The Washington times., 1901-10-21
EOREIGN H0PICS.

FOREIGN TOPICS.
| During the debate on the Queens
! speech in the Dutch second chamber.
! the Socialist challenge of the Ministerial
statement as to the Improvement Of the
| people gave DR.. Kryper. the Dutch
] Premier, an opportunity to bring forth
some interesting FACTS and figures in sup
! pert Of his assertion. He pointed out that
Whlie IN 1868 over Is per cent of the pop
ulation We're below n certain standard in
height. in 1899 only per cent fell short
OF this standard. while inversely in 1868
only q per cent exceeded a given aver
age. In 1899 this proportion had increased
to nearly 80 per cent
il the connection between increased
stature and economic property appeared
little fnr-fetched. he said, other argu-
ments brought forward leave no doubt
on the subject of national well-being.
Thus he quoted statistics to the Chamber
showing that savings banks deposits had
increased seven-fold in the last sixteen
years. and this in spite of the fact that
private banks had doubled their capital
within the same period Another sure
Sign OF prosperity among the working
classes was the notable decrease in the
sale of pawntickcts amounting to 30 per
cent in the last ten years.
Imports and exports. he declared, had
more than kept pace with the natural eX-
naDEiun Of the population. thus denoting
an increased purchasing power; while the
steam tonnage has Increased 81 600 in the
decade Putting these facts together,
there could be no doubt as to the advance
in material welfare. and the self-restraint
shown by the masses during the recent
elections. not withsta nding the fierce rival
~ Of party feeling. spoke well for the
moral tone OF the Dutch nation This
tribute is thought to gain in weight from
the fact that 1t was from the lips of an
unbcnding Calvlnist, and that the i'm
proNefnent referred to was manifested un-
def Liberal Government, which. with
the exception OF four years. has held
once uninterruptedly during the periods
mentioned.
In speaking sf the preparations for the
recent wedding OF the daughter of Levi
T. Morton and Paul Louis Archambaut
Bozon. Comte de Talleyrand- -Perigord.
lie Figaro" of Paris refers in a compli-
mentary way TO m. Morton's sojourn in
Paris as the American Minister and gives
a few particulars concerning the marriage
settlement 1t seems that the Duchess de
Ialleyrand ct Sagan was obliged to ap-
peal TO the Paris court in order to make
over to her son. who married Miss Helen
Morton. her town house in the Rue St.
duchess had to apply for authorization to
act IN the matter, as her husband. the
Prince de Sagan, paralyzed invalid. is
precluded from giving his permission. The
duchess had previously been empowered
to give her son 100000 as his marriage
portion out of the family estate, which is
estimated by the court at S2,2G0.0O0
The tenth anniversary of the death of
Boulanger has brought out in Paris the
usual number of anecdotes about the
man on horseback One related by NJ.
Robert Mitchell. who was behind the
scenes in the conspiracy, is instructive.
One day very republican general called
on him, osteRsibly about a book in which
he was interested, but the conversation
had hardly begun when he asked what NJ
Mitchell and his ftiends meant to do with
Boulanger. To put him at the head of
the State, if they could. was the frank
reply. Quite absurd, exclaimed the gen
eral; nothing could be done with him
And why?" NJ Mitchell asked Be
cause I command at the Elysee, the Min
tstry Of the Interior and the Palais Bour-
bon. All my officers and men are
Boulangists. and if BoWanger entered the
PeplnIeTe Barracks. my headquarters, he
would be acclaimed Then he added
after pause. He would. however. find
me on the threshold. armed with TWO re-
yolyers, and l should blow out his
brains Very good, general. | under
stand. Au revoir, answered NJ. Mitchell
VINO then hew to Bouianger's house in
the Rue Dumont dOrville. General So
and-So. who commands at the Elysee is
ready to talk to you" he cried His
support would be decisive. but. unfortu-
nAte!y, he cannot be trusted, Boulanger
remarked But If he were to be trusted
we should not have him with as" NJ
aitcheil retorted, quite logically. Bou-
iangcr, however, would not rise to the
occasion. for, as NJ. Mitchell argues.
when the time came f0r the crossing Of
the RubisGn the dread of parting from
his ladyiove kept him passive.
What would the-women's clubs of this
country have to say had they to face
such decision as was recently handed
down by the Austrian Supreme Court of /
Appeals not long ago: The decision in
brief was that If a wife saves money from I
the amount allowed her by her husband /
for houst hold expenses. and appropriates |
this money TO her own use. she commits /
what is, to all intents and purposes, a |
theft. The case that brought this de- !
cision was that Of 4 couple named Daun. /
After thirty years OF married life they (
We're divorced and Mrs. Daun took with 1
her the sum Of i625, her savings of thirty
years Her husband brought suit and re
covered the whole amount and the judges /
made the ruling that Mrs. Daun had prac- /
tically committed theft.
There are 500 converts in Russia and |
over 600 monks Some of the monas-
teries are very rich and exercise consid-
cradle influence in political affairs They
are under the direction of the Metropoli-
tan Of the Church. who corresponds to
Roman Catholic Archbishop or Cardinal.
while the white clergy are more directly
to the Holy Synod. which is a
department Of the State Government pre-
sided over by a member Of the Cabinet
The white priests are paid directly by !
The Government TO the amount of $40 COO
BOO a year, which IL distributed among |
b. eco parishes, and allcws an average OF |
about $40 a year for each parish. The in
comes Of most Of the village priests how
ever. are much less than this amount. |
and they exc out living by farming, like |
The rest of the rural population
There appears to have been some
shadow Of foundation for the alarmist
reports In the French Nationalist press
Of the revolutionary spirit prevailing in
the French army, but, might be sup
posed, the whole business was enormously
The Paris Gaulois" has a
ong article entitled: The Army Men
ICED. seeking to prove by certain isolated
Incidents which occurred among the Re
5ervists at the recent maneuvres, that
he French army is rfSjbIy- b,gorofpey Iic- ]