“Danger Signs in the Old World.”
By B.
Under the above heading the Tribune of this city recently published the following summary of warlike symptoms in the Old World. The situation has not improved since this was printed: “Danger signals seem to be flying over almost every quarter of Europe, Asia and Africa, and the diplomats of the old world never were so busy as they are just now. If you have read the foreign dispatches for the last ten days—and it’s worth while, for Europe is making history these days—you will have discovered the following facts: “Russia has broken a treaty with Japan in order to secure a naval base on the Corean coast. “Japan has dispatched a powerful fleet to seize and fortify a position opposite the one leased by Russia. “Russia is shipping transport after transport, loaded with soldiers and guns, to Port Arthur, while Japan is mobilizing a great army. “Russia has moved 75,000 soldiers to the frontier of Afghanistan, and Great Britain has quietly shifted regiments in India until every pass on the frontier is heavily guarded. “France is actively engaged in war in the Algerian hinterland, fighting daily battles with the Arabs, and capturing towns and provinces long claimed by Morocco under treaties with Europe. “The Sultan of Morocco has mobilized his Arab forces and started them to the frontier, where a clash with the French army is imminent. “Emperor Menelek has set up a claim for all the territory lying between the present frontier of Abyssinia and the Nile, and has sent an army of 40,000 men into the disputed region on the pretense of putting down the rebellious natives. “Germany has seized hundreds of square miles of territory which up to the present time has always been included as a part of the Congo Free State. “Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria has for months been planning a declaration of independence from Turkey, thus endangering the peace of the Balkans. “Russia has sent a peremptory note to Turkey, declaring that the Porte’s attitude toward the Armenians will no longer be tolerated. “In France the only political party that clamors for war with England, carried the last election by an overwhelming majority, and the same party is breaking up the ministry that stands firmly for peace. “In Italy revolution against the present form of government is in the air. The Radicals and Socialists three weeks ago forced the dissolution of Parliament by their demands for a revision of the constitution. “Sweden and Norway are arming with feverish haste, both fearing a crisis in the quarrel that has kept the flame of national jealousy alive for a century. “And last—and least, too, it may be granted—here is the United States threatening a resort to extreme measures to collect a long standing claim for indemnity from Turkey.”380 Soldiers and statesmen have long been expecting a war that would involve practically all of Europe, and that would be more terribly destructive than any war the world has yet seen. It would seem impossible that this long anticipated war can be averted many years longer. As pointed out by the Czar when he invited the several governments to participate in the Hague Peace Congress, the nations are now burdened beyond endurance by war revenues in time of peace. Sooner or later some nation, or combination of nations, will precipitate a conflict in the hope of a readjustment that will give relief from the present expensive peace, maintained as it is by immense standing armies and by proportionally large and not less costly navies. Nor can this conflict, when it comes, be confined to Europe. The world is not so large as it used to be. Steam and electricity have brought once widely separated nations into close proximity. Even the United States is likely to be involved in the impending conflict. As a nation we have departed in a measure from the time-honored tradition of the fathers that forbade any entangling alliance; besides the government now has interests in the far East that must be protected. The “danger signs” are to be seen everywhere.