CURRENT TOPICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1717, 25 January 1905, Page 45

CURRENT TOPICS.

Another Ministry lias fallen in France. Tho Combes Administration has lasbuct longer than was an< imputed, in view of the great dissatisfaction caused by the rigid enforcement of tho Religious As.seciations Law. and the revelations disclosed regarding espionage in the army, which brought the late Minister of War, General. An tire, into such disrepute. Ai. Beneanx, who- succeeded General Andre as Minister of W at, and who is one of the prominent figures in French po-la tics jin t now, seems 1.0- have won some confidence by his condemnation of taleboa, ing m the army and Jus so mu.:, p rac-t ica 1 co mm on -son so.

It is related by a well-informed correspondent that, being fiercely questioned by Clericals, Royalist* and Nationalists whether the disgrace of tale bean-ng would still continue under his adminis. tret ion. and being confronted with the sensational charge of a*. Laffere, a- Sue ialist Deputy, that Fit nco was guarded

* 4 by an army prepared to execuie a coup d’etat,” thereby being attacked at once both by C lericals and by Socialists, M. Re-rteaux, who is a great strapping specimen of humanity, with broad, ath let-ic shoulders and an open, honest countenance, pushed his way to the orators’ tribune*, which was surrounded by enraged deputies, shaking their fists in one another’s faces and said it- was ridiculous to suppose there should not be differences of political opinions among army officers, just as there- aro among other classes o-f society. This- was quite natural, but it should be remembered that during the period of Bc-uiangism, amid all the exciting days, notably the afternoon of the election of President- Lou bet. the army had remained absolutely loyal to the republic. M. Berteaux declared that his predecessor. General Andre, had made a huge bonfire at the Ministry o-f War of all talebearing reports and slips of paper, and they were now all destroyed. Here there was tremendous applause. M. Berteaux said his ideal was to he impartial and paternal and to defend the repuhl'c. His maiden speech as Minister of Mar had 11 ie liapp it- st resii! t.

Germany has under consideration just, now the- ratification oi certain conimeicial treatie-s. The most important, in the light of the hostilities proceeding in theTleast, is that with Russia. Germany now holds about one-third of Russia’s' total foreign commerce, about £45,000,(X>0 yearly, a great proportion of which goes to the iron and steel industry. It is said that German manufacturers are benduig every nerve \ o preserve the- commercially predominant position enjoyed in the- neighbouring Empire since 1892, and that f ids have leaked out tending to show I hat the draft of this Russo-German trealy as il now stands will not benefit Gorman in-

dustry as much as was expected, while it is stated that German agriculture will certainly be injured by it. Considerable opposition is anticipated to the treaty. There are also treaties with 11 st ri u-H 11 ngary, Xta ly, Switzer land, Rumania and Argentina, all made with the object of developing Germany's coin r mereial interests.

Tanking about Russia, leads to a- eon-t-emnlation of what "Western civilisation Inis done for her opponent in the present- grim struggle that is going .on. No nation of modern times iias perhaps made such tremendous strides in the onward march of progress as J .pan. This lias its humorous side to “Puck,” winch launches forth in the following amusing strain:—

Little maid of Tokio, Tell us truly, is it. so? Do s tue verb “to civilise” bring a sparkle to your eyes? D) you share yo-ui brother’s zeal? Do you like ambition feel? V, bile tlie world, from sun ho sun, Talks of tv hat Japan lias done. Are you your part glad to play? Would you, if you had your way? Think what civilisation means, Ere it subny ntervenes ’Twixt your peace of mind and you. If, my dear, you only knew, You would let tlie whole thing go, Little maid of Tokio. Little maid of Tokio, Pinioned last, in Fashion’s tliroo Would you be, if civilised. Robes your Eastern taste devised, Cut and pattern, plan and all, Into qu ek disuse would fail. Though they suited best your style, Each would lose its place, the while Von to be the slave would grow Of Pens modes and Western show, Ruff and tuck and frill and flare— And, oh! they’d mane you change your hair ] “Hitch your wagon to a star,” but have your fashions as they- are. Squelch the dress reforming foe, Lbtle maid of Tokio. Sour of the cablegrams regarding the losses in the present war are- just as ridiculous as many of the despatches sent by correspondents from South Africa in respect to British and Boer casualties, which caused considerablecomment at-one time. Port Arthur at on© time, according to the cable messages, was reduced to 3000 effectives, yet 31,000 marched out when General Nogi entered ! A patient German statistician has employed many of his moments in jotting down from day to day the casualties in the Russo-Japanese War, according to Russian and Japanese accounts, and, on adding them up, finds that there- have been 5,778,800 so-ldiera killed or -wounded on the Japanese side, while the Russians have lot 4,397,700 men !

