New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-30
TRIPOLI.
AN ALMOST UNKNOWN LAND IN SIGHT
OF EUROPE.
,r,ry MAY OCCUPY IT-FoRBIGNERs BARREL
FROM ADMISSION BY THE SULTAN oF
TURKEY WHO USES 1T AS HIS
SIBERIA.

TURKEY, WHO USES II No ''D
SIBERIA.
,aa;,ior,I inheritance is Afforded TO the
extraordinary interchange OF naval cour'esies
n,ich has taken place during the last fortnigh'
,.,,e.n the fleets OF Great Britain, Italy ano
1,rorce in connection with King Humberts
visit To Sardinia by the broad hints contained
IN t.e ohicjaIly inspired Partisan press. Ihese
oro IN the effect that the French Government
,oiobt he disposed to consent TO Itaiys iinf.eoi'
oto or eventual occupation of Trpoh, while III
tho administration organs OF the press al i-oih'
81 is openly asserted In the most positive man
rer that both France and England nave ihli-
mated that they would offer no ooJectiohs -
ualy's possession Of Tripoli on lines shh'iar -
those upon which one of the two powers IL
o,estion holds Tunis and the other Egypt'
I For the last five and twenty years-,n rae,
ever since the various petty states Oh i.a'S
were welded into united hngdon-H mar
been the dream Of the people subject u hi,'e
Humberts rule to possess foothoid vi Wv
Mediterranean shores Of Africa the WISH u
all the more natural, seeing that py lar '"'
greater portion Of the trade between oou'"e' "
Europe and the northern coast OF hlf'oa 10
harried on under the Italian flag, ana that 'he
commercial interests Of Italy along the hor'".
trn shore of Africa are superior 10 .hoSe VI
every other European nation. indeed thiou6"
out the Levant Italian has from time iil'i'e-
,norial been the European language most ex-
tensiyeIy used in commercial, soclai anu oii
r;.l intercourse For a long time Italy mad ner
rive On Tunis. where the Italian population 10
this day far outnumbers that OF all o'hei ioi
rign nations. and where schools were Formerly
maintained by King Humberts GoVerhHeh' io'
lbe nurnose of preserving and developing the
Italian sentiment. When France suddenly
bounced upon Tuns the indignation throughout
italy was so intense that II was only WIN the
utmost difficulty that war was averted' IN iac''
\ conflict would undoubtedly have taken P"oe
had not King Humbert been warned NY MS
niles at Berlin and at Vienna that IL he went 10
war with France about the matter ne "oulu
lave to fight her alone, since neither Germany
Tor Austria had enough interest at stake IN
Tunis 10 incline them to draw their swords for
such a cause. For ten years or more Itaiy may
be said to have sulked, and TO have displayed
} bitterness toward France in connection WIN
ihe affair which reacted on the economic rela-
tons between the two countries IN manner
most disastrous to Italian trade and industry.
II is only within the last year or two that ltai-
ian luminosity toward France has given way TO
friender feelings, and that there has been a
rapprochement between the two countries
which has had its origin in the urgent necessity
on the part of Italy TO recover possession OF the
French markets for her trade and industry.
Commerce is so powerful a factor in politics
nowadays and exercises weighty an in
nuence upon International relations that ii is
not surprising to find that on both sides of the
Alps a number of statesmen have come TO the
Li.k
formerly existed between France and Italy
might be of mutual advantage, while from an
economic point OF view it would certainly prove
more beneficial to Italy than the latter's costly
and disastrous participation in the Triple Ali
nnce The Roman press is never tired OF point
ing out nowadays that the Triple Alliance has
brought TO Italy nothing but runous expense
and disaster and that neither Germany nor
Austria has ever been OF any assistance TO
King Humbert in his foreign relations, the
Kaiser even refusing to countenance in any
way Itaiys pretensions to Tripoli. upon which
Italy has had her eye ever since Tunis was
snatched away from beneath her very nose
Frances intimation, therefore, that she will
give her consent to immediate eventual
occupation of Tripoli by Italy, and that she will
henceforth regard Tripo an Italian sphere
Of Africa, looks very much il II were an in
ducement offered to King Humbert to cut adrift
from the Triple Alliance and 10 come TO def
mite understanding with that France to which
Italy Is so largely indebted for its constitution
q united kingdom.
A LAND OF MYSTERY
Trpoli is in every sense OF the word a land OF
mystery 1t is out OF the beaten track of tour
lists. In fact, there 70 hotels or inns for the
accommodation Of white people in the city OF
Trpoli in any OF the towns OF the interior
1t does not figure in any of the guidebooks OF
the Levant, and II is difficult. indeed, to find
even any works, geographical descriptive