The Evening Star. MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2524, 20 March 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star. MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1871.

Thu decisive move has been won by Prussia in the short but most disastrous war with France. The conquerors have dictated their own terms, and notwithstanding the report of mass meetings at Bordeaux and Lyons, and the possibility of local resistance, it seems more than likely the strife will be brought to a close. To both countries the war lias been exhausting. If France has lost a standing army, a number of vessels of war, a large sum of money, and the border provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, Germany has to mourn over tens of thousands of her best citizens, cut oil* in the prime of their manhood, or reduced to uselessness through being maimed for life. No doubt there are compensating circumstances that may prove of incalculable advantage in the future. The unity of Germany has been hastened and consolidated, and the value of that unity has been shewn by the very means that were intended to destroy it. France, on the other hand, is not united. The late Emperor, by one

false moye,. has destroyed the work of neatly twenty years, and the country, impoverished by war, seems likely to have the evils of anarchy added to its troubles. There is a class of emptyheaded sneerers, who seem to think those whom they term “the peace-at-any- “ price men ” are made of moaner stuff than they. If they could but read the future from the past, they might be induced to think that those who can have reason on their side when they condemn war, oven for the ostablisnment of right, as the wrong way of obtaining a right thing, livery war leaves a crop of evils behind it, that are not rooted out for generation after generation. Eighty-two years have passed away since the Revolution of 1789, and France has not yet achieved a settled form of government. In all probability the Prussians will soon withdraw from French soil, and then internal difficulties begin. The Napoleon family have lost their prestige, and our telegrams tell ns that the two branches of the Royal Family of France, the Bourbons and the Orleans, are candidates for the throne. How this will end is a curious problem. The crown has hitherto been in the gift of the standing army ; but there is no standing army now. The whole of the circumstances of the country arc exceptional. No European nation, as far as we know, has ever been in so strange a condition. It is a new starting point —a sweeping away of old traditional instruments of government, with apparently no man of sufficient national prestige to secure general confidence. So far as England is concerned, wo are glad to see that the House of Commons supports Mr Gladstone in his non-in-tervention policy. Taking the lead in “ the observation of neutrality rights “ and obligations,” in all probability the prosperity that must follow will prove an inducement for other nations to adopt a like policy, and the glories of pe ice will supersede the barbarisms of war. There is a breadth of view evinced in the course he pursues which contrasts finely with the retrogressive sentiments of Mr Disraeli. The Tory leader seems as if he thought the maintenance of a treaty that was extorted by a foolish war, was worth another fearful struggle, notwithstanding the changed circmnstu.ces of the Eastern question. With him the welfare of mankind is wrapped up in aristocratic pride and middle ago traditions. He and his party have stood still while the world has advanced, and, apparently forgetful of the change that science has wrought in the relation of England to the Continental nations, he would rush into a war rather than recede one iota from the terms of a treaty no longer of any value to Great Britain. Fortunately for England and the world, his politics are rapidly becoming ideas of the past. On the whole, the news is cheering for the Colonies. With the close of the war, and the amicable settlement of the disputed questions with Russia and America, commerce and industry will revive, and the demand for our produce will have a beneficial effect upon every class amongst us. The feeling of security will induce confidence in the investment of capital, and capital itself will tend to flow to the Colonies, because many of the ordinary channels in Europe will be closed. We are not in a position to comment upon the new postal arrangements of Mr Vogel. This is plain, however, that the first were too advantageous to New Zealand to secure their ratification, and though they have been repudiated by Mr Webb, they must ha\e given Mr Vogel good ground for demanding more favorable terms than could otherwise have been obtained.