EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7213, 18 May 1898, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Our cablegrams inform us that Mr Chamberlain's' speech . has created an extraordinary sensation on the Continenb. No one, we opine, was simple-minded enough to anticipate that the speech would , do otherwise, and there is a strong probability that it was specially designed to make a sensation in the world. The British Lion had so long refused to utter a growl of disapproval of. the conduct of his tormentors that; they had come to the conclusion that the recumbent old' animal had either fallen Into a profound slumber from which he refused to be roused, or had become voiceless and'toothless. Mr Chamberlain's speech has disillusionised who were in the habit of presuming upon either .'assumption.. They.have discovered that, the dear old long'-su|Fering animal has been very much awake all the time, and they have -been startled by the powerful tone of his voice and. surprised by the sharpness of his well-preserved, but long-hidden, teeth, now that; the. one has been made to echo throughout the world and the other have been exposed to view. The European Powers had,; to speak plainly, come to the conclusion that nothing would make Great Britain fight,;, theii* ijl-disgnised taunts and their impudent tricks .had failed to prov.oke eyen a mild display of resentment, ana they :mistook calm dignity for 'sheer , cowardice ; and their sudden realisation of the fact that they had labored under, a delusion and-that Great Britain not only will fight if the necessity arises, but is prepared, to wage war with unprecedented vigor, is made manifest by the sensation which has been produced by what the Republique Frangiise calta Mr Chamberlain's coldblooded violence of speech. Possibly.no little of the " extraordinary sensation " created on the Continent, was due to the presence in Mr Chamberlain's speech of the quality of calm, cool, and calculating deliberateness which has called forth the epithet applied to : it by the Parisian journal. To Continental speakers and writers this quality is comparatively unknown ; it is a peculiarly British attribute, due possibly to the long methodical commercial training of " a nation of shopkeepers"; and the people on the Continent are sufficiently well acquainted with the ; British character to know that when British statesmen talk after the. fashion followed by Mr Chamberlain they mean business. The statements of certain Parisian journals that Mr Chamberlain's speech will " cause the British Government much embarrassment," and that a "delicate and dangerous situation" will be created by what La Temps describes as " Great Britain's efforts to secure a setoff in the Niger against Port Arthur and Ta-lien-wun," do not possess much significance outside of the transparent attempt to draw RussU into closer touch with France. Nor is there anything startlingly novel in the announcement that, the French authorities are making great naval preparationp," for it was no secret that for years the Republic, has been making strenuous efforts 10 strengthen her navy. It is not surprising either to find that French and Spanish newspapers are specially irritated at the idea of an AngloSaxon alliance. Nothing less could have been expected at this juncture from Spanish writers, and the French are probably not singular amongst the Great Powers in being chagrined at finding Great Britain looking beyond Europe for allies. Some at least of them had hoped to have become allied with Great Britain, and to be superseded by America, with the prospect of Japan being included In a new triple alliance, not only gives check to their hope of using Great Britain for the attainment of their own ends, but foreshadows the introduction of new and powerful arbitrators in the settlement of international disputes. The humiliation of Great) Britain and the enforcement upon her of the need for their friendship has been the studied aim of several Powers, and the necessary abandonment of that object now could not do otherwise than irritate -those doomed to disappointment. They will, however, soon get over their disappointment,; and accept the new situation as the inevitable consequence of the restless, uncertainty that has characterised the conduct of the Great Powers for years.