Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 38, 20 September 1900, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

RUSSIA iND CHINA.

It is now pretty evident that the restoration of order in China does not mean that the crisis has passed. It will require the greatest diplomatic tact on the part of the European Powers to prevent serious international complications. From the very beginning- of the present troubles it was apparent that, although the allies co-operated for the common object ot relieving the Legations, there existed a good deal of ill-con-cealed jealousy between them. The aims and objects of Russia have been viewed with suspicion for some time, and on her action will depend in a great measure the peaceable settlement of the Chinese trouble. That the Russian Government has been working steadily for \eais in the direction of securing the lion's share in spoliation of the Chinese Kmpue has been well known to all who have had anything to do with E istrrn affairs. Her Trans-Siberian railway will m a short time connect St. Petersburg with Port Arthur. The value to Russia ot this great work from a commercial and strategic point of view is> scarcely yet realised. Writing last year, M. Plauchut, a wellknown French author, who spent many years in China, deals with the question of Russian influence in Asia, as follows : — 'Shut in as she is on the east by the English in Burmah and the French in Cochin-China, threatened in the west by the Germans and the Japanese, and dominated on the north by Russia the Celestial Empire finds herself compelled to awaken from her long stupor, and arouse herself to action of some kind. With no real army, no longer an efficient fleet, what can she do ? She can only choose what seems to her the lea'-t of the evils hemming her in on every side, and elect from among the many competitors for the post, the protector best able to save her not only from her outside enemies, but from herself. As has been very aptly said, Russia, is of all the Western Powers the most imbued with Oriental ideas, and she combines, with the energy and ambition of a first-rate Power of the future, a sympathy altogether wanting to France, Germany, or Great Britain. There is, in fact, an actual affinity of race between the Chinese and the inhabitants of the Northern steppes, and there is therefore far more hope of real amalgamation between them than there can be in any other case. The English, the French, the Germans, the Italians, if they win the concessions they are now in their turn clamoring for, will alwa\s be aliens in the districts they acquire, and there will never, to use ,t homely but expressive phrase, be any love lost between them and the natives.' • • • It is an open secret that Li-I lung-Chang, who has been described in turns as the greatest statesman in the East and the most consummate liar, is of the same opinion, and that his predilections are decidedly Russian. It is t-aid that his object in visiting Europe about four years ago was to ascertain by personal observation which of the Western nations would be most likely to be the best friend for his country in the enfeebled condition to which the war with Japan had reduced her. He saw that it was neither England, France, nor Germany, but Russia, and as a result of his observations a treaty was made with the last-named country in 1897, whereby, in addition to

other privileges, she was given Port Arthur as a coaling station, with the right, in case of war, of concentrating troops in its harbor. • • • ' The Russians and the Chinese,' said Mitchie, writing , over 30 years ago, 'are peculiarly suited to each other. They , understand each other's character thoroughly because they are ' so closely alike.' This was written more than 30 years ago, and time and closer intercourse have increased the similarity to a considerable extent since then. And it is pretty clear that while other Powers will have to content themselves with ' open doors' and 'spheres of influence,' Russia will exercise the greatest political influence. ' There remains now (writes M. Plauchut) no hope that the disintegrating forces at work in the once powerful nation w.ll be arrested from within, in spite of the fact that China again and again has risen in the past from apparent dissolution into a greater nation than before, absorbing her conquerors and converting them into patriots, ready to dire all for their adopted country. The saving iorce must come from without, and when once more there is a strong hand directed by a strong brain at the head of ailairs, the resources of the unhappy land will be found to be inexhaustible. With a prolific soil, vast mineral wealth, and a teachable population, there is indeed no limit to what China, which has been called the India of the future, may become.' The time may not as yet be ripe for an alliance, defensive and oiiensive, between Russia and China, and in that case the former country will not force matters on the present occasion. But she has been working in this direction for years, and the day when her dream becomes a reality will be one of ill-omen not alone for the peace of Asia, but even for that of Europe. Between them they would have a population of close on s^o,()oo,o<>n, more than a third of the whole globe. Were China, with her almost inexhaustible resources in men, backed up by the army and directed by the brain power of Russia, the combined nations of the West would have more than a difficult task in thwarting the designs of the Muscovite and the Mongolian.

MORGAN VTIC MARRIAGES.

Lik.e the policeman in the play the lot of sovereigns is not a happy one. Many European rulers live in constant dread of the bullet or the dagger of the anarchist and the crank. Hut over and above this they have their private worries like ordinary mortals, added to which there are the rules and etiquette which govern the actions of Royal persons. The^e debar them in many instances from acting with that freedom which is the privilege of their meanest subject. For example, they cannot marry outside the charmed circle of Royalty without certain risks and inconveniences. The Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, has, with the reluctant consent of the F.mperor, been morganatically married to the Countess Sophie Chotek, a lady of noble but not of royal birth. Lest there should be any trouble hereafter the Kmpcror insisted, bcfoie giving his consent to the marriage, that the Archduke should renounce by a solemn oath all possible claims which his future wife, and children if any, might ever make to the throne. By the law of the House of Hapsburg, should the Archduke succeed to the throne, his wife will not be Empress of Austria, or Queen of Hungary, and his children will not have the rights and privileges of

members of the Imperial House. The position of the Archduchess, when her husband is called upon to take up the reins of Government, will be a delicate and difficult one. She will still be inferior in rank to every archduchess of the Imperial family, all of whom will take precedence of her. This may give rise to unpleasant incidents, and will probably prevent her from taking part in State functions. A Vienna correspondent points out other anomalies that will arise out of this marriage.^ 'Of course,' he says, ' the Countess will live in the Archduke's house. If she accompanies him to the station when he starts for some journey she can ride with him in his Imperial carriage, but she cannot come back from the station in it, as she must not ride alone in a carriage with golden spokes to the wheels, or with a coachman in full livery. She must not sit in the opera-box with him, nor attend the races in the Imperial stand. And so forth ad infinitum.*

