OCR Text |
Show " OPPORTUNISM. The English press say that Mr. G ladstone, lad-stone, in his Edinburgh speech, in dwelling dwell-ing upon the question of disestablishment disestablish-ment gave the English public a new j word, The word, so given . they say is j opportunism. The word is not of Eng- 1 lish origin, although it may be new in the political phraseology of England. "While not entirely new, it is of recent date, and ' we believe was first used by Leon Gam- ! betta in his famous speech at Cherbourg in 1880. He used it in reference to the relations between France and Germany, and in speaking of the lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. In France he was understood to mean .that . the day for : the repairing of .the wrongs which were done France at Sedan and Berlin would come, but that they were not yet. The word, the occasion, and the man who used it, made Germany tremble at the time,' made her tremble not from fear but from surprise. It was a warning to Germany Ger-many that some day, at a time opportune, oppor-tune, France would demand the restoration restora-tion of the Rhine provinces and require an accounting for the four milliards of francs which were paid Germany as in- j deihnity. France has but one desire, one hope, one aspiration to retrieve the humiliation of Sedan and the occupation of Paris, and to dictate terms to Germany from. Prussia's proud capital. This is what opportunism means on the Continent, Contin-ent, while in England it is an.exotic. |