Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-13


with the certainty that later England
must count with one or both in farther
Asia.
This situation was rendered all the more
serious by the announcement of a Franco
Japanese treaty followed
France by a Russo-Japanese CON
s 1 vention. These unexpected
combinations astouished the
world. The announcement was shock
more than all to the German emperor,
who vainly imagined that he held Europe
in his grasp. The Frankfort Gazette
confessed the emperor's feelings when It
said: This agreement referring to the
Russo-Japanese treaty. is new mesh
which Is being thrown around Germany
first the Franco Russian alliance. then
the Anglo-Japanese. the Franco-Anglo-
Spanish the Franco-Japanese the Anglo
Russian. and finally the Russo-Japanese
conventions"
The foregoing restricted and incOm-
plete review of political events. which
have thrown their shadows athwar ri
the proceedings ut The Hague. will
serve the readers of The Star 90 intel
liFently interpret the political paro-
rama as It is unfoIded from day to dav
by the brief cables from other worlds
America thus may he said to he no
longer separated from Instant nations
by vast ocean.
In the interval there have been visits
between the kaiser and the car and
an outward show of a renewal Of the
ancient relations between HohnnZollern
and Romanof. and between King Ed
ward and the Emperor rancis Joseph
to discuss problems of British and
Austro- Hungarian policy in Macedonia.
The Anglo French understanding has
heen reafflrmed by the meeting Of King
Edward and ". Clemenceau. The Ital-
ian and Austrian ministers have ex-
changed visits. King Edward mas been
welcomed at Wilhelmshoehe. and il is
already announced semi of iaIlv that
Emperor William and the empress will
return the uncle's visit November y.
The French ambassad dor a I Berlin. NJ.
Cambon, has been the guest of the Ger
man chancellor, Count Won Buelow.
What with the pending question Of
Morocco. which is the undoubted out
come of German intrigues, in which
Britain has been either a conscious or
an unconscious medium. there renal ms
between France and Germany the
question of Alsace- Lorraine-the ghost
of Banquo that will not down.
The unexpected has already hap
pened. Why not the improbable, If
not the Impossible?
Aims OF The kaiser who has
the Kaiser been accused Of pos
sessing many of the
virtues Of Alcibiades. is anxious to sur
pass the many surprises to which the
world has been subjected these DAYS.
Why may not the kaiser Guido Alci-
blades by cutting off the tails Of two
dogs rat one time and in twO motions) by
abandoning Morocco to herself and by
c--rrondarivp AIcapo T,nrrair,a
France,
Reference has been made heretofore
to what M. Francis Laur has said
about the visit of Gambetta TO Ger
manv incognito and his interviews
with bismarck in the Tate seventies
or eighties" The National Revue takes
1t up and treats ii as genuine matter.
Gambetta, according to NJ Laur. saw
Bismarck alone in 1878. Directly they
touched the burning question of Alsace-
Lorraine. Bismarck said: That is the
question that divides us most: let US not
sneak of It." International alliances were
discussed. Suppose said Bismarck, I'VE
remove by limitation Of ornaments. the
possibilities of war We must win 10 our
IDEAS as many of the European powers as
we can. Which of tho powers should we
De able to combine with us in this policy
England. Russia, Italy?" England" re-
piled Gambetta. The Iron Chancellor
frowned. England! England, You might
as we'll build on the sand Do you really
believe in England an ally?" And an
expression of profound contempt showed
on his face. NO: with her one is always
tTicked. Speak to me rather of a country
that has given you unequivocal proof of
friendship-Russia. A Franco Russo Ger
man entente would combine four-f tbs of
Europe and would be formidable. un-
assalabie and always obeyedr
Gambetta replied ut is dangerous to be
tied to sucfna mass CRussa). for motion
less It condemns you to the same immo-
bility and If It gets into motion it brushes
you. Our peoples require elbow room -
The chancellor laughingly replied: with
Russia one may be condemned to immo-
b!lity but with England. on the contrary,
one is never sure of ones moorings. Eng
land is like the sea that surrounds her.
No one can lean on her with confdencc.
To build upon, prefer the Russian mass
to the English clay. After all, we need
not meet to praise the. perfide Albion ]
believe at the bottom you prefer Ger
many to the English
Gambetta insisted: IF peace could be
assured on land, not so on the seas; there
Englands C o n e n
Gambetta was necessary TO
.,d p;s,,ar,1x peace, and that was
surely important for
German commerce"
"A monopoly" replied Bismarck,
should never be left to England: she
abuses it always. If we give up our in
terests on the, ocean, and that is what
she will demand If we try to bargain
with her, we commit a grave blunder.
England respects what she fears"
IF" continued Bismarck, the French
fleet maintains Its present high standard,
the Russian, the German and the Italian
increase in strength. can all four Of
us together stand up to the British fleets.
Then will England be the best friend of
the continental alliance, or if need be.
we will enforce against her a diplomatic
blockade instead of blockade which
your first Napoleon tried his hand at"
Thus" ssys the National Review,
did Bismarck press upon Gambetta the
idea of the European coalition against
England which we find recently cropping
up in the F'rankfurter Zeitung"
The Anglo Russian agreement has for a
fact provoked much angry feeling in Ger
many against England-a recrudescence.
indeed. of the hostility which was evnced
at the time OF the Jameson raid in South
Africa. The Hamburger Nachrichten ex-
horts the imperial chancellor at least to
prevent the Anglo-Russ; an agreement
rom extending to spheres in which vital
German interests are concerned.
Similarly, the agrarian Deutsche Tages-
zeitung denies that from the point of
view of imperial interests Germany has
any reason to greet with satisfaction a