THE THREE EMPIRES.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 631, 27 June 1876, Page 3

THE THREE EMPIRES.

The Russian St Petersburg Gazette ( publishes an article on the distrust prevailing in Europe as to the coalition of the three Northern Empires. “ This distrust,” it says, “is sufficiently justified by the incessant repetition of pacific and friendly assurances between Austria, Germany, and Russia, while they continue their armaments as if war were imminent. Their foreign relations, moreover, leave much to be desired. England and Russia look upon each other with suspicion, and England has just ascribed hostile motives to the Russian Government. Is Russia to answer that it seems impossible to shake English prejudices? That two States whose mission it is to live in peace and harmony should condemn each other to distrust and hostility is to be regretted ; but the fact exists, and cannot be altered. The relations between Russia and Austria, too, are unsatisfactory. Their interests are so identical that a collision between them can hardly be regarded as a mere chimera. Andrassy still keeps the feudal and clerical Chauvinists in Austria at bay, but his position is believed to be already insecure; his enemies are said to have succeeded in depriving him of the confidence of his Sovereign. * * His successor would certainly reverse his policy, and the friendship between Russia and Austria would then be exposed to serious dangers. As to Germany, it cannot at present be said what policy she will adopt towards us. For the present she has left the management of Eastern affairs to Austria and Russia; but it does not follow that the Berlin Cabinet will at the decisive moment remain passive. * * An indirect conflict, if not a direct one, may arise between the interests of Germany and those of Russia in the East. We are warm supporters of the Russo-German alliance, in whose maintenance and solidity we see the only effectual guarantee for the preservation of peace; but it is only the more necessary that we should foresee every contingency. As to the gratitude which our Gerraanophilists say the Germans will always feel towards Russia for having assisted them in achieving unity, such a word as gratitude does not exist in the diplomatic vocabulary, and Prince Bismarck is anything but a sentimental politician Even if Germany were not to imitate Austria, and ‘ astonish the world by her ingratitude,’ we may be sure that Prince Bismarck, or whoever may then be at the head of united Germany, will be guided solely by the national interests of his country, without caring much whether Russia is pleased or not. * * We, too, though sincerely wishing to remain on good terms with Germany, must not lose sight of the fact that the time may come when we shall fall out with our former friends. * * Those who have once tasted the sweets of an aggressive policy do not draw back when they are again tempted. That Germany will not remain passive when the hour for the final settlement of the Eastern Question has struck is as certain as that she will then have to choose between Austria and Russia ; for her own interests will hardly be reconcilable with those of the two latter States. Germany will undoubtedly have a decisive voice in the Eastern question, and naturally derive the greatest possible advantage from this circumstance. Until affairs in the East become clearer, she will remain passive ; but she will dictate her conditions at the last moment, and that these conditions will be hard, utterly unscrupulous, and determined only by personal interests may be inferred from Bismarck’s past career and his peace negotiations with Denmark, Austria, and France. The German Chancellor knows how to disarm his friends as well as his enemies.”

BUILDING SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND.

It is about forty years, says the Pall Mall Gazette , since building societies were legalised in this country by the statute of William IV; and thirty years ago the powers of the Act were turned to the formation of freehold land societies. The latter associations were started in the manufacturing districts of the North of England, where, too, the ordinary building societies took earliest root. Considerably more than one-third of the small owners, i.e, those having loss than one acre apiece, enumerated in the new Domesday Book, are found in five counties. Stafford registers 38,672 ; Warwick, 46,891 ; Lancaster, 76,177; West York, 59,426 ; and Durham, 31,205 : all told they amount to 247,444 persons who are owners of some small part of the land. There is not, so far as we know, any record of the number ©f persons who have become owners under the powers of the benefit building or other Acts. Yet an accurate return, if attainable, would be of much interest upon one side of the land question. It might prove that the ownership of land changes more frequently than is generally thought, and that comparatively large parcels after transfer to new holders are often subdivided into very small parcels, Mr J. M. Ludlow, the new registrar of friendly societies, who appears to care more for the statistics of his department than his predecessors, states that last year shareholders in English building societies had £4,016,000 of capital, and that other persons had deposited money in them amounting to £2,044,000. Here, then, so far as the return goes—it appears to be approximative only—more than £6,000,000 had been invested, nearly the whole of which was out on mortgage. The number of societies represented by these figures is about 5157. Returns from existing societies of the number of owners in full enjoyment of their respective properties, or who have them still on mortgage, with the extent and annual value of their holdings, are doubtless attainable. Some societies have accomplished the limited objects for which they were registered, and no longer exist; in these cases the attainment of full information would not be so easy to reach, and here possibly an approximation only could be had.