The Daily Mail of Wednesday quotes from Le Rappel a
curiously frank statement as to why France dreads war, and the need for promoting friendly feelings with England in spite of the Russian Alliance. "What could our Fleet do if opposed to Great Britain's P Our coast-line is also not well defended. Brest lies at the mercy of any enterprising Admiral. Algeria could not repel an invader. Our colonies are without garrisons, without fortifications, without guns. Madagascar and Tonquiu are absolutely unprepared against a European aggressor. We must not long for war ! " That is undoubtedly what the Americans call "horse-sense," though it is somewhat surprising to find it expressed in a French newspaper. In truth, France is, owing to a variety of circumstances, the most vulnerable country in the world, for she is specially liable to injury both from sea and land. Germany could lose her colonies without any real injury. If France were deprived of Algiers, Tunis, and the rest of her vast over-sea possessions, as she would be if she went to war with a nation having the command of the sea, the damage sustained by her would be very great. France is equally exposed to attack on land, for her Eastern neighbour has the greatest and most efficient Army the world has ever eeen. We do not, of course, say that France might not surmount all these dangers, but that she us. specially open to the strokes of war, and that they would fall on her with terrible force, cannot be doubted for a moment.
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