The term ' morganatic marriage' dates from the promulgation of the Salic Law in the fifth century, to regulate the succession to the throne of the Salii, a tribe of Franks. The Salic Law, the main object of which was to exclude females from the succession, also provided that in the event of the monarch contracting a marriage with a lady of inferior birth, neither she nor her children should share his rank. Every reigning monarch and his family are equal in rank to every other reigning monarch and his family, without reference to their respective origin. Thus the Bonapartes and the Abrenovitches are considered to be of equal birth with the Hapsburgers and Hohenzollerns. King Alexander of Servia, whose greatgrandfather was a peasant, could marry into any royal family, whereas the marriage of the Archduchess Stefante to Count Lonyay, whose ancestors were valiant knights and warriors 1000 years ago, was considered a mesalliance.

OLD AGE PBNSIONS.

The British Government are evidently afraid to tackle the question of old age pensions. The matter was recently referred to a Departmental Committee to inquire into the financial aspects of the proposals made by the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the subject. The conclusions which the Departmental Committee arrived at were that the earring out of the scheme recommended by the Select Committee would, if the pension age were fixed at 65, involve a progressive annual expenditure commencing at £10,300,000, and rising in 191 1 to £12,650,000, in 1921 to £15,650,000, and so on. These estimates, it is admitted, are founded mainly on hypothesis, or rather on a series of hypotheses, there being no definite data upon which to work. In view of the composition of the committee, however, it may be taken that the figures are as near an approach to the probable actual cost as it is possible to make. And while there are, of course, many objections to the pension scheme propounded by the Select Committee other than financial, this exposition of its great cost will be (remaiks a well known financial paper) sufficient to discredit it in the eyes of the British taxpayer. It may, however, be possible to reform the pension system of Great Britain so that the worker and the soldier may be included. When a pension scheme that runs into millions is propounded, people are apt to consider the proposal too great a burden even for the British Empire. Now if we compare that proposed for Great Britain and Ireland with that in actual force in this Colony, the results are nearly the same as far as population is considered. The amount required in New Zealand for old age pensions this year will be about £200,000, with a population, roughly speaking, of 800,000. The population of the United Kingdom is, say, 40,000,000 — fifty times that of this Colony, so that at the same rate an old age pension scheme for the former country would be about £10,000,000, very close on what the Departmental Committee calculated on. Therefore, taking per head of the population as the basis of comparison, we find that our responsibility is just as great in proportion as that which apparently frightens the British Cabinet from dealing with a pressing subject. The amount spent in war during the past twelve months would provide sufficient money to pay an old age pension in the United Kingdom for the next five years. The average British taxpayer is never appalled by expenditure in the latter direction.

A VINDICATION.

The appointment of Sir William Butler to the command at Aldershot reminds us that it is now somewhat over a year since he resigned that of the South African forces in consequence ot a diiterence of opinion with the High Commissioner and the Colonial Secretary. War was then imminent and the High Commissioner directed that certain positions should be occupied, but Sir William Butler, who had by that time formed a pretty accurate estimate of the fighting capabilities of the two republics and had furthermore a thorough knowledge of the difficult nature of the country which he was called upon to defend, pointed out to the Home authorities the impossibility of the task with the small force at his command. He warned the High Commissioner and Mr. Chamberlain that he would

require five times the number of troops that he had then under him to withstand the united forces of the republics. He spoke as an expert who had been studying the situation for some time, but his advice was practically laughed to scorn by the Colonial Secretary, who, backed up by 'a section of the press, entered on the contest with a light heart, and a conviction born of vanity th it three months would see the end of the war. General Butler was looked upon as a pessimist ; the Jingo press went so far as lo iuui ihai lie was a pio-IWi. AllliuU^h he got the command of the Western District he whs for months under a cloud, and lor a considerable time he was the object ot vile attacks in the press. In consequence of his position his mouth wa>. shut; milu-iry etiquette pi evented him from defending himself, and the Colonial Secu t iry and the War Office did not seem at all anxious th it he should he eiven an opportunity of so doing. They had ignored Ins aivice, but every week during the early part of the campaign bt ought fresh proof of the wisdom of his counsels. The Boer tanners, who were held in such contempt by London editors, showed that they could fight, and their commanders displayed a knowledge of military tatics which, if not brilliant, was at least unexpected. The march to Pretoria was not the picnic it was expected to be, and by degrees the British public and the saner ot the British newspapers woke up to the fact that Sir William Butler had been right, and that if his advice had b.-en taken at first the nation would not have to mourn the loss of so many brave lives, nor hear of those periodical ' reverses ' which were of such constant occurrence during the first six months of the campaign. Instead of the 130,000 men which General Butler said would be required — an estimate which was then considered ridiculously excessive— 200,000 have been found necessary, and the casualty list alone has exceeded the force at his disposal prior to the outbreak of war. General Butler's appointment to Aldershot is practically a vindication of his opinions, but it is to be hoped the despatches which passed between him and the High Commissioner will see the light of day, for then the British public will be in a position to apportion the blame for a great deal of inexplicable blundering that has taken place in connection with this war.