New-York tribune., 1901-05-12
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
NEWS OF TWO CAPITALS.
LONDON.
LORD SALISBURY RETURNS IN GOOD
HEALTH AND SPIRITS.
FINANCIERs DREAD GOLD SHIPMENTS TO
THE UNITED sTATEs-"THE SPECTATOR"
URGES AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION
AND CONTROL OF THE
ISTHNIIAN CANAL.

AND CONTROL OF THE
IsTHMIAN CANAL
Copyright: 19O1 By The New-York Trioune.)
[BY CABLE TO THE TRIBUNE.l
London. May 11.-Lord Salisbury has disap-
pointed every prophet of evil by returning 10
London in improved health and spirits. The
Radical marpIots now insist that he is dissatis-
fed with the action of his own colleagues. and
that he is bent upon making his authority felt
They do not explain why he Is dscontented-
The ministry is stronger than II was. The re-
duction Of the majority to twelve last night was
an accident due to bad whipping. Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach is holding his ground we'll in inan-
cial questions. and the country is not in revolt
against the Budget The contest in the Saffron
Walden division may turn on the sugar tax.
but the Conservatives ought TO do even better
there than in the Monmouth bOrOughs on the
coal tax. The Education bill will be pressed to
a second reading after Whitsuntide, and, sand
wiched between the remaining stages OF hnan-
eial legislation. it will probably be passed be-
fore grouse time. 1t is good skeleton measure
which be filed out by future ministers. and
will enable the government to claim credit tor
doing something in addition to financing the
war. The scheme of military reorganization is
weak and inadequate. but Lord Salisbury has
no other ground for complaint. He will speak
Monday night at the Nonconformist dinner with
the Duke of Devonshire.
The Liberals may have promoted the Prime
Minister'S convaIescence by their ineptitude.
They were in good fighting form at the opening
of the session. but could not resist the allure
ment of faction warfare. AS soon as Sir Henry
Fowler is put up to move vote Of censure many
Radicals declare that they will walk out of the
House in order to punish him for condemnng
the waste of time involved in the abuse Of privi-
Ieges of the House. No insidious form Of
obstruction has ever been devised than the prac-
tice OF asking four hundred questions weekly.
and thereby exhausting time required for the
real business Of the session. 1t is the favorite
recreation of the Opposition side and Sir Henry
Fowler is denounced for spelling the sport. Lib
eraI reunion has never seemed more hopeless.
The only strong bond which keeps the factions
together Is hatred of Mr. Chamberlain. When
he remains in the background these factions di-
vide and scatter like Boer guerillas; Wien he
comes to the front. as he has done in powerful
speech at Birmingham. he concentrates their
fire and the Opposition is united. The session
Of the National Liberal Federation at Bradford
next week. at which Sir Henry Campben-Ban-
herman will be a s-cpas3euous figure. may REIN
vigorate the demoraIized party.
Foreign affairs are enlivened by no new feat
ures. There are sensational reports OF a panic
in the Sultan's palace at Constantinople. but
there is no authentic information. The Sultan.
instead of being dangerously i'll and in dread
Of being poisoned. is probably anxioIs to bor-
row money, and his ministers are tightening the
screws Of the customs service. The collective
guarantee Of the Chinese indemnity loan s--u
hangs fire. The International forces are gradu-
ally retiring from Peking. the Japanese alone
remaining in full strength. and the capital is
reverting to Chinese control. The German En-
han
tIement which will enable him to present salts
factory balance sheet of the expenses of the ex-
pedtion. and this will be impracticabe II the
indemnity be reduced to level where interest
can be paid upon it. The Russian Government.
meanwhile is covering it's military expenses
in China by arranging with the Rothschilds for
loan in Paris which may draw gold
from London. Financiers here are hoping
that the setback to speculation in Wall Streec
will avert the danger of gold shipments from
London to America. The continuance OF excite
nent on the stock exchanges there would have
increased the demand for money. and American
bankers would not have left balances abroad
Gold shipments TO America are dreaded when
Russia is borrowing heavily in Paris and money
is dear in Berlin.
The best informed fnanciers here do not take
a pessimistic view OF the financial situation in
America. even when consols have been sent
by the Stock Exchange furry. They consider
that the American market Will be left in
more healthy condition by the shaking up
caused by the collapse OF weak and irrational
speculation and look for a quick recovery. The
action of the New-York banks under the leader
ship of Mr. Tappen is commended by the fnan-
cal journals highly sagacious. The truth is
discerned that. wild may be the orgies OF
reckless sDeculation. conservative forces are
brought TO bear upon the situation whenever
the conditions are critical and the evil effects
OF financial collapse are minimized- Halfpenny
journalism revels in sensatonalism when Mr..
j. Pierpont Morgan purchases fleets. but the
sober second thought in the Street whenever
there is a financial crisis is that the bankers OF
the great capitals of the world stand together
for rlrtuaI protection. and that the conserva-
tisn1 of millions of money becomes a safeguard
against the far reaching effects OF disaster.
apart from the Wall Street maelstrOul every
thing American passes without observation here.
Some feeble attempts have been made to inter-
pret President McKiney's aspirations for reci-
procity approach to a large measure OF
free trade. but English readers are not deceived
by vacuous sophistries about 1.-The champion Of
American protection. The Spectator is the
only journal which takes 9ny interest In the
revision of the Clayton Bulwer treaty; its re-
rnarkabIe article to-day urging that England
should allow the United States TO construct and
manage any canal under any conditions Ameri-
cans prefer is the friendliest overture ever made
TO America. Unfortunately. there is no prospect
that Lord Lansdowne will be influenced in the
slightest degree by the lucid common sense OF
that article
There are columns Of detailed description In
the sporting journals Of the inconciusive tests