New-York tribune., 1905-01-16


tiers. and vast districts have been entirely laid
waste and impoverished for many years to come.
The cattle industry-the only one which used
TO flourish I'm the dry climate and arid soil of
this big colony, almost twice the size of Ger
many-has received great setback. and inmi-
grafton from Germany has dwndled steadily
The colonial authorities there are now endeav-
oring to induce Boer immigration. which has
been going on. especially since the outbreak OF
England's in South Africa. on a larger
scale. But these efforts have SO far not been
very successful. The main reason for this
seems to be that the Beers want to retain their
national customs. language. etc, while the
German authorities wish to make Germans of
them or at least of their children, and wish also
10 enroll them in the colonial miitia-to all OF
which the Beers object.
However, it is not only for German Southwest
Africa that the Reichstag is called upon to make
large appropriations. 1t would seem as if from
now on the more important of the German col
onies are to be pushed and developed at far
more rapid and liberal rate than has been the
case hitherto. The construction OF a number of
railroads in German East Africa, in Southwest
Africa in Togo and in Kameroons has been
sanctioned in principle. and a number of mill
ions, as first payments toward that end have
been promised Lake Tanganyika-that is, the
German shore of it's to be brought into direct
communication by rail with the ocean outlet
hundreds of miles away Two additional
though small, railways are to be built in Ger
man Southwest Africa, and both better roads
and railways to be constructed in Kam-
eroons-an immensely fertile colony by nature
but suffering from lack of good communications
kiao-Chau. Germanys leased colony in Shan
tung. China, is to be further aided and improved
by harbor engagements in Tsingtao etc. And
In
national treasury-vast sums are to be laid out,
unproductive for years to come the astonish-
ing feature is that the liberal factions in the
national parliament, after holding aloof from
the empires colonial policy since it's very incep-
tion, twentyone years ago. are now giving up
their systematic opposition If this means any,
thing, it means that at last the German people
as a whole have reached the conclusion that the
colonies must be retained. developed and raised
to paying basis This then, is an important
change in the internal politics OF the empire.
In this connection 1t may not be unnterest-
ing to note that the experimental stage of cot
ton culture in the colonies is about done witn
and that hereafter cotton raising on an increas-
ingly large scale will be regular feature in the
German African possessions. more particularly
in German East Africa and Togo. The cotton
grown there is of the best quality, and every
pound of it finds a good paying market In
cotton exhibited by the colonial authorities of
German East Africa. earned a gold medal and
similar prizes have been won by the cocoa,
hemp. coffee etc, from Kameroons.
Sensational IN a certain sense was the produc-
ton at the Royal Opera House here of Leon
cavalo's Roland of Berlin" the romantic opera
which the Kaiser ordered of the Italian COM
poser ten years ago and which now at last has
seen the light. To put it briefly, it was an
immense disappointment to everybody here tho
! Kaiser himself included, though he did every
thing humanity possible 10 sugarcoat the pill for
the composer. treating him with great affability
! and making both him and his wife handsome
! presents. 1t was wonder. however, that
LeOncavallo did not succeed with this opera
It's subject is as intensely and exclusively Ger
man and medieval as Wagner's "Meistersinger.''
| and nobody but German could have ap-
! preached the text in a sympathetic spirit Aside
| from that consideration-and It alone would
| have been fatal-LeoncavaIlo has not done him
self justice with the music. for that is an inco-
| herent jumble-the orchestration very noisy;
Wagnerian motifs mingled with horid passages
interspersed with a few really pretty aras, espe-
ciaIly the love duet in the first act AS a whole
even musically, this opera is a distinct failure
! The first performance, however. looked upon as
a society event. fine enough. Never before
has Berlin had to pay such prices for seats
| $50 and even $75 for orchestra seats-and never
| before opera audience such a galaxy of
! elegance beauty and refinement. Among the
$500 in the house on the opening night, there
were persons who had come expressly from
! Rome, Milan. Paris and London to view the per-
| formance. Nevertheless, this opera is doomed
The Kaiser has no lucky hand with his artistic
| ventures. Such is the general verdict here
| Another long looked for event. but strictly In
musical circles the first performance of
! the Symphonic Domestica by Richard Strauss,
! and that. too. was a fasco. Even the most
! ardent admirers and disciples of the composer
agreed in the general verdict-this symphony
| had been misnamed; for, looked upon as an in
! depreciation of musical sentiments evoked by
contemplation OF the domestic charms, virtues
| and amenities, it was incongruous. The torrents
! of robust sound military" rather than
| domestic. but even viewing the composition from
that angle It was poor in invention and made
| quate in conception. And yet Richard Strauss
| is looked upon by many the musical Messiah
/ of these days
| OF recent books published here, none compare
! in general interest with the volume of Bismarck
| correspondence from ST. Petersburg. These let
| ters written by Bismarck in the decade
| from 1851 TO 1851 to his then superior the
Prussan Foreign Minister. Won Schleinitz, and
at time Of Bismarck's life when he, both from
| choice and as part OF his ambitious schemes
! took pains and pleasure in such letters. In
| them he describes the st. Petersburg society
and particularly the Gear, Prince Gort-
| chakoff then Chancellor. and the diplomats and
all the intriguers. male and female, who re-
| lived afa