"Jules Verne - In the Year 2889 (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Verne Jules)

the scientific department, and tell him for me to go to work in earnest on the
question of artificial clouds. It will never do for us to be always at the mercy
of cloudless skies!"
Mr. Smith's daily tour through the several departments of his newspaper is now
finished. Next, from the advertisement hall he passes to the reception chamber,
where the ambassadors accredited to the American government await a word of
counsel or advice from the all-powerful editor. A discussion is going on as he
enters. "Your Excellency will pardon me," the French Ambassador is saying to the
Russian, "but I see nothing in the map of Europe that requires change. 'The
North for the Slavs?' Why, yes, of course; but the South for the Latins. Our
common frontier, the Rhine, it seems to me, serves very well. Besides, my
government, as you must know, will firmly oppose every movement, not only
against Paris, our capital, or our two great prefectures, Rome and Madrid, but
also against the kingdom of Jerusalem, the dominion of Saint Peter, of which
France means to be the trusty defender."
"Well said!" exclaims Mr. Smith. "How is it," he asks, turning to the Russian
ambassador, "that you Russians are not content with your vast empire, the most
extensive in the world, stretching from the banks of the Rhine to the Celestial
Mountains and the Kara-Korum, whose shores are washed by the Frozen Ocean, the
Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean? And what use are threats? Is
war possible in view of modern inventions--asphyxiating shells capable of being
projected a distance of 60 miles, an electric spark of 90 miles, that can at one
stroke annihilate a battalion; to say nothing of the plague, the cholera, the
yellow fever, that the belligerents might spread among their antagonists
mutually, and which would in a few days destroy the greatest armies?"
"True," answered the Russian, "but we Russians, pressed on our eastern frontier
by the Chinese, must at any cost put forth our strength for an effort toward the
west."
"Let's solve your problem at the source," said Mr. Smith. "I will speak to the
Secretary of State about this. The attention of the Chinese government will be
brought to the matter, and the situation corrected."
"Under these conditions, of course--" And the Russian ambassador declares
himself satisfied.
"Ah, Sir John, what can I do for you?" asks Mr. Smith as he turns to the
representative of the people of Great Britain, who till now has remained silent.

"A great deal," comes the reply. "If the Earth Chronicle would but open a
campaign on our behalf--"
"And for what object?"
"Simply for the annulment of the Act of Congress annexing to the United States
the British islands."
By a just turnabout, Great Britain has become a colony of the United States, but
the English are not yet reconciled to their status. At regular intervals they
are ever addressing to the American government vain complaints.
"A campaign against the annexation that has been an accomplished fact for 150
years!" exclaims Mr. Smith. "How can you believe I would do anything so
unpatriotic?"
"We at home think your people must now be sated. The Monroe Doctrine is fully
applied; the whole of America belongs to the Americans. What more do you want?
Besides, we will pay for what we ask."