New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1878.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 310, 30 March 1878, Page 13

New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1878.

We have heard much of late years about Europe being on the verge of a general conflict. The vast military preparations which were made by the Continental nations were pointed to as an evidence of this ; though there were some who contended that the very fact of all the European Powers being on a war footing would tend to the preservation of peace—that the consequences of war would be so disastrous that the nations would shrink from undertaking it. However, there is no doubt that the present times in Europe are rather perilous, and that any moment may bring tidings of the breaking out of a war which may involve all the Great Powers of Europe. In that case it would be interesting to ascertain on which side England will have to seek her allies. We have recently heard of an Anglo-Austrian alliance, and it is very probable that if Russia pushes her victories too far, Austria, for self-protection, would be compelled to join England in putting a curb on Russian ambition. But Austria, to say the least of it, is a very ■shaky ally, and is also a Power which may collapse at any time, owing to the discordant elements which make up what is known as the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Formerly Germany was regarded as the natural ally of England ; but ever since the Franco-Prussian War, Germany, through its Press and statesmen, has shewn a marked hostility to England. This may partly be accounted for by the sympathy which was evinced in the mother country for France during the war. But it is now said that there is another reason for German antipathy to England. Prince Bismarck particularly desires to include Holland and the Dutch colonies in the German Empire. This, of course, will not be acceptable to England and France, and hence the insulting tone adopted in Germany with regard to the two great Western Powers. Bismarck evidently wants to force a quarrel upon France, but the latter nation will pocket many affronts before she again draws the sword ere she is ready to fight. The French people are biding their time, and neither the insults nor threats of Prince Bismarck will move them to commit such an error as going to war in the present, when time is oa their side. Germany is becoming

impoverished by having to maintain an enormous army to keep France in check. The latter nation, however, can keep a very large force under arms without much financial strain. There is a feeling fast gaining ground in the Home country that in future wars England and France will probably be found fighting on the same side. In connection with this it may have been noted that of late years the reorganisation and increase of the French army were regarded with the highest satisfaction in England. Twenty years ago every improvement in the French army and navy was regarded with the greatest alarm in the British Isles, while as for the French “Perfidious Albion” was the term generally applied to the hereditary enemy. It was also said that the power of England had departed, and that it needed but a hundred thousand Frenchmen to cross the Channel to give the finishing stroke. The following from a leading French journal will show a wonderful alteration intone': —“ As a proof that the world does not yet believe in the abdication and the deposition of England, it suffices to point to the profound emotion which the new attitude of the British Government has produced on the Continent. This emotion, which far from diminishing is rather increasing, is shared to the same degree by the public, the journals, the Governments, and the Stock Exchanges. For ten years past the future conduct of the English Government has become the subject of every conversation, the conviction having spread that an intervention on the part of England might entirely change the aspect of affairs in the East; and it is felt that, if England desires to act, she alone amongst the Powers is capable of going to the end, and is in a position, if necessary, of sustaining the effort for years. At the same time there is in the Russian and Russophile Press an explosion of wrath and a railing against Great Britain which show how much they fear the awakening of the British Lion.” As Engglislimen take a great interest in the French Army, Sir Garnet .Wolseley gives some valuable information on the subject in an article contributed by him to the “Nineteenth Century.” Commenting on the article, the Observer says:— “If France is not in a joosition to make war, she is, at least, in Sir Garnet’s opinion, strong enough to resist attack. Nothing in her history has been more remarkable than the determined energy and unity which have marked, during the past seven years, her efforts for the reorganisation of her army. It is no secret that the Prussian system has been closely followed, with the result that France is now at least three times as strong as she was when Napoleon declared war in 1870. The regular army of France which might be available at the present moment for defensive purposes may, according to the reviewer, be taken at 1,200,000 men, the strength of the active army being 719,000, with a reserve amounting to half a million regularly trained soldiers. In some ten years’ time Sir Garnet Wolseley estimates that France will have an army of 2,471,000 men, but already she has a force which cannot be easily broken up.” The Fall JYLall Gazette on the same subject says : Sir Garnet Wolseley reminds us that in the changes and chances of European politics the day may come when an alliance of the Western Powers would be the only barrier against an aggression as formidable as that of the Great Napoleon. ‘ Germany,’ he says, ‘is our natural ally as long as she remains simply a mighty military Power ; should she, however, take possession of Holland and its colonies her only object can be to rival us on the seas.’ It would be manifestly our interest as well as our duty to make a stand for the independence of Holland, and it would be no less the duty and the interest of France. An Anglo-French alliance would, in that case, become a political necessity for both countries, and as Sir G. Wolseley says, ‘ Holland, Belgium, England, and France allied together would form a league that even proud Germany would feel was too powerful for her to face.’ This is a conjecture that goes far beyond the limits of immediate probabilities • but were it to be realized to-morrow, its possibility would be due chiefly to the reorganization of the French army.” There is evidently some danger in German enmity when such a high military authority as Sir Garnet Wolseley seriously discusses it.