The Press. — London, England, 1856-12-13 00:00:00

Ailtol o ls' Afix•••*--ftewAilm.wy•aratr.w•— • • - • • * ---- • - AT . ' ' •; , 4 *A le- • 6;)( tie ( '4 111( 4 4 • No. 189.—VoL.IV. LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 1856. STAIWPED ....SIXPENCE. •UNSTAMPED..FIVEPENCE. . . _ c 4.1 r t J. The action of the Conference will of course I actually in progress. A difference of opinion • lie within narrow limits Its functions will be as to the new frontier line to be adopted can rather judicial than political. It will not be never justify a continuance of that occupa called on to reopen the Treaty cf Paris in any tion. Even after the Conference has assem way, but merely to construe its provisions. bled and pronounced its decision, it may still LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, IBM. One preliminary point appears likely to be be some time before the new boundary raised. Ought not Turkey to be relieved from arrangements can be determined and carried the pressure of foreign occupation before the out. Is the Austrian occupation to last till Conference commences? That occupation every detail can be settled, and there is no THE Conference about to assemble in Paris may be friendly, but it may be hostile or longer a point of difference between Russia will be important for other reasons than for minatory, and prevent Turkey from assuming and the Porte ? When all has been done, may the independent attitude which it is most not some new pretence connected with the the points in dispute. The majority of the desirable she should take. administration or political state of the Princi. Powers to be represented at the Conference In answer to this it may be said, that Tur- palities be pleaded for continued occupation ? will have no personal interest in the decision key will, of course, vote for what she takes to In fact, will this most essential condition of of the questions at issue. These matters may be her own interests, and that with her deei- the Treaty of Paris be ever carried into effeet, sion on such points foreign influence can have if the allegation of petty points of difference directly concern Russia and Turkey, and re- nothing to do. But there is the fact, that before on questions of detail between Russia and the motely Austria; but neither England, nor the Conference was settled Lord STRATFORD Porte are to he allowed to stand in the way of France, nor Prussia, nor Sardinia, can care, for exerted all his influence at Constantinople, its execution ? the point itself, whether the new Moldavian backed by the presence of the English fleet in France was with England a principal in the the Black Sea, to overthrow AALT, whose opinion war. Of the allies France had by far the most frontier bends a little more one way or the on the disputed points was doubtful, and to numerous army on Russian soil, and had other. substitute for him REosentn, whose views were established the most powerful reserves in The adherents of Lord PALMERSTON'S Admi• known to he identical with those of Austria Turkey itself. Yet France has, without ques nistration, driven from the ground they lately and of Lord STRATFORD'S Government. The tion, fulfilled the Treaty to the letter. She Court of Paris heard of this mantEuvre with refused to take advantage of any pretext for took up, that there would be no Conference to surprise not unmixed with indignation, as it delaying to recal her forces from the seat of decide on the points in dispute, now insist excited an impression that the Government of war, and she may now with peculiar force and that the Conference is conceded only because England was attempting to create for itself a propriety insist that the Danubian provinces its decision has been made safe. The Confer- separate interest and influence in the councils shall no longer be subject to the restraint of of the Divan. foreign occupation — a restraint which must ence, they assert, will be a mere form. The be felt in Constantinople itself, and give to votes of the Powers have been canvassed, and I the Court of Vienna greater weight in the are known, and Lord PALMERSTON is sure of a Councils of the Porte than it is fairly entitled casting vote on his side. He does not mind to exercise. empannelling a jury to try a question of Euro pean right when he has the promises of a cer tain number of the jurors in his pocket. This is the argument of his supporters. They do not seem to see how in their endea vours to laud his dexterity they degrade him into a trickster. Of what use is a Conference to decide matters already decided, and to dis cuss foregone conclusions? If no moral weight attaches to the conclusions of the Con ference, it will assemble in vain, or will only assemble to give formal expression to the intrigues end combinations which have been antecedent to its existence. There is another and stronger reason which may be urged for the immediate withdrawal of the Austrian troops from the Principalities, and the English fleet from the Euxine. The assent given by England and Austria to the reassembling of the Conference has mcdified the position in which they stood with reference to the claims of Russia ; for by acknowledging that on those points of the Treaty authorita tive explanation of the text is required, they admit that the retention by Russia of Bolgrad and Serpents' Isle is not necessarily a violation of the Treaty. The right of Russia to those possessions becomes an open question from the moment when the validity of her appeal to a second Conference is admitted; while the Cabinets of London and Vienna have acted as if the illegality of her pretensions was so clear as to justify on their side a departure from the clear and express stipulations of the Treaty. The French Government is believed to be opposed both to the English and Austrian occupations, but it recognises a distinction between the two cases. An English squadron in the Black Sea is not injurious to Russia. It is mere absurdity to suppose that England entertains designs of territorial aggrandise ment in Turkey. With Austria the case is different. Ships leave no track of their passage in the waters, but the effects of a military occupation of territory may be perma nent. It may establish agencies and root in• fluences which it would be difficult, if not im possible, to eradicate. Besides, the occupa tion of the Black Sea by English ships may be assumed to he bona fide; but no one can sup pose that the continued occupation of the Principalities was suggested, or is justified, by its avowed objects. No one can believe that a Power which, when mighty interests were at stake during the war, refused to draw the sword, is now disinterestedly maintaining a costly occupation in order that a village and an islet may be secured to the Porte. The Austrian occupation of the Princi palities was only justifiable while the war was This continued occupation of the Princi palities, in violation of the terms of the Treaty, has become the great question demanding immediate settlement Of all the Powers concerned, Austria is the only one who has taken no step to fulfil the Treaty. Her posi tion now is exactly what it was en the day that peace was signed. Russia may plead that on the points at issue between her and the Porte there is room for doubt, but how can Austria plead that there is any kind of doubt as to her duty to evacuate the Principalities Should France, in the interval that must elapse before the meeting of the Conference, demand that Austria shall evacuate the Prin cipalities to relieve the Turkish Government from the pressure which that occupation im poses on it, and as an evidence of Austrian good faith, it is difficult to see how the de mand could be evaded. But whether it is in stantly made, or whether it is postponed until the Conference assembles, it must be insisted on as the one great condition of the Treaty which has heretofore been violated, and vio lated with scarcely the shadox of au excuse. We regard the assembly of the Conference as important for very different reasons. It will sanction the principle, that in differences between nations a court of European arbitra tion is the natural remedy to be sought. In proportion as this court shows itself fair and unprejudiced, disposed to investigate the questions at issue, to receive evidence and determine according to its weight, will the principle of arbitration gain ground, and enlist enlightened opinion in its favour. Nothing could be more fatal to its authority, or to the idea of arbitration in international disput's, than that the verdict should be arranged before the cause he heard. In this case it is unfortunate that the meet• ing of a Conference should have been so long delayed, and that in the interim the Powers most nearly concerned should have openly proclaimed their intentions. That impartiality which would have been so desirable in a Court of Appeal cannot now be expected, though we may hope that neither on one side or the other will there be any ground for an indecent boast that the Conference was conceded merely because its decision was previously secured,. THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AND THE ENGLISH OPPOSITION. THE visit to Paris of one of our most distin guished Parliamentary orators, and a Leader of Opposition, with his cordial reception . the Imperial Court at the Tuilerig, . (fit Z back the mind of the Emperor,fif the FRS to the period—more than half e . century when his uncle received with the warea,. demonstrations of respect and esteem a great orator of that age, and also Levier.ofthe Par. 4 liatnentary Opposition in England. ShortliA i 7941 after the Peace of Amiens, in 1802, Mt. Fox" , V visited the French capital and was-received