Mataura Ensign GORE, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1884. THE FRANCO-CHINESE WAR.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 386, 26 August 1884, Page 2

Mataura Ensign GORE, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1884. THE FRANCO-CHINESE WAR.

Hostilities have been resumed be* iVance -and China, and our latest intelligence is ' to Jtjfoe '-effect, that the French haye struck" iihe first blow. Admiral Gotjkbet (has destroyed the arsenal at v 'Fop.^Ohoyfi and sunk seven Chinese gunboat's. It was jthought at first that the conflagration might hare been supprfssed/and. negociations were in progress wnereb'y the . .frontier difficulty might , hare! been . arranged. But according to French accounts, the armistice . was? violated by the Chinese at Lang-son or Lang-sou, and such a sum demanded by way of .indemnity that thienChinese Government refused to p"ky itjand war has 1 been ; formally initiated. The conditions under which this convict will be Carried on arel^ery different froni what they were when the Chinese ports were forcibly opened, i The influx of ligktfrom the .West has shown the jChinese the way to ; many improvements in military art. Instead q£ fighting, as then, with .the weapons and tactics of their forefathers, they hare adopted European methods of arming and combination. They hay c long been quietly picking rip European improve men jts ; an<i their improvements have been almost air in'the art of warfare, !Prom being a petty war about the boundary line of a provinces this bids fair to ber come a national l one» and it is one which Europe cannot view with indifference!* Russians are evidently alive to their interests, although they ostensibly die very far to the north of the scone of the difficulty. We are informed that three ironclads have been despatched to reinforce the Bussian fleet already cruising along the Ohirfese 'coast. J The . ■conquest of China presents many unusual obstacles. "W;i|h; mosttw^stera^ nations, th«tr ofefj jsct would be gained by the seizure of the ports, 15iit it is not so with China. SB e^'iPself^"cMtaiaed, and the stoppage of intercourse" 'with 'other nations would /embara^s them more than it Woulk her. ' The closure of the Chinese ports< iwould be a European affair, and doubtless Britain, which hats the | greatest interest in the matter, will \ look to it that her rights are respected. If France is determined to enforce her claims she will have to wade through blood and treasure to the gates of Pekin. If the Chinese are not cowed at the very outset, it will probably be the most expensive war that Erance has yet engaged in ; for it is the most distant and the most difficult. Familiarity with European weapon* has taken away their terrors, and General Goedoit has shown how the Chinese, can... fight if properly trained , and led. On the, other hand we find Erance, w*o has revered >Itg^%a^ bound tKflinects **-. ifie 1T& i ®^i>-^---man war, eager for/ the fray. Ske has now something to avenge, and the French are not slo^ to avenge an insult to their flag. It ig possible that popular enthusiasm, which does nof; appear to have been aroused by the frontier dispute, will now assert itself, and that the Government will be forced into war. The Senate has already placed an immense sum at the diiposal of M. Ferry, and it is probable that a large expedition will be at once despatched.