New-York tribune., 1901-06-16
GIBR ALTAR.
REASONS WHY GREAT BRITAIN Is NO
MORE INCLINED NOW THAN FOR
MERLY To GIVE UP POS
SESSION OF 1T.
SESSION OF 1T.

rhe English and foreign press a'""t tf" nii"i"-
ished value of Gibraltar a stronghold ana the
policy If its exchange for some colony Of greater
inportance both from a strategic and CONNER
eal point q, view. that the article in the current
number Of The Nineteenth Century" placing on
rrcord the six definite offers which have been
made 10y England to surrender the Rock is ex-
seedingly timely. The last proposition of this KIND
was made lis years ago. i'm connection with
rhe NJ gotiatons Of the Treaty OF Ve:s allies. when
Lord Sheburne suggested 10 the Spanish crown
The exchange Of Gibraltar for Porto Rico whch
aow belongs TO the United States
Anxious as were the Hidalgos TO recover pos
session of what has been often described as
the hack door of their kingdom, and Ia put an
ma To the presence of the foreigner ON Spanish
tnu court influences at Madrid proved too
<trong to permit the pronered trade. Members
IF the royal encourage. favorites of the sover-
iign and what may be described as the para
sites with which the Bourbon dynasty Was in
iested in most cases derived their pensions and
annuities from the revenues Of Porto Rico and
Cula They realized that the loss OF the former
Of these two islands would entail the disappear
Knee of the incomes which they had derived
herefrom since Gibraltar. of course, mas no
revenues 10 speak of. and accordingly they
brought every kind Of pressure 10 bear upon the
government to prevent the conclusion of the
treaty of exchange, Even If they had net done
this and If they had supported instead OF op-
posed the project it is doubtful whether 1t would
ker have been carried through, owing 10 its in
tense unpopularity among the massts in Eng
land Indeed the article i'm The Nineteenth
Century" goes TO show that on each of
he six occasions when the English Govern
ment of the day. with the consent Of the
House Of Lords and Of the sovereign, Of
fered To surrender Gibraltar to Spain in ex-
change for one or another of the latteTs coll
Dnles. regarding its possession as a mere source
Of embarrassment to Great Britain's foreign
policy. and at the best useful as an offensive
outpost in of the English people-that
is 10 say, the masses-offered such strenuous
opposition to the idea that neither Cabinet nor
monarch. and not even the great Prime Minister
Pitt, dared to incur the odium involved boy the
surrender
CONTROLS THE ROUTE To INDIA.
The historians of the time a loss to
account for this public feeling In England. and
In default of more satisfactory explanation as
cribed il u the enthusiasm excited ny the Tal-
liant defence of the Rock during its memorable
siege one contemporary writer. however seems
o. have had an inkling that there something
more than this. for he talks ~ the violent and
supersiitious Zeal of the people which with
more prescience than either crown or ministers.
perhaps. foresaw the iay when the route tp India
would liz through the M-diterra mean ana the
R.d Sea instead of around the Cane Of 'iood
Hore
And the people were right For what Gihral-
tar means 10 them to-day may be- by the
annual report u the Suez Canal Company.
" hich has just hern published II shows that
ia tn year l.'n no less than 80, British ships
rasyed through the Suez Canal Germany coming
second in thu list with only i'i2 vessels Now.
every one az those English ships had 10 pass
through the Strait Of Gibraltar. and from there
throughout the whole length of the Mediter-
Nanean 10 Port said. al the northern entrance
az the canal. along maritime highway guarded
every mile of il 10y Engiard with the finest and
strongest naval force in the world. There
three English stations along this marine high
rua z. Gibraltar al its western extremity. com
handing the entrance, Malta. which L. situated
half way. ard cyprus. Viii n may be loo k q upon
"A sort II warien's lodge. at the western end.
isut the value of Malta and ~ cyprus-nay. even
ished boy 80 and even ~ per cont If England
did not hold Gibraltar and thus command the
western gateway of the Mediterranean.
That much of Englands greatness and most
Of her prosperity derived from her posses
sion of India is widely known and generally
Acknowledged. Any interruption of her lines of
communication with her great Oriental depend
ences would Doe of incalculable injury. not only
economically. but likewise politically. Yet this