NORWAY AND SWEDEN.

Singularly enough the return of the arctic explorer Nansen from his voyage to the frozen North, has revived the smoldering embers of the Scandinavian dispute. Nansen is a Norwegian radical, with republican sympathies. It is said that the Fram on her homeward way flew at the masthead the single flag of Norway, and not the ensign of

the Swedish-Norwegian union; and the explorer took advantage of the festival given in his honor in Christainia, to make a plea for an independent Norway. This is said to have given great umbrage to King Oscar, whose financial assistance it was, after the Norwegian storthing had refused to appropriate a sufficient amount, which did much to render the expedition of the Fram possible.

It was announced in August that, owing to continuous inimical attacks upon him in his native land, Björnstjerne Björnson, Norwegian poet

and liberal orator, had decided to take up a permanent residence in Germany. His advocacy of republican principles and institutions has been persistent and fearless; but it was his proposal to give to Russia a free port on the coast of Norway, if such should be necessary in order to secure Russian support for the establishment of Norwegian independence, which brought down upon him the most vehement wrath of his foes.

BELGIUM.

On July 5 an election was held to fill half of the seats of the Belgian chamber of deputies, which seats were

left vacant through the provision of the constitution requiring a renewal of half the chamber every two years. Altogether about seventy-five seats were voted for at the polls on July 5 and at the reballots on the 12th, the results showing no material alteration in the general complexion of the chamber, but some gain on the part of the ultra-clerical wing of the great Catholic party. No great principle was at issue in the elections, which were very quiet.

BULGARIA.

On August 15 the cabinet of M. Stoiloff resigned office. Official authority which will reveal the significance of the crisis cannot at this writing be quoted; but there is some ground for connecting it with the recent change of policy on the part of Prince Ferdinand, which has rendered him practically a puppet in the hands of Muscovite diplomacy. His breach of faith in refusing to approve of the treaty of commerce negotiated with Austria, and in concluding instead a convention with Russia, had wrought estrangement between him and his minister of foreign affairs, M. Natchevitch. Moreover, he was at variance with Colonel Petroff, his minister of war, who opposed surrendering to Russian dictation and reinstating with their former grades the traitors who had taken advantage of their position as officers of the military household of Prince Alexander of Battenberg to kidnap their master and carry him off into Russia. Indeed, it is even rumored that the precipitation of the crisis was immediately due to Russian pressure aimed against Colonel Petroff. There was also some difference among ministers as to the expediency of rendering obligatory in schools the teaching of the Russian language. Altogether the recent trend of events in the principality indicates the supremacy of Russian counsels at Sofia.

GREECE.

A decision in the famous Zappa case, which in 1892 caused a rupture of diplomatic relations between Greece and Roumania (Vol. 2, p. 350), was reached in the Roumanian courts about July 1. It will be remembered that the rupture occurred because Roumania insisted on having her claims to property which was included in the Zappa bequest to the Greek nation tried by Roumanian courts and not settled by arbitration. The matter has since dragged along through several complicated phases

in the Roumanian courts; but a decision has at length been reached excluding both governments and acknowledging the Zappa relatives as the only heirs.

Princess Marie Madeline, fifth child and only surviving daughter of King George and Queen Olga of Greece, has been betrothed to Grand Duke George Michaelovitch of Russia, third son of Grand Duke Michael Nicholaïvitch, who is the only surviving member of the family of Emperor Nicholas I.

PERSIA.

The fanatic Mahomed Reza, who assassinated the Shah Nasr-ed-Din on May 1 (p. 451), was hanged for the crime, August 12, in Teheran, in the presence of an immense

crowd.

Shortly after the murder of the shah, a large number of robberies were committed along the route between Bushire and Ispahan. In order to check the spirit of lawlessness and strike terror to the minds of evil-doers, recourse was had on May 10 to a revival of the form of execution known as "gatching," which had been in abeyance for about forty years. Gatching consists in burying the prisoner alive in wet plaster of Paris, leaving exposed only his head. As the plaster hardens, it stops circulation, causing excruciating agony, which is relieved only by unconsciousness and death.

