Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-24


New South Wales last Tuesday Is therefore
OF the nrst Importance. The idea OF such
a union among the British ccl-lies In that
part OF the world has been dis ,ussed Tor
dozen years but New South Wales, the CO.
operation of which was most essential,
seemed disposed for some time to hang tack.
Tuesdays election. however. resulted in an
overwhelming majority In favor cf tedera-
ton South Australia has previously voted
the same way; Victoria will certainly take
the same action at it's election next month,
and Tasmania whenever the vote shall be
taken: while Queensland. which has been
hostile to the scheme. is not likely TO stay
out alone very long. Even II the latter
colony shall vote against 1t next September,
the other four will go ahead and start the
federation, under a constitution which bears
y some strong resemblances to that of the
United States. Such federation is sign
of healthy progress in the unifcation of in
terests among colonies which have much
| to gain from close ties.
| The abrogation, by the car OF the an
cient constitution OF Finland Is sail to have
caused good deal OF uneasiness in tha
minds of swedish and Norwegian statesmen,
who do not relish the idea Of their bound
aries being practically conterminous with
those of their gigantic neighbor. Even
/ after her subjugation by Russia in the early
years of this century. Finland, with her
! autonomous government, her little terri
/ toral army. and her peculiar national char
I acteristics, was regarded by Scandinavian
statesmen as a sort of buffer state between
themselves and the Moscovite empire But
! it is no longer possible to entertain TINS
| view now that the Finnish forces have been
absorbed into the Russian army. The mill
| tary power of the czar, has been pointed
out already in the London press, has now
| advanced to the very frontier OF Norway
and Sweden, and should future occasion
arise, might easily be tempted to overrun
them 1t is not pretended that there Is
any immediate probability of such aggres-
sion, but the feasibility of it occasions
certain degree OF apprehension.
The politics Of Belgium present at this
time the extraordinary spectacle OF SOW
ereign who is more liberal and progressive
than his ministers. Begium's suffrage sys-
tenn is antiquated and artificial. According
to circumstances, voters are privileged to
cast n varying number OF ballots. lhe
law discriminates in favor OF property own
ers and family men, upon the ground that
thew have larger stake in the welfare Of
lor. Thus while the latter is only allowed
to cast a single vote property owners and
married men are entitled to cast from three
to six votes, according to the size of their
families and the amount of their estate 1t
would be possible to present a more or less
convincing argument in support OF this ar
rangement. The man who owns property
and the man who has children do have a
larger stake in the general welfare than the
man who has neither, and II government Is
a kind of partnership, such might talrly
claim to have a more influential voice IN the
MANAGEMENT of affairs. But to THIS op1ec-
tion thorough going republicans reply that
IN deeper sense all are interested alike,
because all are interested to the full extent
of their capacity, so that good government
is lust as important to the poor bachelor
as il is to the rich man of family. This
is the principal which has been adopted In
the United States and in other countries
where the law provides for lone man one
vote" and it is the principle for which the
Belgian liberals are contending. III must
surprise them to find that they have a
supporter in the person Of the king
Inasmuch as the duke of Connaught Is
indisposed to sacrifice career OF prllllan'
promise in the British army for the sake
OF becoming qualified for the succession tc
, the duchy of xe-Coburg- -Gotha, and is
, , unwilling to permit the education OF MS sor
, Alfred in Germany in order to mt him 1oi
the sovereignty of that little principality, II
Is quite possible that the state Will be medi-
atized and absorbed by the empire upon the
death of the reigning duke formerly the
l duke Of Edinburgh without having a male
heir or course, the Coburgers may re
fuse to sell out; on the other hand, Germany
might Justly object to a sovereign German
state being bartered from cousin to cousin
like a farm or cattle ranch. 1t would bt
= I curious il the prolific house of Saxe-Coburg
= Gotha whose scions are sovereigns or helrs
= apparent in Great Britain, Belgium, Por'
tugal and Bulgaria, should be excluded
from it's ancient seat.
There are no more Spanish islands fo
| sale-or as Premier Silvela explained u
the Cortes in the course OF the debate oil
! the cession of the Carolines, Ladrones an'
Pellew islands to Germany, the treaty o
y cession contained no secret clauses, and NJ
- more Spanish territory is to be transferred
= OF extra continental territory Spain nov
= holds only the Balearic islands in tn
Mediterranean; the Canaries, in the Atlantl
- and Fernando Po and Ammo Bon, in tn
. Gulf of Guinea. The only ISLANDS aDou
g, which there could have been any doubt o
i Spain's desires are the two last named
The Balearc and the Canary ISLANDS ar
as thoroughly Spanish as any part OF con
tinental Spain, and nobody at all familla
with the subject could have been deceive
for moment into believing that spai
would willingly part with either groul
n The declaration of NJ. Silvela puts the topi
e of other Spanish cessons beyond the spher
y OF discussion.
is The rebellons in Cuba and the Philippine
IF cost Spain, 1t is stated by Senior Villaverd'
e, the finance minister, about sfOO,OOO,OO'
lie some $500 900 900 OF which sum is repre-
le sented by issues OF bonds and other out
y standing obligations. There Is hoatin
II debt of $50, 900, ,OOO-after deducting tn
1t 500 900, 900 of cash received from the Unite
he States-and this debt the finance ministe
I'd proposes to meet by new issue OF bond
,e The interest due on the bonds issued In b'
half of Cuba and the Philippines tn
lie United States had declined to pay, bl
ct Spain will undertake to pay, Issuing loa
OF $50, 900 900 on the security OF the reVenu
IN from tobacco. As to the old bonds, largel
,..I