Just before the close of 1893, however, a modus vivendi for a year was arranged, of the nature of a reciprocity agreement under which mutual concessions were made.

To understand the situation aright, it is necessary to bear in mind that the wines of Spain, owing mainly to the work of nature and the qualities of the soil, have greater alcoholic strength than those of France, and are therefore much superior to the latter for use in the fabrication of brandies and refined alcohols, and other products of distillation, and in the manufacture of ordinary table wine (by watering, mixing with inferior grape juice, etc). Accordingly the French distillers and wholesale wine merchants opposed the duty on Spanish wines, being interested in getting them as cheaply as possible. On the other hand, the French wine-growers demanded protection against the competition of a superior and yet cheaper article.

But again, Spanish interests required that Spanish wines a chief article of the national production-should not be shut out from the large market in France; and likewise to various French manufactures the Spanish market was indispensable. Both countries therefore had reason to relax their protective systems, and yet each had at hand means of retaliation upon which it might fall back in resisting the too immoderate demands of the other. In this way France held out against the Spanish demand for a tariff lower than the minimum schedule rate. To grant a lower tariff than that, would have required the intervention of the French parliament, where the sympathy of the legislators with the large class of wine-growers might have overcome the influence of the distillers and wholesale dealers and the ambition to spread French manufactures. Spain accordingly finally consented to accept the French minimum tariff.

German-Roumanian Commercial Treaty.-The treaty of commerce concluded in December last between Germany and Roumania, is another example of the growing influence in Europe of the reciprocity idea as modifying the policy of protection. Forced into the adoption of a protectionist policy by the economic war waged against her by Austria-Hungary, with whom .she has a serious rivalry of race as well as of production, Roumania has undergone within the last few years a great economic transformation. To take an example, her annual commerce with France alone shows an increase of more than 25,000,000 francs since 1886. In July, 1891, her tariff was rised by from 10 to 20 per cent. Up to that time the

German importation had held the first rank, while the corresponding exportation from Roumania into Germany was very small. Roumanian cereals were practically barred out of Germany by a prohibitive tariff. But since the adoption of a protective policy by Roumania, Germany has made advances looking to the obtaining of concessions; and the recently concluded treaty, which is peculiarly distasteful to the Agrarian opposition of Ger-. many, has secured for the little nation a fair measure of reciprocity.

THE EGYPTIAN INCIDENT.

England has again had occasion to interfere with the strong arm in Egyptian affairs; and, not only for the sake of her prestige, but also for the sake of the vast commercial interests conditional upon the preservation of steady tranquillity in the country through which lies the most important route to the Orient, she has found it necessary to check again the headstrong anti-European tendencies of the present restless and impetuous young khedive, Abbas II.

Ever since his accession two years ago, Abbas has shown almost undisguised hostility to the English, thwarting their efforts in every branch of the service, and appointing officials of opposite views wherever possible. În January, 1893, he planned a serious blow at the British ascendancy by assuming authority to dismiss his premier and readjust his cabinet independently of the advice of Lord Cromer, the British representative at Cairo; but on that occasion the coup d'état was instantly checked (Vol. 3, p. 43).

In the latter part of January of the present year, an incident occurred, the result of which was another sharp warning to the khedive against too great independence of language or action. For some time past he had been showing his dislike to the English officers of his army, and inflicting upon them petty annoyances. His irritation, it is said, was increased by the enthusiastic welcome with which the English officers at the posts in upper Egypt had a short time before received Mukhtar Pasha, the Turkish high commissioner at Cairo. The latter had made a tour of the frontier posts, and expressed himself as highly pleased with their appearance. As he is a soldier of experience, his favorable verdict was received with great satisfaction by the English officers, who entertained him at a banquet. Here, in returning thanks, he spoke of the

Egyptian army as a portion of the imperial army of the sultan, apparently ignoring the khedive, and virtually asserting the suzerainty of the Porte over Egypt. This was a cause of offense to the young ruler; and, when the latter also arrived at the frontier on a tour of inspection, in the latter part of January, he launched out into abuse of the condition of the frontier force. General Kitchener, the sirdar of the Egyptian army, thereupon tendered his resignation. The British authorities promptly served the khedive with an ultimatum demanding that he should retract his aspersions on the efficiency of the frontier force. Abbas at first was unwilling to yield, and continued for a brief while deaf to the counsels of Riaz Pasha, his premier, who hurried up from Cairo to urge his master to yield. He however eventually gave in, apologized to General Kitchener, and requested him to withdraw his resignation. General Kitchener consented to retain his post. Lord Rosebery, then British foreign secretary, deemed the apology sufficient, and directed Lord Cromer to demand that the khedive publish a formal retraction of his strictures on the army, and issue an order praising its condition, and that he also remove from office Maher Pasha, his under-secretary of war, who was charged with influencing the khedive in his obnoxious course. These demands were all complied with, the khedive issuing an order of the day to General Kitchener, as sirdar of the army, expressing his satisfaction with the condition of the frontier force, and congratulating its officers.

