There has been a rumour that France, alarmed at the
hostile temper of Italy, has been taking precautions so to undermine the Mont Cenis Tunnel on the French side that, in case of war, it could be easily destroyed ; and, in point of fact, the French engineers do seem to have been engaged, though without authority, in some such operations. But without receiving any remonstrances from Italy, the French Government has ordered the immediate discontinuance of these operations. Could not the Tunnel itself be neutralised,—forbidden to either nation in case of war, under the guarantee of all the European Powers ? There is something frightful in the thought of the sacrifice of all the labour and wealth essential to these great international undertakings at the first quarrel between two peoples. We suppose the Atlantic Cable, for instance, would, under present circumstances, be ruth- lessly cut, if war broke out between America and any European country.
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