M. Delcasse has arrived in St. Petersburg, and the Russians
are showering flatteries upon him, giving dinners, for example, at which all who are great in Russia attend. This naturally leads to further conjectures as to the 'object of so unusual a visit. In Paris it is represented as a pure act of friendship, but there are two or three other, perhaps more probable, solutions of the mystery., One constantly repeated is that ' the French Government wishes the Russian Embassy to be changed, as the present Ambassador and his suite are too friendly to the Nationalists. Another is that - M. de Witte greatly needs a loan of twenty millions, and wishes to raise it in France. A third is that Russia wishes for a naval station in the Mediterranean, and proposes to buy Biserta. A fourth is that M. Delcasse desires Russian sanction and aid for his schemes in Morocco ; while a fifth is that Russia is anxious to know whether her great ally can be relied on against Japan in the Far East. Hitherto France has played an independent part in China, interfering mainly as ex-officio protector of Roman Catholic missions. France will certainly not go further unless great advantages are offered her, and Count Lamsdorff would like to know confidentially what her terms would be. That seems a reasonable conjecture, but nowadays, when nobody says anything except Count von Billow, no one can do more than speculate.
