Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-10-06
OTHER LANDS THAN ouRs.

! The controversy between church and
state in France grows In intensity as the
/ time approaches for the enforcement Of
/ the law governing the control OF church
property. II IL widely asserted that the
priests Of the church and most OF the
| laity. as we'll as a majority OF the bishops,
/ favored compliance with the law. Further
more II IL asserted that a petition to the
pope drafted by distinguished members OF
the laity. setting forth the need and ad-
vantaEes Of cooperating with the govern
ment. has been ignored or suppressed at
Rome. This charge is substantially reit-
/ Grated by NJ. Henry des Houx. who Is at
! the head, OF a league Of French Catholics
/ whose object is to form associations TO take
over church property Independent OF the
episcopate. In an address explaining tho
aims Of the league and appealing for pop
ular support NJ. Houx says: THE COM
/ plants Of the faithful in France are not
allowed 10 reach the ears Of the vicar Of
Christ, who nevertheless calls himself the
common father OF all the faithful. The
respectful applications OF those among US
who are most eminent for science and
piety have been turned into derlsion and
interpreted as acts Of insolent rebellion.
The opinions Of the majority OF our bishops
! have been trsvested and disregarded. Their
voices have been stihed. They have been
! forced into a complete abdication OF their
conscience and their will Our priests aSe
| treated as mute and terrified slaves. The
certain and almost avowed object OF those
| Germano-R Roman maneuvers U.s. IL not the
suppression OF public worship in our coun-
! try at least the expulsion from our par
/ isheS OF the secular clergy. which would
reduce our old Catholic France TO the level
| Of a mission country in order to confer
upon the members OF ambitious and covet-
Gus congregations a monopoly of private
worship, the only form henceforth autho-
rized by Rome, and 10 reduce our bishops
to the rank Of simple apostolic Wears like
those WORKING amepg savages. Religion
! thus diverted from it's universal and divine
mission will become an exclusively political
and aristocratic institution. 1t will be con-
| fined to the chateaux and the committee
rooms OF parties II will no longer serve
| to promote the morality OF peoples, but
only to place them under the domination
OF the monks and the castles"
The German emperors declaration at
Breslau that he will tolerate no pessimists
has provoked some plain-spoken comment
| in the press The National-Zeitung con-
siders that criticism and critics within due
! limits are necessary for the well being of
the state. and 1t points out that it would
| be impossible to expel all the ''pessimlsts'
at the present moment because they prob
ably form a majority of the nation. Fred
ercS the Great and Bismarck were both
in their day in a sense "pesslmsts." and
they owed to their pessinlism much OF
their success as guardians of the national
interests 1t rebukes the "optimists' who
are always soliciting foreign friendship in
l.
I find It necessary to accompany every for
eign event with their gratutous express
sions of approval or condemnation. The
Emperor's utterances about the ''pessi
msts' It says. only prove "how inper-
feotly his majesty is informed as to what
is thought and said and desired among |
his people" The Vossiche Zcitung points
out in Satire article that the kaiser's
. control Is confirmed TO army officers, court
func,ionarics and forth. Other ap-
pointments he cannot cancel at will, any
more than he can eject citizens by his
mere fat. Other journals direct attention
to the fact that in 1892 the emperor in
somewhat similar fashion denounced the
grumblers and expressed a wish that they
might all leave the country. The infer
ence is drawn that he has not changed
much in tho last fourteen years.
According to the Paris Temps, the Brit
ish have encountered characteristic piece |
of Turkish diplomacy in the negotiations
over the Egyptian frontier question. 1t |
appears that after an agreement had been |
reached for the appointment of a frontier |
commission. a Turkish note was handed 10 !
the English representative. Sir Nicholas |
O'Connor, stating that the. delimitation |
would take place approximately" on the |
basis of the Firman of Investture of 1892. |
The British ambassador paid no heed then |
to this adverb. but had cause to do so !
later. The Ottoman commissioners mot |
their Egyptian and English colleagues at !
Akabah. and the most charming courtesy |
characterized the early days of their labors. |
Tho Turks were too we'll advised to reopen |
the question of the oasis and village Of |
Tabah, the point of departure of the whole |
incident They were we'll aware that the |
delegates of the khedive would admit no |
concession in that part of the frontier como |
1t was elsewhere that they would seek to |
| encroach upon Egyptian territory. They |
traced the frontier from El Arish TO Aka |
bah in an arc of a circle penetrating forty |
kometers into Egyptian territory west of |
the absolutely straight line. The English |
and Egyptians, of course, have protested. |
The Turks however, will make no conces- |
|
| ness Thus the matter stands. Meanwhile !
the British are rejecting that they have |
other frontier questions on hand with TIir- |
key. and are wondering when they will be
settled.
The cable a few days ago directed at |
tention TO a notable article in the Amster-
dammer. one of the most influential of Hol- |
land journals, on the question of the suc-
cossion to the Dutch throne. The following |
Is the concluding paragraph of the article |
I. in question: 1--WE Dutch are proud Of orr |
independence. which we mean to retain at |
all costs, especially as, thanks to the pres
ent international situation. II is impossible |
for Germany to take us by force. But the |
actual situation cannot last and we do not |
understand how a government can leave |
matters In their present uncertainty. The |
question Of revision of the constitution has
now become one Of extreme urgency, and il |
is only by the Introduction Of universal |
suffrage that the Dutch people can make |
known how they wish TO be governed should |
the succession to the House OF Orange be- |
come extinct" Referring to this subject,