Germany is faced with a loan of £14,000,000, of which nearly £4,000,000 is in consequence of the war with the native tribes in German West Africa, and £2,500,000 is to be applied to rearmaments for the army. The interest on her public debt rises from £5,200,000 to nearly £6,000,000. The- military pension's have consumed £14.000,000 from the principal set aside- years ago with the intention of de -otmg only the interest for the assistance of veterans. At tho present rate of expenditure the whole, of the capital will be consumed by 1910. The German Finance Minister takes a pessimistic view of tilings. “What calamity,” he says, ‘‘will come over the imperial finances when in 1910 the treasury must- suddenly undertake the- entire pension expenditure- cannot be f onaseen. Beyond 1905 I see very gloomy prospects. Even putting down the- insurrection in South-west Africa will not remove the difficulties, as the increased interest and payments of the permanent charge on the revenues under the present system cannot go on, hut there must be no diminution in the expenditure for the defences of the nation on land or sea- W-e must- increase our revenue. In a period of financial ebb,” Baron von Stengel explained, “in which not only was there no- surplus, bu! deficits from past years had to be met, and in which unexpected expenditures were necessary for the insurrect-on m German South-west Africa, it was _ notpossible to- lighten the burdens ol individual States, and it was necessary to issue large amounts of treasury notes. 1 think it may be necessary for the rest of the fiscal year to- issue Treasury I'Tls io the fullest extent permitted by law or -even to request the Reichstag to extend tlie limit.”

We have been bearing much of the fiscal <i lies lion of late. It is cheerful to find a- reliable American correspondent taking an impartial view of the situation in England. Ho puts ti e position thus: —Mr Chamberlain's followers have- felt the- stimulus of his own hopeful spirits- since Ids return from Italy. They now assert tliat- tariff reform is gaining ground in the north and south, and that- the force of tlie reaction against, it is spoilt. Men closely connected with him have evidence that themanufacturers and merchants, and even workingmen have, been converted in large numbers to his policy, and that there- will be. serious defect ions from the Liberal sale in tlie general elections. Home opt iuis-ast s in the Chamberlain vank - arc- confidonl t hat tlie- country e.a-; be r ar;-Yc] for tariff reform at the

first attack, and even cautious organisers predict that the Liberals, if they win, will have a majority so small that they will not last long, but be dependent on Irish support.

The confidence of the i*eformers is not yet, says this correspondent, justified by the trend of the by-elections. They are using, however, with increased effect the argument that national expenditures cannot be reduced when the education bills are rising steadily, and that new sources of revenue must be found, direct taxation having been carried to the breaking point. Another effective plea is that England without a 'tariff is unable to take advantage of diplomatic chances abroad. For example, say the reformers, there would be a fine opportunity at this moment for negotiating a reciprocity convention -with President Roosevelt if the Birmingham tariff of 10 per cent, were in operation, for there would be a basis for a business settlement, and a good bargain for Canada might also be made. The Liberals are convinced that the country is with them and will never submit to taxation of food. They cannot deny that the first work of a Liberal Government will be the adjustment of the education acts to the nonconformist agitation, and that with the Irish party against the school question this will be a hazardous attempt unless the majority be large.

In an official memorandum dealing with the future distribution and mobilisation of the British fleet, Lord Selbome, First Lord of the Admiralty, makes some interesting remarks on the causes for a revision of the strategic principles which up to the present time have governed the distribution of the fleet ‘'from the period when the electric telegraph did not exist, and wind was motive power.” The development of foreign navies throughout the world constitutes, in Lord Selborne’s view, a new and definite stage of naval affairs in the Western Hemisphere. He says: “The United States is forming a navy the power and size of which will be limited only by the amount of money the American people choose to spend on it. In the Eastern Hemisphere a smaller but modern navy, that of Japan, has been put to the test of war and not found wanting. The Russian navy has been greatly increased, and with the exception of the Black Sea fleet has been wholly transferred or is in course of being transferred to the Pacific. The navies of Italy and Austria have maintained their positions in the Mediterranean, but the expenditure thereon has not been increased, ais in the case of other Powers. The French navy stands, as always, in the forefront, and a new German navy has come into’ existence. It is a navy of the most efficient type, and so fortunately circumstanced that it is able to concentrate' almost the whole of its fleet at home ports.”

Dwelling on the improvement of the British fleet, Lord Selborne remarks that all the old battleships haA r e been replaced by modern ships, but still mono significant and far reaching i.s the fact that Great Britain will liaise within this year tAvemty-six modern cruisers, built within four years, of great speed, with armaments as powerful as those of battleships and altogether a great advance on anything which has preceded them. In studying the questions of the distribution of the warships and the arrangement of stations the Admiralty has been guided by the experiences of Japan and Russia in the present war. The Admiralty's ideals were that the peace distribution of the fleet should also be its best, strategical distribution for AA*ar and that the mobilised ships should always be in as perfect a condition of fitness for Avar as the commissioned ships.