New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-24
TIE Coloni&ing Transactions of the
Modern Nations.

= +be Triple and Dual alliances. Though history /
Yer repeats itself yet there is striking re- /
,r,snce between the condition Of Europe after |
so and after 1915 In the earlier time, the !
ut nations. worn out by stupendous wars, !
- hack very willingly into the slough Of /
s..,otIc reaction The monarchs of Russia, |
.s,-ia Prussia and -Bourbonized France !
- the Holy Alliance, a mixture Of quixot- |
- NOUS buncombe and astuteness, for pre-
ting another upheaval Of Liberalism. Aus
80 thanks largely 70 the shrewdness Of her
.,se minister Metternich, held the balance Of
-,uer on the Continent. In like manner, after
- Franco Prussian War had pushed Germany
!, the front the Three Emperors League in
,sich william /. Francis Joseph and Alexander
u ,o,ned. hoped TO preserve the new equilibrium
many became the centre Of political reaction
end has so remained 20 this day. Bismarck suo-
,ss5ed Me-teruich as the watchdog Of conserv-
s.,sr Cd Europe. But just as Meter Mich took
care 10 strengthen his regime with something
--,-, SOLID than the vaporings of the Holy Ali
,r-s So Bismarck fortified Germany's position
.i.b something more durable than the friendship
,fthe three Kaisers.
Germany. as he expressed il in his graphic
nav lay between the hammer OF France and
-hs anvil Of Russia. What he most feared was
,At France whose wonderful recuperation after
.As war even he had not expected. would per-
-sss Russia 10 seize an occasion 10 attack Ger
many To guard against this danger he had
r-1s difficulty in getting Austria 10 form secret
alliance with Germany for Austrias eastern
sr--isr lies exposed 10 every 1Iuscovite inva-
sim and the presence OF many Slavs among the
.-tiecrs IF Francis Jos. .h caused the Pan-Slavic
-,gemeur 70 appear formidable To draw italy
--+o this alliance required "A much subter in
s-cemen- Had Italy al that time had a states
nan of The first order he would probably have
--zed thar in was not for her interest 10 main
tia a large armament against possible assault
s~n France or from Austria: because, if France
re-e The azeressor. Italy could surely count on
-e-uanys support; and if Austria threatened,
Iny could look To France for support An
sf-0it neutrality would have been. therefore the
tssr policy But ambition. personal and nation
a. vou-ra5 pride over French encroachment in
T-1is. tra e--er-yakeful anxiety at the intrigues
q, the Vatican these and other considerations
osrafurly exploited by Bismarck, led Italy to
enter the Tnplice.
league between Russia. the stronghold Of
sssDor.su. and France, a republic and the home
o. the Revolution. was even more in ,ongruous;
hit the sense Of q common peril at lat brought
tbese orposites together. although not without
much hesitation and more than one interval or
-oolness Nominally. each of the two great
ordinations can put into the field as many
nen as its rival, but the recent war in the Far
East certainly showed that mere numbers are
ru the first consideration. Nevertheless, II may
e said Of the Triple and Dual alliances that they
rave helped for twenty-five years to keep peace
Il Europe Whether peace would not have been
ss7t anyway may be left for spectators TO
iiE-uss-
Tba rest IF Mr. Roses work is taken up with
n account Of European expansion over the face
a. the earth. This expansion has surpassed in
rhoroughHess and rapidity either the compet-
non In discovery into which the navigators OF
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries plunged, or
he struggle for world colonies in which Eng
and and France engaged in the eighteenth
century Within less than a generation the en-
tire continent Of Africa has been partitioned;
Central Asia zas become Russian; the English
have overspread Northern India and planted
-1elr ourposts almost within sight OF the Musco-
Ttes; the French have grabbed Tonlin, settled
Madagascar and coIonized Tunis, the English
have absorbed Burmah; Alanchuria lies bone
q contention between Russia and japan; Corea
Is under Japanese protection. and Formosa is
japanese colony. The islands and archipelagoes
have beer snapped UP. Finally the United States
has accepted the task Of maintaining a govern
ngt in the Philippines. Several new elements
have appeared IN this era. Portugal and Spain
Ire earliest ri the great colOnizing nations, have
virtually retired from that business. But their
Iacss aara been taken by France and Russia;
HE Japan and the United States, two nations
11lca thirty years ago nobody would have
@eanel rs likely 10 60 outside their well de-
lied borders. have entered the competition. TINS
Process re expansion has gone on so quietly Tor
NE most rar- that fit is only in such a survey as
-r Rose e-ras that the general reader becomes
-'aEe of l.s completeness. When We read Ten
ald twenty wears ago that Russian outpost
Tao reached such and such a village IN Iur-
Eas-al OF that German or British pioneers had
PAINTED their respective flags at some spot in
Elato-ia- Africa unknown 10 the latest geog-
zIder re hardly realized that these were
cages ir tre rapid transformation Of two CONT
as1-s. spheres ri influence have been marked
out protsero-atcs established, whole countries
FFen up ~ commercial and industrial eXploita-
ION by Europeans. ON the whole. as we look
lack Ne ara surprised that this process with
rs Inevitable friction between rivals has caused
49 European war; Tais IS due 10 Inc TACT tha'
ne European nations. which would have been
wiling enough more 5aau once TO fight each
sleT ir Africa gr Asia, Eue" mat a war begun
42 Tie circumference would inevitably come
-'as 10 me eaa.e. and they have not dared 10
ss,t in Central Europe a conGagration whose
--a hey cannot faresee. The upshot OF eNpah-
Son IS taa. England gets the lions share in
@-rca and Russia In Northern Asia. China re-
-+-2s -aa one vast civilized region for Euro
.7s-s H. appropriate, if tney can. The rise OF
'-ien suggests that in CniHa, TOO. similar re-
s7-era--9a may be possible, and If It IS, the
'si2~ r1er may. after aI- drive the white men
w q ASIA
--f. Rose 4..g.s much space 10 the diplomatic
history of European elrauslon, II the main, Ee