading
Partisan journal. the Mont de Piete has
trebled or quadrupled its operations, the
pledges being mainly in iewelry or in
objects of artistic value-a sure sign that
theprevailiGg impecuniositY has touched
the higher social grades. Every kind Of
explanation is sought for this falling off
or failure OF the "foreign import" The
| Americans give France a wide berth
because Of her pronounced sympathies
with Spain in the late war" the English
| go elsewhere ION account Of the policy
Of pin pricks" and of possible hostilities.
Another reason is found in the"husband.
ing of resources for the great xpositiou
Of 1900" And so on in similar strain,
till the conclusion is forced upon the
rejecting mind that English speaking
custom is so eSsentiala factor in French
prosperity that war between the two
nations is impossible.
But If France is loud IN her larnenta-
tons over the abstention ofthe foreigner,
Italy is louder still, making her voice
heard, moreover, not through her
journals only, but IN her municipal
councils.and in Parliament itself. From
San Reno to Palermo, from Venice to
Taormina, the missing Inglese" is felt
as little short of a national calamity
the ''absent visitor" being tantamount
to a ''present visitation" Let us
illustrate by a concrete example what
this arrest of an annual source ofrevenue
means tor Italians Some years ago in
Florence there was a fever iscare, the
dismantling Of the "Centro" having led
to the overcoming Of the San Frepiano
quarter, with the inevitable result. In
dread OF the epidemic, the English
speaking world left sour Lady OF
Flowers severely alone until the eASt0de
OF her chief picture gallery had to
inform his principal that for January,
February, and March his sale of one
franc admission tickets had been 10000
francs less than during the corresponding
three months of the previous year-in
other words, that IN that particular
winter there had been $1,000 fewer
visitors than in the " inter OF the twelve
month before. This season Il is no
fever scare that keeps the British
American away from Italy. The same
causes which explain his abstention from
the French RiViera-dread OF war, for
instance-may, to some extent, account
for his abstention from tile Italian. But
there are other reasons of a more
permanent Kind which underlie the
phenom enon, and It is well that Italy for
her own sake should ponder them
seriously, take to heart the lesson they
teach, and rehabihtate herself accord
ingy.
In Climatic therapeutics, "as in "med-
ical meteorology," there are ever new
developments inviting ever new depar-
lures. The Mediterranean littoral is
giving place to health resorts farther
south and farther east. Egypt and the
Nile are proving fatal to Riviera Ponente
and Riviera Levante allie. and if these
latter are to keep Gin the running" they
must Improve their condition" in every
possible way. Italy, as we have said, IS
much heart searching on the
subject. and an article in the Mora
by a distinguished member
Of her Parliament has endeavored to
take stock OF the situation" and to sug.
gest reforms in her traditional modes Of
dealing with her paying guests" The
article, widely quoted and annotated by
the Italian press, does certainly indicate
many shortcomings and actual abuses
in the treatment which she vouchsafes
to the visitor who, except perhaps in the
great cities or in the line Of tourist traffic
is seldom allowed to forget that he is
in a medieval country. But il
really touches little more than the fringe
ot the problem. chow to attract the
Il leaves out what rs para.
mount and essential-the safety OF the
f0reStfsYe aforesaid not only from Gus.
.pr,e hnuca xyayafiCus and hotel awar
lions. and mendicant opportunities, and
''shadowings" by tOuts, and luggage
and brigandaEe ITSELF but
rom imperfect hygiene in drainage, in
water supply, in food and drink, aud in
5a aitary requirements generally, to say
nothing OF the crusade renewed session
by session in Parliament tor replacing
the English speaking practitioner by an
Italian whose linguistic requirements
seldom include more than a little bad
French and VIII ose practice-at least
outside the greater medical schools--is
not such as TO command British-Amer-
can partialities.
DafLb NsVs-London, Feb. II.
Among the sights seen was the
Mahdrs tomb. The mention OF that
monument is calculated to bring a blush
10 the cheek of even the elderly person
who reads what passed at Question time
on that subject m the House yesterday,
Mr.. BroderiCk had TO admit that the
body OF the Mahdi was taken from the