New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-03-19
r1Jr NEWS OF TWO CAPITALS
continued from nrst page.

och,s for a cruise In the Meulurrane'"'
roy"' !,sor,re the tension which has recently
,od between England and France. 1t is
F.o.bot curious to find 50 many tnghsh roy
,,,os including the sovereign ana the he'r APP
-, taking a holiday in France and French
waters ..oe...,,,- Lose o,
,An nrescnt moment from the absence OF It's
..,,ces than from the influenza. an epidemic OF
,,ch is raging again with much severity ana
=. r,se.,irg ell sccia! arrangements AS usual
.o,,,ic,aus show themselves peculiarly suscepu-
~, disorder: whenever an influenza out
- occurs in London a large contingent of
,,,n,s,ers and Members OF Parliament are sure
:. IA among the sufferers. Whether this is be-
- ., the defective ventilation Of the Cham
rs a, Westminster in which the. legislators
s.ss 60 many hours Of the day and night in each
'.ber's company or because as rule British
.o,,,,.ians belong to that leisured class which
can afford to give way readily before slight all
se,ts Is uncertain. one Of the sufferers is Mr.
coscber. the First Lord ~ the Admiralty. who
ros bser unable TO be in his place during the
cen, discussions on the naval estimates I'm
bappfy. the present epidemic has not been CON
ened 10 slight attacks. some valuable lives have
heen lost and general sympathy is felt with Sir
Matthew White-Rdey. the Home Secretary.
whose amiable end accomplished wife died this
week at the oorly age Of forty-six years, after
q few DAYS illness from pneumonia.
Il IS believed here that the unfavorable rumors
:, circulation as to the Popes health are by no
means IN excess Of the facts. 1t was generally
feared at the Vatican that he would die during
his recent illness. and all preparations were
made AT the Sacred College to proceed to the
election Of his successor. His Holiness's eX
,raordnary vgor Of constitution based on
NE Of temperance and care. averted the danger
for the moment. but he has never really rallied.
This weakness and physical depression render
q doubtful whether his complete recovery can
10 looked for at his advanced age. The second
operation which was performed on His Holiness
this morning is. however. stated to have been
successful and to have quite satisfied the doc
tors.
The appointment Of Lord Russell OF Killowen,
the Lord Chief Justice Of England. as successor
70 Lord Herschell on the Anglo American Com
mission would satisfy everybody except per
hans counsel in the Queens Bench Division of
the High Court Of Justice. who would not like
10 he deprived Of their strongest Judge other
wise Lord Russelrs qualifications for this high
nosltion are unimpcaChable. He is not only one
Of the first English lawyers. but. as he showed
when he was counsel for Great Britain during
the sessions Of the Behring Sea Commission In
1Sg3 he is also one OF the greatest living au-
tbortes on international Jurisprudence. Prob
ably the fact that he is better known and more
highly esteemed by the members Of his own
profession in the United States than any other
English lawyer or Judge would weigh with Her
Maiesty's Government in making the selection.
umay be recollected that Lord Russell. when In
Parliament was an ardent Liberal and follower
Of Mr. Gladstone. and consequently a vehe-
ment opponent Of most members Of the present
UnIonist-C Conservative Cabinet.
The Government has this week published
massive Blue Book of more than so pages, de-
scrbing in detail the course of recent negOtia-
tons with China The general effect of these
papers is TO confirm the impression that LORD
aisbury's diplomacy has had enormous diff
eulties to contend with in the Far East owing
to the weakness OF the Chinese Government and
the perpetual aggressiveness Of Russia. Eng
land and. indirectly. all other countries in
terested in maintaining the open door In the
Far East owe a debt Of gratitude TO Sir Claude
Macdonald the British Minister al Picking. il
is clear that only his determined attitude.
backed by occasional significant references to
the Admiral In command Of the British feet on
the China station, prevented the concessions to
Russia from being much more important than
they were The salutary respect in which
England's naval power is held comes out plainly
In the account Of the negotiations with the
Tsung-li-Yamen AS long as the British Minis
ter expostulated and argued the Mandarins
merely shuffled and prevarcated; but no sooner
did Sir Claude threaten to apply to the Admiral
than they promptly yielded.
The Blue Book shows that English action In
China has been much more vigorous than some
Of Lord Salisbury's critics have cared to &C
knowledge The difficulty created by Italy's
sudden plunge into an aggressive policy In
Eastern Asia is by no means settled with the
recall Of Signor Martno the italian Minister
in Peking The Chinese Minister, accompanied
BY Sir Halliday Mccartney, Secretary Of the
Chinese Legation, has just gone to Rome 10
confer with the Italian Government on the
question No doubt settlement will be arrived
at. but the Chinese are very well acquainted
with the relative power Of the various European
States and are by no means disposed to meet
Italian encroachments in the lamblike spirit
they display toward those of Russia or Ger
many.
Lord Selborne Under Secretary OF State for
the Colonies. delivered an address few DAYS
ago In which he openly admitted the .ues""
bility OF arresting the economic decay oi .ne
British West Indies by bounties on sugar Inc
main reason why in his view, SUCH taxes cou'u
not be levied lay in the fact that AFTER se"o'"i
election the Liberals might come into power
again and repeal any protective duties lnhp"seu
by their predecessors; but. this question OF parry
tactics apart. Lord Selborne's statement was
about the strongest condemnation OF the sys-
ten Of spurious free trade in the BRUSH west
Indies which has vet been pronounced by any
person holding high Official position in England
EDEIDfS