THE Marlborough Express Published Every Evening. WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1893. THE FRANCO-SIAMESE DIFFICULTY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXIX, Issue 183, 26 July 1893, Page 2

THE Marlborough Express Published Every Evening. WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1893. THE FRANCO-SIAMESE DIFFICULTY.

Is it possible that France's aggressive tactics m Siam is a diplomatic move to bring about European complications ? European diplomacy is such a fine art that it may possibly see m the present difficul ty a means of forcing 1 a casus belli on either Germany or England. If not, and there be no other motive for the wanton attack than as yet appears on the surface, then must it be said that the once proud and chivalrous France has sunk from her former high estate into a nation of petty fillibustera. The French are entitled to compensation for any injury done them, and it would appear the Siamese were willing to pay a fair indemnity. The latter Government offered to submit the matter to arbitration, but this her more civilised (?) opponent would not agree to. At our distance from the scene, and with the meagre information available, it is impossible to guage the true position, but one thing seems clear : if France is entitled to an indemnity, it should only be a money one— and we will be surprised if the Powers do not insist upon that. Territory may be claimed by a vie torious belligerent Power as the right of conquest, but that oan only be after war has been declared and waged successfully. In the preßent instance war is not yet declared ; it ia but a case of reprisal. The feverish haste with which France. seekß to wrest from Siam territory that appears to possess great strategic value, aa shown by the condition on which it was ceded by Burmab, leads to the conclusion that the demand for indemnity is bnt a pretext to cover an ulterior object. The position is decidedly grave. France is not likely to recede greatly from her demands, and the other powers cannot stand quietly by while an outrage is perpetrated upon poor little Siam. Moreover, Britain, China and Germany have interests that cannot go unaffected, and already warships belonging to these powers are ordered to Siamese waters. The position is rendered more critical by the distance 1 which separates the soene of hostilities from the French seat of Government. Much has to be left to the officers on the spot, and the fiery temperament of the Gaul is a bar to conciliatory measures. Of late year 3 France has sought to keep her military hand m by practicing on rather , paltry game. She had successively provoked and prosecuted unjustifiable little wars with Algeria, Madagascar, Tonquin, Abomey, and now Siam ; and she invariably seeks to lay the blame upon some outside power, a true sign of a weak case. The oft-threatened peace of Europe is again . seriously menaced by the present trouble ; t Lord Dufferin'a temporary withdrawal from : Paris as a protest against the French attitude toward Britain showed there was considerable tension on the subject. It is to be hoped matters will be arranged amicably, but there ia just the danger that sparks from the dashing steel on the banks of the Mekong may kindle a war flame sufficient to envelope our own Empire m its fiery embrace.