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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7222, 10 January 1885, Page 4

The telegrams recently sent respecting the position of the French in China are somewhat irreconcilable. One on the sth inst. announced that General Campenon had resigned his office as Minister of War, because of the refusal of the Cabinet to send further reinforcements to Tonquin. This was followed by one on the 7th, to the effect that the French troops under General Negrier had obtained a decisive victory near Chu over a Chinese army 6000 strong. On the Bth another intimates that a second battle had been fought at the same place, at which the Chinese, numbering 12,000, had again been signally defeated. And then we had the one of yesterday, stating that reinforcements to the extent of 12,000 men are to be sent to Tonquin, and will sail from Mediterranean ports at 'an early date. Thus, within the space of a few days, we have one Minister of "War resigning because the Ministry refuse to despatch reinforcements, and another War Minister sending such reinforcements, on a considerable scale too, though in the interval two splendid victories are recorded. These things evidently cannot all hang well together, and we must go outside the messages for information to make the position intelligible. In the first place the report that General Campenon had resigned because of the refusal of the French Ministry to send further reinforcments can only be regarded as a mistake. It is scarcely conceivable that any Cabinet should decline the demand for troops to the War Minister, thereby causing his resignation, and in less than a week

thereafter concede the demand to his successor. Apart from this., however, General Campenon has always been averse to the policy of recent French Ministries, of engaging the army in distant war expeditions, and depleting the country of its military strength in the face of probable hostilities in Europe. He on one occasion indicated very forcibly the full extent to which he would consent to the despatch of troops to Tonquin, and declared his determination to abandon his office rather than be a party to the further withdrawal of troops from France. His resignation must, therefore, have been in consequence, not of the refusal of the Cabinet to send reinforcements, but on its insisting on sending them despite his opposition. This view of his action would make it quite consistent with that of his successor, General Lemal, who, immediately ho took office, resolved on despatching 12,000 men to Tonquin. It would, moreover, remove from the procedure of the French Cabinet the contradictory character which the telegrams ascribe to it. But the necessity for sending reinforcements to Tonquin at all would still remain unaccounted for. Ever since hostilities commenced in that quarter we have heard of nothing but French sucoesses, and within the last few days the greatest victories that have yet attended their operations have been reported. Whence, then, the necessity for reinforcements 1 Do these successes consist largely in mere despatches? There is, to say the least, reason for thinking that. they have been very much exaggerated. But, even though the report of them were literally correct, they might yet quite as much as defeats would, render it imperative on the Cabinet greatly to reinforce their army before the hope of bringing the hostilities to a close could be entertained. The truth is, that the longer this war lasts, and the further their very successes compel the French forces to follow the enemy into the country, the more critical does the position become for France. General Campenon perceived this, and wished the hostilities brought to a close as soon as possible, consistent with honour. The Ministry have looked at the matter somewhat differently, and hence, have laid their procedure open to misconstruction. To the outside world the sending of reinforcements means either that the reported successes of the French forces have been to a great extent imaginary, or that, being real, they have but

served to show the necessity that the only chance of bringing the war to an early close lies in their conducting it on a very large scale. Either way viewed the sending of reinforcements means that they are now becoming aware of the hazardousness of the undertaking they embarked on when they provoked a war with an exhaust Igss find stolid empire such as China. Should the Chinese remain in their present bulldog mood, it is not the augmentation of the French army by 12,000 men, nor even by five times that number that will give much, if any, promise of the speedy termination of hostilities. The result is more likely to be a prolonged reproduction of the disasters which attended or followed upon the invasion of Russia by Napoleon I.