Throughout the whole incident the khedive had no countenance in his course from either his premier or his foreign minister; and it is noteworthy as showing the realized danger of the situation, that, in spite of the traditional French jealousy of England, the Marquis de Reverseaux, the French representative in Cairo, upheld Lord Cromer's course.

Major-General Sir Edward Henry Lohrab Pasha, C. B., has been appointed to succeed Maher Pasha as under-secretary of war. He is known as a persistent supporter of English policy, and his appointment is received with great satisfaction in British military circles. The new undersecretary is an Armenian by birth and a Christian. He served for ten years under Sir Francis Grenfell, the late sirdar, and has the reputation of being a very able officer. He rendered valuable service to the late khedive at the time of Arabi Pasha's revolt, and was at Tel-el-Kebir on Lord Wolseley's staff. For some time past he has held

the post of inspector-general of recruiting to the Egyptian army.

Although the incident is diplomatically closed, its effects do not disappear so readily. It has given the khedive and the extreme native party another occasion to long for the freedom of the country from the strong hand of British control, and has to some extent increased the danger of stirring up fanaticism among the troops and the ignorant classes of the native population.

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

By "the Eastern question" we mean the developments in Asia, particularly India and its dependencies, which affect the international relations of the powers. In these developments Great Britain and Russia are perhaps the most deeply interested; but the interests of France and China are also deeply concerned.

The year 1894 opened with an improved condition of affairs both on the northwestern and on the southeastern frontiers of India. On the southeast, the Chinese, somewhat alarmed by the attitude of France in Siam, have displayed an eagerness to arrange the difficulties connected with the Burmese boundary, and have invited the British adviser on Chinese affairs to make a tour of the disputed district.

On the north west, as a result of the recent mission of Sir Mortimer Durand to Cabul, the good will of Afghanistan has been secured, and the imperial defenses in that quarter greatly strengthened-a result which had been facilitated by some recent acts of aggression on the part of Russia. The ameer has asked the government of India to expedite the demarcation of the boundaries of Afghanistan under the Durand agreement, and it is announced that the work will at once be taken in hand on the Khyber, Kuram, and Baluchistan frontiers. It will be carried on by the local political officers. There may, however, be some delay before the demarcation of the Waziristan and Bajawr boundaries is undertaken.

Further to the south, the internal troubles which imperilled Baluchistan have been disposed of by the firm establishment of the rule of Mir Mahmond in succession to his father, the lately deposed Mir Khudadad, as khan of Khelat. The new ruler has asked to be admitted into the system of British imperial contingents, and offers to equip and keep up at his own expense a

small force to be unreservedly at the disposal of the government of India. It is not yet announced what reply will be made to this offer, but the fact of its coming from a state lying beyond the confines of British India is highly significant of the strength of England's position in the East.

Baluchistan is an extensive mountainous region lying south of Afghanistan and west of the British Indian province of Sind, the valley of the lower Indus, and including part of the shore of the Indian ocean westward to the Persian boundary. Its principal native state, which has recently come into renewed prominence, is that of the khan of Khelat, who is under the protection of the British Indian empire, and from whom, by a treaty concluded in 1877, the fortress town of Quetta (native name, Shawl), near the head of the Pishin valley, commanding the route from the Bolan pass to Candahar, with the railway since constructed in that direction, passed into British military possession, becoming an advanced station of the greatest importance to the western frontier of British India. The population of Khelat is estimated at nearly 500,000, the tribes being of different races, and most of them Mohammedans of the Sonni creed. The khan of Khelat has nominal government over the whole of Baluchistan, with power to conclude treaties, so that his present offer to the British Indian government is a long step toward practical completion of the annexation of the country to England's imperial possessions in the Orient.

The Pamir Boundary Dispute.-Important developments are announced this quarter regarding this long open controversy. It is reported that the negotiations of the British foreign office have resulted in an arrangement to which the ameer of Afghanistan has assented, under which the state of Jakhan has been left to the protection of the ameer. It is also reported that Count Cassini, the Russian ambassador at Pekín, has succeeded in effecting a settlement with China, under which Russia foregoes her claims in the direction of Korea at the expense of China, and the latter power in return has given assurance that she will no longer oppose the Russian claims in the Pamir region. The report still awaits official confirmation.