The Star. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, APRIL 7. 1893. THE WEEK.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XX, Issue 2395, 7 April 1893, Page 2

The Star. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, APRIL 7. 1893. THE WEEK.

It is evident enough by the cables that England, perhaps the limitation is unjustifiable, and wo may eaj that the European -world is in a state of great uneasiness as to what may come of the Egyptian difiicultv. The services of tho British, it is beyond doubt, have transformed Egypt from a state of anarchy and confusion to a land of settled Government, from a condition of bankruptcy to the enjoyment of almost unexampled prosperity. The late Khedive saw it, and was satisfied ; but a Pharaoh has arisen who knows not Joseph nor his "work, and does not appreciate the value of his services.

The position, so far as it can be gauged by the moefc recent papers to hand by the mail, is that though the show of force made by Great Britain in January gave Abbas " pause " it in no way destroyed tho national feeling, nor changed the course of his policy. The only effect was to cause him to substitute passive resistance for active interference with the progressive and reforming policy " advised," but virtually being carried out by the British statesmen who occupy the positions of responsibility in Egypt. The Spectator, one of the calmest and strongest of British journals, puts the position very clearly, and if our extract be long the importance of the question will, no doubt, be the best apology :—" Lord Cromer can prevent great and suaden mischiefs from occurring, because the Khedive will not risk deposition ; but be cannot make State questions of details, and to advance the reforms, or even to carry them out, requires an infinite series of minute pushes, which, with a recalcitrant Khedive, there is no power to give. The British Resident will, in fact, be baffled at every turn by the passive resistance of which the Orientals aresuch masters, and by the refusal to remove officials who look only to the Khedive, and theoretically are responsible only to him. It may be said that the Khedive will speedly find that his dreams are vain, and that he must, like his father, be content for the present to be the nominal ruler of his country ; but on the spot there is grave fear whether Abbas 11. haß learned, or will learn, this Damful lesson

Abbas 11. left free to govern at will, would place his own favorites in power, would greatly increase bis Army, and would organise foreign expeditions* In other words, he would be a second Ismail ; and even it he has Ismail's abilities, he must, by the very conditions of the new policy, turn all Egyptian energy away from the reforms, must recommence thet exactions on the fellaheen, and must by large borrowing reendanger the aolvency of his Treasury, rescued from bankruptcy by such gigantic efforts. He must employ Turks and Egyptians only to execute his decrees ; the decrees themselves would involve a necesßity for repressive and oppressive measures : and in three years Europe would find herself once more face to face with the situation which proved ;»o intolerable to h'-r in 1882, aggravated probably by the fact that she would not be prepared as she was then for conjoint action to put an end to it. All the results ot the English administration would have been swept away, and tfce largest philanthropic experiment of our tjme woul# bp t>n admitted failure. ' f But as we have said it is not merely an Egyptian question or a British question, or even an AngloFrench question, but a matter of grave European concern, for the reason that just now Europe is so full of combustibles that the least friction might cause an explosion, which, not unlikely, would spoil the present mao of Europe. That is why England and other countries besides England are uneasy over this Egyptian question. ■

Natuba^ly an announcement of the illness of the Pope is calculated to create alarm in. the miad of the faithful, ana v/ill not be passed flff?r lightly by those who are without the Hotnan pale The Papacy is a great fact, and the o cupant of the chair at the Vatican a very great personage in the world ; and Leo XIII. will live in history as by no means one of the leadt of the lqqg papal line which atretphes across the centuries, and has played a fnost wonderful part in tho tyorld almost from the dawn of the Christian era. Leo 3£ltl has entered, or has about entored, the 83rd year of his life, which is far above the average age of men, and he is in the sixteenth year of his pontificate, whereas the average reign of Pontiffs has only been five or six years, and of the two hundred and sixty-three Popes, under thirty have lived fifteen years in office. There-

fore, statements of his extreme weakness aie associated with the reflection that iv the nature of things the gnd may not be far off

Cabdinal Eampolla, into whose hands the administration is said to bave fallen, is a man in the prime of life, being but about 50 years of age, and enjoys a splendid reputation for piety aud ability, being not only a great theologian, but also a great diplomatist. Mr. Stead, in the Review of Reviews several years ago, from whose article we take facts above narrated, said of Cardinal Rampolla thaf< he would be I co's Secretary of State as long as he lived, and the prediction for these years hag been realised notwithstanding the often reputed otories of his retire merit.

Asd writing oi the Papacy is a reminder of the new gospel of State function reported to have been pjreacfa.e<J b,y Cardinal Vaughan : that

it is the duty of the State to find employment for those who require it. It used to be said that the new Cardinal was an unfortunate successor to Manning, who, by his broad sympathies, had helped the cause of labor and had made the church a greater power with the working classes in England than she had been for centuries. But Cardinal Vaughan is , showing the same sympathy ; or is the new gospel the direct result of what was learned of the mind and policy of the Vatican at the late pilgrimage ? Whichever it be, it is a somewhat remarkable deliverance.

It la rather an unfortunate, or in one sense fortunate, discovery that some of the documents upon which tho Americans baße tbeir claims in regard to the Bohring fishery rights are inaccurate translations of the Russian titles. America by purchase acquired Russian rights, an <i it has been argued by the British Government over and over again that the rights stated to have been secured by Amenca by purchase were never possessed or claimed by Russia, and therefore could not have been derived from her. One of these claims, if we remember aright, alleged exclusive territorial rights beyond certain limits ordinarily admitted in international law. The discovery of these erroneously translated documents may clear away difficulties which have hitherto existed between Great Britain and America,

The splendid revenue returns will make the public finances easy. Not only will the Government be-in a position to advance in the direction of exempting improvements from taxation, but the difficulty which would necessarily bave occurred in connection with the public works fund, owing to the lessened rate of borrowing, vriU be very largely avoided. Tho Ministry would have been blamed had a deficit attended their financial changes ; in fairness they ara to be congratulated on the surplus, and to be credited for the care they have shown in husbanding the resources which a revival of prosperity has placed in their hands.

We take the opportunity here offered of urging a full attendance at the meeting of the A. and P. Association to be held to-morrow. The members of the Association are to be invited to consider the question of a forward movement in the direction of instituting a two days show. For several years past this has been regarded as advisable on many grounds. The one argument against it was the fear of a loss. But remembering the large attendance at last Bhow, and the evidence then afforded of the growing popularity of tbe Society's annual gathering, it seems reasonable to' think that the plunge cannot longer be deferred. I?e&tina lente is a very good motto, but it will not do to be too slow in advancing, or the opportunity may pass away.