THE GREAT FACT OF 1898.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10269, 11 February 1899, Page 6

THE GREAT FACT OF 1898.

I What was the one dominant fact of 1898 ? Few will hesitate to accept the assertion of a writer in the "Spectator" that in the

rise in the position of the English-speak-ing peoples lies the great incident of the which "ill give it a place in history. Briefly put, a short twelve fflon f.hV_loss than that period, to speak JitcraUy —saw America take by force of arms the position of a World-Power, it saw England rise from a position in which the Continental nations snapped at her and flouted her, into one which cowed them into admiration of her magnificent readiness to uphold her right*, and, more imj portaut still than the**, it saw England I ftn d .America, forgetting or putting behind th*" ll all tho quarrels of the past, establish with each other relations so friendly that they betokened to all possible foes an alliance which could moot a world in arms without a tremor—that of a united AngloSaxon race. The change in the condition of things in America, so far as her relations with the outside world are concerned, is so recent that we can hardly yet realise its importance or its possible far-reaching consequences. It was but yesterday that ' the United States were regarded almost ' as a little world by thcmw-lvos, self-con-I tamed and, partly by choice and partly ' by situation, out of touch with the rest of the world. To-day America stands out as the conqueror, after a campaign, all things considered, of ridiculous ease, of the ancient monarchy of Spain, the possessor by right of capture of some of Spain's richest territories, and as a great ! force in seas where hitherto she has only been a passing visitor. "America has become, in short," as the writer says, "withI in one year, in the eye.s of those who control armies and fleets, almost a new and conceivably a dangerous Power." The position ctf England has altered tremendously during the same period. A year ago, we are reminded, "one of those surges of contempt for her power which for the last century and a half have periodically swept over the Continent had made its appearance." "The Government quiotly prepared for an emergency which might have called j'or the exercise by Englishmen of the utmost resolution and patriotism. Then, when tho year had passed its prime, we overthrew in the Soudan an army which had nothing to learn in the way of • courago and daring, and which vastly outnumbered our own forces. The feat gave pause to our Continental critics. It was followed by a situation in which our statesmen saw themselves confronted by tho apparent alternative of surrendering a position which was ours by every right, or of embarking on a war against France, possibly against France and Russia. For England it was one of those crucial tests which determine a nation's right to call itself a Great Power and to govern weaker races. Tho world watched breathlessly. "They had not long to wait. From every section of tho people went up that deep, low growl which means that the bulldog will clinch before he retires"—the growl that meant that if war had to come, wo were ready for it. France heard it—and tho Upper Nile was ours. Those who watched, half expecting that tho long-looked-for battle of giants was at last to begin, realised that it had begun, and for the time had ended, none the less decisively because it had been fought in Cabinet rooms, and not on the battle-fields. !;. With the recognition that England had * :.'. i to herself been true, that the nation which had been thought safe to irritate and \ annoy by a thousand little tricks was perfectly ready, perhaps even eager, to fight whenever she thought her grievance big enough to bother about—with the recognition by foreign Powers of this fact came tho recognition of a possibility of an Anglo-Saxon alliance. No such disturbing contingency had entered into the calculations of the foreign Ministers of Europe for a long time. The alliance has not yet taken concrete form; it may be many years before it does; but the foundation of a strong friendship was laid which, if it means anything at all, means that when the hour of danger threatens the Anglo-Saxon race, England and America [• will be found standing together "and so presenting a mass of power for defence which the rest of the world will estimate in proportion to the wisdom of its rulers. The English-speaking races in fact, disregarded in 1897, are in 1898 regarded as tue potential equals in combination of — remainder of the world." Wo do not ■urely need to go beyond this to find a fact which shall make the year 1898 an "annus "jiirabilis" in the history of the world.