The Gisborne Times PUBLISHSD EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MAY 2, 1906 EGYPTIAN FRONTIER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1738, 2 May 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHSD EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MAY 2, 1906 EGYPTIAN FRONTIER.

' Tlie cablegrams to-day indicate that j there has been tlio usual interference 1 from Berlin. Whether or not Geri many is at the bottom of the mischief she will got tho discredit of it. “ The source of tho international difficulty that has arisen in the barren desert 1 of Sinai is not far to seek, for Germany is as certainly behind the Porte as England is behind the Khedive.” ; Thus cogently does tho N.Z. Herald . sum up the situation, and most people t will agree with that view. After ' showing that Germany can hardly turn in any quarter without encountering tho Anglo-Saxon power or her Frankish neighbor, tho writer proceeds:—That Germany has not appearod opon'.y in the Sinai dispute means nothing. She will appear in her own good time, if it suits her to do so, just as she appeared in the Moroccan question. Meanwhile, Turkoy, tho cat’s-paw, is being given very plainly to understand that whilo there is every willingness to discuss and to fairly delimit tho Turko* Egyptian frontier there is no intention to submit to the Turkish “ bluff.” Turkish troops have seized Egyptian territory and must bo withdrawn before any negotiations can be undertaken. If they are not withdrawn they will be driven out by force - and British troops are gathering in Egypt to expel them. This is the present situation, a delicate one if Turkey proves stubborn, which means if Germany pledges her support. And in this connection we are confronted by the growing feeling of the Mahommedan world that Germany is the “Protector of the Moslems” This idea has been implanted for a number i of years by the diplomacy of Berlin. : Germany refused to be a party to : Macedonian reform. The Kaiser 1 visited Jerusalem and was effusive ] in his expressions of friendship to the i Porte. In Morocco, Germany has f posed as the champion of threatened ] independence, and we have just been < informed that the tribes of Algeria are ; showing unrest because of the’ir belief c in German sympathy and assistance, i The remedy, of course, lies with the s nations who do not wish to see the ( present distribution of territorial 1 authority overturned. But the a plaiuost remedy is not always takon c

for international ovils, although the necessity for individual rosistanco to unmistakable attack is so obviouß that ovon tho Hannormau Oabinot finds itself conipollod to strengthen tlie British garrison in Egypt and to mako j preparations for possible war.

SLEEPY OPOTIKL

Judging by the Opotiki Horald tho pooplo of tliat district aro not yot proporly awako. “Wo do not,” says tho local journal, “tako oxcoption to the railway agitation going on in this district—far from it ; it is natural that a progressive pooplo should koop paco with tho tiinoß, and it is a solemn certainty that tho political gods aro a trillo hard of hearing. But, whilo wo cordially omlorso tho action of thoso | who aro zealously working in tlio interests of tho East Coast railway for tho bonolit of tho future, wo aro selfish onough to incline to tho opinion that tho noods of tho present should not bo lost sight of. Now, thoro is a little railway Echomo which has periodically been brought before the attention of tho local public—one which, if eifoctod, would provo of incalculable bonolit to tho pooplo of tho proaont day and probably do as much to induce settlement in this district as ovon tho completion of tho East Coast railway, which, it should bo romombored, may never come within coooe of Opotiki. Wo refer to tho proposal to construct a line from Opotiki to Ohiwa. Some twelve months ago an enthusiastic meeting was held in connection with this matter, and a strong committee w r as appointed to further the object sought to bo attained. Eor a few weeks this committee was conspicuous by an extraordinary amount of energy, then came tho subsidence, followed by tho total collapse which befalls so many schomes in our delightful little township. It would not be right to accuse the Opotiki-Ohiwa Railway Leaguo of being “ practically defunct”—it is absolutely dead—inert as tho proverbial red herring. And now is the timo when it should be very much alive and up and doing. The paper even goes so far as to term thoso advocating a railway as philanthropists, considering that the shriok of tho railway engines’ whistle will not be heard in their time. It is certainly slow in coming, but will be hoard long boforo the Opotiki people of the presont day anticipate it,