THE ANGLO-FRENCH AGREEMENT.

Evening Post, Volume LVII, Issue 69, 23 March 1899, Page 4

THE ANGLO-FRENCH AGREEMENT.

o The cable message we publish to-day announcing that the British and.French Governments have come to terms about their claims in Central Africa will go a long way towards relieving the international tension which has been so acute for some months. The telegraphic summary of the agreement signed by Lord Salisbury and the French Ambassador leads to the inference that there has been a general clearing up of outstanding disputes in Africa, and that the respective spheres of France and Britain will henceforth be definitely recognised. Former agreements settled the boundaries of German and British possessions so far as they marched with one another, and it is to be hoped that the new convention will effect an equally satisfactory arrangement of Anglo-French relations. Certain territorial concessions have, it is true, been made to France, but that was inevitable, since Lord Salisbury was negotiating with an independent and sensitive nation and not dictating terms to a conquered State. But it is quite evident that the British Foreign Secretary has insisted upon his country's retaining full political control of the Nile. This was the crucial point of the negotiations, and it was a recognised fact in the Old Country that any attempt on the part of France to destroy that control at any point would be regarded as a casus belli. French commercial aspirations are met by the grant of a trading establishment on the Nile, but Great Britain's territorial rights remain intact, and in fact receive fuller recognition than ever before at the hands of France. The conclusion of the agreement reflects great credit upon the tact and ability of both Lord Salisbury and M. Cambon. A great deal of national animosity has been aroused over African questions, and neither the British nor the French press has shown much forbearance. A settlement of a more or less permanent character will be welcomed by sober-minded citizens of both countries. It is inevitable that there must occasionally be causes of friction between the two Powers over their respective undertakings in the Dark Continent, but with the main lines of their action clearly defined by treaty there will be little chance of the friction reaching that acute stage which brought war within measurable distance during the Fashoda incident. A significant clause of the AngloFrench agreement is the provision that both nations are to concede commercial equality over the territories affected. This is a distinct triumph for the British principle of an "open door" and equal consideration for all traders, British or foreign. If other Powers would drop their policy of monopolising trade in their dependencies Great Britain would feel much less ready to oppose their expansion. The new treaty would appear to be another proof of Lord Salisbury's successful administration of the Foreign Office. Even l.is opponents are beginning to recognise that his policy, vieAved as a whole, has been firm, moderate, and patriotic. He has not bowed the *mcc to the impassioned Jingo on the one hand, nor on the other has he weakly sacrificed national interests to external pressure. In Africa, in China, and even in Eastern Europe, the British Foreign Secretary has been justified by events. A statesman's foreign policy cannot be justly criticised in detail ; if it is successful it forms a delicate piece of mosaic work in which the various parts have each its proper place. If it fails it fails because it is inconsistent as a whole

however speciously good some of its parts. As a whole there can be little doubt that Lord Salisbury has done more for the Empire than even his best friends thought possible a few years ago.