TOPICS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 148, 25 June 1898, Page 4 (Supplement)

TOPICS OF THE DAY

'(From Our London Correspondent.)

LONDON, May 14.

THE BY-PRODUCTS OF WAR.

The Hispano -American combat seems likely to have far-reaching- consequences for the Avhole world beyond (the destruction of battleships and the shedding of so much gore. Assuming America gets Cuba, and the Philippines, what will she do with them? Will her inevitable conquests Ibe the beginning of a Avorld-wide American Empire, and if so, what is rto become of the Monroe Doctrine? Will the Concert of Europe intervene to prop up another sick man, or '.s Spainto be numbered wiT-h the national carcases upon Avhich eagles —one and two-headed — bears and lions are to swoop for 'spheres of influence' or '.spheres of interest?' Is an AngloAmerican alliance feasible and advantageous Avith a common policy of 'an open doer,' and if so, how can the protectionist policy of the States aud the freetrade doctrines of England be barmonised? These and sirniliar questions are being discussed by statesmen and thinkers, and Avhile public opinion in Great Britain, and apparently in the States also, is favourable to a draAving closer the bond of kinship that unites all Eng-lish-speaking peoples, althougii at present suggestions are little beyond the 'blood is 'thicker than water' stages, the Continental Press sounds a note of alarm at the prospect of the rise of a neAv PoAver to help perfidious Albion out. of her splendid isolation.' All this is, hoAvever, at present much in the future; America has not yet got either Cuba or the Philippines. In the present, on the other hand, the war—although the supply of provisions, is but little affected by it—is— thanks to speculators—driving up

■prices in neutral nations and making them realise how quickly food would reach starvation prices and how soon the stock of wdieat on hand Avould be exhausted should they themselves be involved in a serious conflict. In England the bread bills of the average household have been increased by a couple of shillings a .veek, and Mr Yerburgh's Committee on National Wheat Stores has demonstrated just, in the nick of time that Aye have never more than enough wheat for fourteen weeks' consumption in store and that for the six mouths after the end of March our reserve is of six .weeks only. Seeing that while in 1554-55 17A million quarters of wheat and flour was home-grown as against 3 millions imported, and that in !95-9i5 the home-grown wheat and flour had diminished to under 5 millions, and the imported had increased to over 23 millions, it ■is obvious that even a partially successful blockade or the depredations, of an enemy's cruisers might have the most serious effect upon Great Britain's food supplies. Small wonder that the Committee advocates national granaries, whose stores should never be drawn on except in grave emergencies caused by war ancl would act as a check upon the operations of a wealthy ring holding for famine prices. Just now we are said to have 69 days' supplies in hand. Meat has gone up slightly, and it is predicted that cheese, lard and bacon will all rise, although the supply of these articles that comes from America is carried for the most part in neutral bottoms and should therefore be unaffected by the Avar. The supply of American beef will be considerably diminished owing- to the requisitioning by the American Government of several of the fast steamers of the American line, but other nations' are taking- the opportunity of increasing their meat shipments.

In the States the most serious famine seems a paper one. The yellow journals, which give you 60 pages for 5 cents, and issue during- time of war some 20 'extras' in the course of the day, have, with their double-headed columns, startling- head-lines and sen»__ational cablegrams from spots with which cable communication is interrupted, drawn not only extensively on their imagination but on the reserve supply held by the paper-mills, whose daily- output for the past month has been 2,100 tons instead of 1,800 tons. The 'Chicago Tribune' announces that unless paper comes in from some unexpected source before next Sunday the rest Avill be silence. It seems too terrible to contemplate, American ladies furnishing the sinews of Avar by depositing their gold and jewels iv the Treasury and their daintily perfumed and monogrammed notepaper in the cellars of the yellow journals. And yet the prospect of the American eagle's triumphant screech silent for even a single Sunday!

RIOTS IN SPAIN AND ITALY. We can Ava.tch the price of bread go ap and have a big coal strike on hand even in these troublous times without much apprehension.' In Latin countries the rise of the price of bread is only the prelude to an outbreak from the proletariat. 'Panis and Circenses' is .to-day as much a watchword in Spain and Italy as it Avas in Rome when she was at her zenith. In the Spanish provinces bread riots have led to serious disorders, armed mobs have stormed town halls and. the chief offices, and conflicts with the troops have led to bloodshed. In Italy the Anarchists and Socialists have taken advantage of the rise in the price of bread to stir the people to a general uprising, the. real cause of which is the severe burden of taxation laid , upon the country. At Soresiua last week the rioters attempted to set fire*, to the municipal offices; at Figline they sacked the grain depots and invaded the Government armoury, usintr th e rifles captured against the houses '°f Jfvfc," 1'1 authorities. These a slight but still serious outbreaks put m the Cabinet, on its gi lard , lt deci ; lcd + SUSpend-COmpletel»t«e Customs duty on gram and to distribute grain ■ from military depots to needy com- , mimes at cost price, to extend military % S^eS'tdiS^ eCte(f Ponces and #&M %}y rifles of the shooting f&fhn? I*™*™ 1 revolt *™ke out -r&eebt^ vmn °n im Pulse ™ two ~reat centres, I,useany and Lombardv The procedtoe-was much ./ JUU,UdUV* |>V *&*• spears, axe" 2 T l^ with H tKey f eould lay hands L V ? Ye?V on •.Vi, »mes and the Sty & Sa£ ked the °ftlces' set :*. : *°%_A e pSl?£f t t nl oades aml ing the troublous Sxis'p 1- P^ all- -* time of the RevolSw 2 ParJS at'the " ing 'the terrible^, ofthTr n dUr" I'rtissian war Th/ ,_£ - ,he Francohave been carefnßv rf* Seems to fetove degene ra S\^^, bat to |JH§ break, for the rioW 1 „eha°tic out■fcin column f ol^n s^rth at first ■r upon the centre of t£ n-? c? nverged W the Town Hall on y". AlUl°^ ■f riots afrPavia! immedte 3! 1118'. 011 I M behind thT^fej^

Avere incited to rebellion by Socialists. Arrests and fights followed one another in quick .succession until the AA'hole city Avas in an uproar.' Thirteen barricades Avere erected in the Corso Garibaldi, the Palazzo Sapariti, aud several other houses Avere sacked, and from the housetops the rioters poured down a fierce fusillade of tiles, slates, and chimneys upon the incoming soldiers, A state of siege was proclaimed, the journals 'Secolo' and 'Italia del Popolo' suppressed, troops Avere poured in, cannon directed against the barricades, and after fierce fighting, in the course of Avhich over a thousand Avere killed and the streets streAvn with the dying and Avounded, something like order Avas restored, although the railway traffic is still suspended and the railway hands have taken possession of the Central Station. As the Government has exercised the severest censorship over despatches, it is probable that the reports to hand have not given us an adequate account of the carnage, which so fails responsible for more bloodshed than the. great Avar. It looks as if Italy Avere, after all, to be added to the list of Sick Men.

In Austria and Hungary, too, where the political atmosphere is still thundery, prices of corn, flour, and bread have risen to an alarming extent, and the suspension of the corn duties is contemplated.

In the. present state of tension in Europe internalaud external it is not at all beyond the bounds of possibility that tho ilispauo-Ameriean duel may lead to something like an international Armageddon.