JAPAN.

Late in August the cabinet of Marquis Ito resigned office. Just what was the cause for this action is not clear from the dispatches: it was presumably due to the continuous opposition, indeed the actual hostility, of the reactionary party, which for some time had caused rumors to the effect that the premier was anxious to resign. It does not seem to have been the result of a gov

ernmental crisis.

A reconstruction of the government has been effected, with Count Matsukata as premier and minister of finance, Viscount Takashima as minister of war, and Count Okuma as minister of foreign affairs. The change of ministries

makes the progressionist party dominant in state counsels, and gives rise to some apprehension as to the future relations of the empire with its immediate and remote neighbors. The progressionist party, which was originally organized by Count Okuma, has long advocated "a strong foreign policy," by which is meant checking or limiting as far as possible the field of foreign enterprise in Japan, and, in particu

lar, obstructing the forward movement of Russia in the Far East. The terms of the arrangement negotiated with Russia by the late government, for joint administration in Korea, had given rise to much popular dissatisfaction in Japan.

CHINA.

A report from Mr. Jameson, British consul at Shanghai, on Chinese foreign commerce and the probable effect of recent events, contains some remarkable statements.

Mr. Jameson says there is no prospect at all of China being opened up.

In small matters, as in great, there is the same non possumus returned to all suggestions and requests. There is no better prospect now than there was ten years ago, perhaps not so good, of any general introduction of railways. There are, however, two new factors in the situation, both of which appear likely to have farreaching consequences. The first is the right to import machinery and establish manufactories at the open ports; and the second is the heavy foreign debt which China has now, for the first time, been obliged to incur. It appears beyond doubt that the cotton spinning and weaving industry in Shanghai has a great future before it. It seems certain that before long there will be considerable shifting of the existing lines of trade between China and England. It by no means fol. lows, however, says Mr. Jameson, that British trade as a whole will be a sufferer. On the contrary, it may even be a gainer. Just as India continues a good customer, notwithstanding the Bombay mills, so, no

doubt, will China long after she has learnt to make her own yarns, and all the better probably for the increased wealth which the new industries will bring to the laborers of China.

A somewhat serious rebellion broke out in June in the district of Kiang-Peh, near the borders of the provinces of Kiang Soo and Shan-Tung. Outrages were committed by the rebels upon French and German Roman Catholic missionaries, but details of the uprising are wanting in the press dispatches. It seems to have been promptly suppressed by the authorities.

From advices received in August, it would appear that the suppression, in December last, of the rebellion in the province of Kan-Soo in northwestern China, had been followed by extensive massacres of Mohammedans, amounting almost to a campaign of extermination (Vol. 5, p. 951).

Some American missionaries were among those who suffered from the outrages at Kiang-Yin in May (p. 457). Under pressure of the American department of state, the Chinese government has promised to pay damages, and Secretary Olney has also insisted that the principal offenders and the officials who neglected to give proper protection to the missionaries shall be punished.

Another outbreak of the "black plague" was reported in July to be working havoc at Hong-Kong and throughout southeastern China, notably at Canton.

AUSTRALASIA.

In all the colonies of Australia the political situation is largely determined by the attitude of the labor party, whose program is everywhere approximately the same, being closely allied to the collectivism and communistic ideas of socialism. In Queensland the recent general elections put the labor party in opposition. In South Australia, on the other hand, notwithstanding the admission for the first time, under the female suffrage act, of nearly 60,000 female voters to the polls, the verdict made the government dependent upon the labor party, and the premier practically its leader (p. 457). In New South Wales and Victoria, the status of the labor party is less clearly defined. In the former the conservative free-trade government of Mr. Reid is blankly opposed to socialism; but concessions to that element for party purposes are considered a possibility. In Victoria the radical protectionist government of Mr. Turner, though it has conciliated the opposition by consenting to a general reduc