Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1905. FRENCH FRIENDSHIP.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3562, 19 August 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1905. FRENCH FRIENDSHIP.

Thk visit of the Frehcli squadron to Portsmouth has now come to a close, and what may prove to be an er/Och-rnahinp; event in the history of the world brought to completion. The fact that Mi John Morlkv, whose sympathy for and intimate knowledge of French history and literature is well known, should have been chosen to reply on behalf of Parliament at the Westminster Hall banquet is noteworthy. Mr MorLKY is one of the school of Liberals furthest removed irom the policy of the present Government. His declaration that on the question o: the Anglo-French entente both parties were agreed would have, and no doubt was intended to have, a great effect with those who arc watching the movement o' events. Franee and England both stand for peace, and, if they act in unison, can go far towards securing it. The Emperor William has, indeed, gained little by his interference in the Moroccan question. He has gained a diplomatic victory, and he has gained kudos with the Mohammedan world. But Iris object clearly was to detach France from Great Britain, for the agreement of those two countries stands in the way of his ambitions in the. North Sea-, in Holland, a.;c.ma i.i Turkey. He has seen what is a new and more peaceful alliance arise by, the side of the old and now ineffective one —an alliance, too, which threatens to have a dissolving effect on the Triple Alliance by detaching Italy from the latter. If only Russia could be convinced of the folly of continuing the disastrous war in the Far East, we should have a Europe solid for peace, which would restrain the Kaiser’s ambitions within reasonable bounds for, perhaps, a generation to come. It is suggested that pressure is being brought to bear on both Russia and Japan to secure a settlement, and it will be the universal wish that such efforts mav be crowned with success.