The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-26
Arc France and Russia Drifting
Apart?

Arc France and Russia Drifting
Apart?
There are signs that the wrath and
execration provoked in Paris among
Socialists and advanced Republicans by
the massacre of workmen, which on
! Jan. - was perpetrated at st. Peters
! burg. has strained almost to the point
Of fracture the homogeneous alliance
which for some time has existed between
the Russian autocracy and the French
Republic
We have learned by mail the details.
merely outlined by cable Of the extraor-
binary scene, which, while the horror
caused by the st. Petersburg catastrophe
was still fresh in the public mind took
place in the Chamber of Deputies when
NJ, RoUvIER announced his official pro-
gramme. At the point where. sensitive
to the highly charged state Of the atmos-
phere, the Premier, in hasty and per-
functory way, declared his intention Of
continuing to cultivate assiduously Rus
sias friendship, his voice was drowned
for fully ten minutes by the shouts OF
Infatuated Deputies on the Extreme Left,
who yelled Down with the assassinsl'
Down with the murderers' Govern
ment!' Down with the Carl
| Grasping the necessity of dissociating
instantly the Ministry from the violent
denunciation of the Russian autocrat,
the usually staid and self-controlled NJ.
DELcAsss, Minister for Foreign Affairs,
rushed to the tribune, and in passionate
accents protested against the frenzied
sacrifice of the vital interests Of France.
Only with the utmost difficulty was he
able to abate the uproar, and oil that his
pleading could accomplish was to trans
form the furious outcry into sullen and
vindictive murmurs. To those who
witnessed the memorable scene it was
patent that the tie of sentiment had been
irreparably sundered, and that hence
forth the nominal allies would be held
together precariously by the thread OF
interest alone.
Such an explosion OF detestation for
the Russian sovereign and for the system
which he personifes would have been
impossible ten years, or FIVE years nay,
even one year ago. Not but that hard
headed Frenchmen have been for some
time sceptical as TO whether the alliance
with Russia was worth what it has cost
They have noted that, in their running
account with the st. Petersburg Govern
ment, all the entries have been on the
| debit side. Well informed French econo-
mists agree in computing that. within the
period named, Russian bonds have been
sold in France to the extent Of / zoo, 0OO,-
600 francs, and that other investments of
French money in Russia amount 10 half
billion more. 1t is true that, so far
as Government loans are concerned,
| the interest has thus far been forth
coming; but how long can this be
reckoned on il the debtor has TO live
| by borrowing, as he must do while
| the present war continues? As for the
French investments in Russia outside OF
the sums placed in Government bonds
they show for the most part total
losses The producers and merchants
! of France have grievances Of their own,
| for never have they been able 70 secure
from their professed coadjutor such
tariff concessions for their silks and
wines rs have been conceded to Germany.
From diplomatic point OF view France
! has yielded much and received next 10
nothing At the time OF the Fashoda
! incident she learned to her modification
| that Russia would not back her in show
| ing bold front To England. She gravely
compromised the future safety of her pos
sessions in the Far East by allowing her
self TO be persuaded 10 take part with
! Russia and Germany in the ultimatum
which forced Japan to retrocede the
Liaotung peninsula. The outcome Of that
ultimatum was to give Germany Kiao-
chau and Russia Port Arthur, but all that
France obtained was the thankless privi-
lege Of undertaking a second war against
the Black Flags who dominate the sec
ton Of China that lies north Of the Ton
quin frontier There is no intelligent
Frenchman who does not consider that
his country was made catspaw.
1t is calculated that no fewer than two
hundred Deputies took part in the vio-
lent outbreak against the Gar to which
we have here referred Their political
importance should not be measured by
their numerical weight. They consti-
tute the dominant and dynamic factor
the nucleus, the backbone--of that 6uc-
tuatng majority, averaging about three