r
12 13be Conservative ,
England niul the Canal.
In a recent number of the Loutlon
Spectator there wns nu article of great
importance ou the relation of England
to the proposed Niuarngunn canal. It
advised an abrogation of the Clayton-
Buhvor treaty in that portion defining
tbo rights of England and the United
States when such a waterway should bo
built. Even then (1850) ( ) the project of
an interoceanir. canal was regarded in
both countries with great interest , and
it was believed that it should lie built
ill common by the two great Angl >
Saxon peoples with equality in govern
mental management. The express foi in
of agreement was that neither should
undertake to build such a canal inde
pendently or to maintain exclusive con
trol.
trol.The
The Spectator , in its revision of the
argument of 1850 , concedes that , how
ever important to Great Britain , it is
Etill more so to this country. England
would get her full share of the benefits
under American management and could
trust that control in the rights of inter
national equity. The only reason for
opposition by England would bo the
possibility of a war with this country
whou the possession of the canal would
command such stiategic advantage. In
regard to this The Spectator makes a
forcible presentation of a now phase of
sentiment , which has recently shot to
such a lusty growth. No country would
veto an important project , otherwise de
sirable , for fear of a civil war in the
future. A war between England and
the United States would be of the na
ture of a civil war. England would not
bo justified in failing to favor a grcsit
advantage to the United States and her
self ( as incidentally also to humanity )
on the ground of a possible conflict.
Following this line of thought , the
great organ of English liberal thinking
proposes that Great Britain shall vol
untarily propose such a modification of
the compact of 1850 as will resign all
shadow of a claim to any treaty rights ,
thus proving the complete confidence
felt in the United States , without wait
ing for any claims made hero looking
to the same end , as would naturally bo
offered in case the United States should
conclude to make the canal a govern
ment project pure and simplo. This
voluntary renunciation would bo the
most courteous expression of British
sentiment toward this country. The
argument is a happy one , no more than
just to the United States , but none the
less full of cordial kindliness and con
cession. The Spectator no doubt repre
sents English feeling in its frank recog
nition of the essential need of the canal
to this country , a need which has ex
panded to giant proportions under re.
cent events , a need to meet which wo
should be willing to face the most bitter -
tor and determined opposition. It is
pleasant also to have the suggestion of
this feeling put in such a form as im
plies that England should not only con-
sent in advance of the asking , but sup
port American control with her full
moral and perhaps her physical backing.
It is not likely that The Spectator
speaks "ox cathedra" in such a matter ,
but it is much that so important a jour
nal of opinion takes this point of view.
It would not dare to venture such a
proposition without feeling itself in
close touch with Britisli sentiment in
doing it
The Misery of Spain.
Mr. E. J. Dillon in a late number of
The Contemporary Review on the
"Coming of Carlism"has some extraor
dinary details about the condition of
the lowest and lower middle classes of
Spain. Many of these , ho tells us , in
Madrid , Seville , Barcelona , Cadiz and
Granada live on one meal a day , and
that consisting of dry peas , coarse
bread , garlic and onions. Ho assorts'
too , that many of the lower aristocracy
are not much better off , especially the
official class thrown out of office by the
overthrow of the Conservatives. Yet
this is not the worst. Ho says :
This Is but the chronic state of things
which the people always had with them of
late years and which should be Indulgently
borne in mind when forming a judgment
upon contemporary Spaniards , whose rel
ative immunity from crimes against prop
erty constitutes an eloquent testimony to
their Inborn honesty and heroic endurance
The misery which Is coming will be Incom
parably more intense and widespread , i saw
foreshadowlngs of It outside of Valladolld
lately ; also In certain other parts of Spain ,
where ablebodled men. supporting each a
wife and children , could neither earn a
loaf of bread nor obtain the price of it by
begging. True , they had come from places
where most of their neighbors T ere as bad
ly off as themselves , but , then , the number
of these places is rapidly Increasing. A
friend of mine , a foreign doctor resident
In Spain , witnessed many other Instances
of this acute distress in places where whole
families were down with hunger typhus.
In most of the provinces of Spain the ele
mentary schoolmasters have received no
pay for over a twelvemonth , so that some
of them are actually starving , and most
of them are professional beggars as well
oa teachers.
Mr. Dillon sees in this the ripe con
dition of revolution and a desperate re
course to any change which promises
relief. Yet what relief could be expect
ed in recoiling from Scylla to be dashed
on Oharybdis ? If Spain is thus wretched
under the mild and comparatively pro
gressive rule of the Queen Regent Chris
tina , what can she expect of a would be
monarch who stands for the most reac
tionary school of tyrannical Bourbon
ism ? Under whatever rule poor Spain
has a period of misery , suffering and
stagnation to undergo before she can
emerge to the hope of better things. Her
probation is not yet over
The question of the supply of ivory
and of the preservation of the African
elephant from extermination is getting
to bo pretty serious. Most of the tuska
now. como from the Kongo Free State
and from the territory controlled by the
French in Africa. The French Na
tional Society For the Taming of the
African Elephant proposes to co-oper-
ate with the authorities of the Free
State in experiments to domesticate this
animal and to propagate the epecies in
a kind of semicaptivity. The English in
India have been very successful in sav
ing the elephant of India , once also
threatened with extinction. The uoblo
creature is made a most valuable beast
of burden , and his increase under do
mestic conditions is satisfactory For a
good while it has boon thought that the
African species had a peculiarly savage
and untractablo temper , a characteristic
quite natural considering the savagu
energy with which he has been hunted
by white and black men , civilized and
savage. But it is also remembered that
the African animal was utilized by both
the Carthaginians and the Romans in
war and that before them the Egyptians
even used it for draft purposes. To
restore the elephant to his value as a
beast of carriage would be a priceless
boon to Africa , where the question of
the pack train is vital to the convenience
of trade and travel The experiment ,
which it is said will be put into prac
tice at once in largo and well guarded
parks , will be regarded with great in
terest. Even if railroads should be built
in Africa to any extent , it will be a
great many years before they will super
sede the use of elephantine carriage , if
that can be made available
Amid all the turmoil of man in Eu
rope , the flames and fumes of his wick
edness , as Carlyle would put it , nature
refuses to play "second fiddle. " The
great fire mountain Vesuvius has burst
forth afresh and is forming seven new
craters around the central cone. The
eruption threatens to bo one of unusual
grandeur and danger and already has
resulted in much damage. Vesuvius has
been for the most part a playful Titan
since the Christian era. The Pompeiiau
catastrophe in the year 69 and that aw
ful catastrophe of the seventeenth cen
tury which destroyed 20,000 people ,
have been its only very notable exhibi
tions of consuming wrath in modern
times.
One of the most popular reforms in
the postal service of the country will be
the recently issued order of First As
sistant Postmaster General Heath in
regard to money orders. Hitherto these
could only be made payable to persons
living away from the place of issue.
This limitation is now removed. The
convenience to the numerous class who
keep no bank accounts but who wish to
transmit money by post within their
own town limits will be great. It is
surprising that the accommodation
should not have been extended before.
The person who is never guilty of
follies is less wise than ho who some
times commits them and then has the
courage to laugh at them genially with
his neighbor. It is the impeccable man ,
too , who can make the most conscience
less rogue.
