The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 2, No. 10, March 10, 1898 | Page 9

essentially a man of the people. For many years he
has been prominent in the commercial and the political life of France,
and he has always been a champion of the people's rights. But he is not
the kind of leader that would appeal strongly to the army, and, as we
have seen, the army practically controls France at the present moment.
Consequently, if a revolution were to take place in Paris as a result of
the Dreyfus affair, it would probably bring forward a popular military
man as a candidate for leadership. Such a man is to be found in General
Boisdeffre, who figured in the Zola trial and made a bombastic speech
glorifying the army.
A revolution would also, of course, bring up the rival claims in France
of the Royalist and the Napoleonic parties.
The Royalist party is at present headed by the young Duke of Orleans,
who thus far has done very little to distinguish himself. In the event of
a crisis, however, France might recall the fact that a few years ago the
Duke, though exiled from his country, as all the pretenders to the
French throne have been in recent years, forced his way into Paris and
demanded that he be given the right to join the army. This was a very
youthful and theatrical attempt to excite the enthusiasm of the French
people. It failed, however, for the republican Government succeeded in
placing the Duke in a rather ridiculous position. He was kept in prison
for a few months, and then quietly released.
The Bonapartist party has for leader Prince Napoleon Victor Jerome
Bonaparte, grandson of Prince Jerome, youngest brother of Napoleon
the First.
Prince Victor has had almost no chance of making himself known to
the world, and at the present time his chances of succeeding to the
throne of France seem very slight.
* * * * *
Our Government has been quietly making provision for strengthening
our navy and coast defences in case of war.

This fact does not mean that the governmental authorities believe that
war is sure to break out. It means simply that they are taking
precautions to be prepared for any circumstances which may arise.
The Department of the Navy has been hampered by being obliged to
wait for the approval of Congress before it can carry out certain
important work. It has, however, lately put two more vessels in
commission without the approval of Congress and on its own
responsibility. They are the monitor Miantonomoh and the
harbor-defence ram Katahdin.
Since the disaster to the Maine, the Government has received a great
number of applications for the regular army and for the naval service.
* * * * *
During the past few months some very rich "finds" have been made in
the Klondike, and a great deal of excitement has been created there.
The facilities for carrying on the work are now greater than they have
previously been, and to this fact is attributed the new discoveries.
If the latest reports are to be credited, the gold region is proving to be
as valuable as it was thought to be during the first excitement.
Nevertheless, it is only the few who win great profits, while the
majority suffer.
The Canadian Government is taking an active interest in the Klondike,
and it will probably undertake before long to have surveys made to
discover the best route from the interior of Canada to the Yukon, and
will also have the Mackenzie-River route improved. Sir Wilfrid Laurier
has lately expressed the belief that there are gold regions in the Rocky
Mountains yet to be discovered.
Our Government has several questions to settle with Canada, arising
out of the conflict of opinion regarding the boundaries between the
American and the Canadian Klondike. These are likely to be settled,
however, in a perfectly friendly way.

We continue to hear reports of suffering among the miners, and the
Government is doing its best to provide relief. The best relief it can
provide, however, is to keep out of the gold regions those who are not
sufficiently provided with supplies to keep them alive for a long period.
An American correspondent from Dawson City has lately given a
gloomy picture of the way affairs are managed in the gold regions. The
Canadian Government, he claims, is doing more for the miners than our
own authorities. The Canadian mail service, for example, is much
better than our own. Throughout the Klondike, governmental discipline
seems to be very poor. Most of the money used is United States money,
but the store-keepers and the owners of saloons do their best to keep it
out of circulation; they naturally find gold more profitable. According
to the correspondent, the miners are the men who are making the
smallest