Prince Bismarck appears to be disposed not to press his
claim to the Caroline Islands against Spain. The angry feeling in Spain has been so well-marked and so genuine, even in the midst of the panic about cholera, that the German Government appear to have been taken rather by surprise, and to think the game hardly worth the candle. At all events, the attitude assumed on the subject is said to be conciliatory, and probably the incident will prove to be insignificant. But why, one asks, does the German Government embark on these very light- minded colonial enterprises, from which they are just as willing to recoil as if they attached no importance to them ? If they want a Colonial Empire, why do they not take the matter in band seriously, and satisfy themselves that there is no prior claim to the territory they fix on ? If they do not care a straw about the matter, why do they embark on these happy-go-lucky attempts to effect a light and ill-considered purpose ? It is unlike Prince Bismarck to go fishing for he knows not what, and to throw back into the sea again half the fishes he manages to net.
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