The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-12-09 00:00:00

let. BRIGHT on the EASTERN POLICY
OF THE GOVERNMENT.
On Monday evening Mr. Bright addressed a large
and enthusiastic meeting in the Town Hall, at Mr-
Illt, in. tams, on the Eastern Question. Mr. Bright
leily recapitulated the principal events of the past
Year and inquired why war was considered imminent,
although every Government in Europe was in favour
of peace. The answer was, because England was deter-
mined by means of Turkey to keep the Russian chips of
war out of the Mediterranean. He ridiculed the idea of
there being any danger toEnglishinteresta in the presence
a Rusaisn navy in that sea. Ttie vessels; of other
f"a,tion s were permitted there, and the skies would not
44 if Ruksia was admitted. She was excluded by frost
'ruin passing from the Baltic during half the year, and
throughout the whole year from passing the Darda-
nelles, becanae Turkey held the key s for Eng-
Istiad- If England were in such a posLion
nnanimous voice of the nation would claim
the right for her vessels to enter the Mediter-
:o4nean. He urged that Great Britain should jin
."tiosia in urging reforms on Turkey, and if she could
do that let her stand aside. Refsrring to the
uonierence, Mr. Bright said that Lord Salisbury is a
' !lab againstj whom a good deal might be said, and a
Sciod deal might honestly be said in his favour; and
terhaps that is true of most of us. But with regard to
le
Policy at home, Mr. Bright said there was in it
i llat he should call a hearty unwiadom that was un-
I fortunate and mischievous. On the other hand he had
teen, in his conduct as Minister for India, a great
liberality and a great disposition to do that which be
ts
L"e elieved to be just. Mr. Bright could only hops that
u left Ws finwisdom for home consumption, and that,
when he airived at Constantinople his liberality, his
juedue, and his strong intellect would have fair play;
alld that be hoped he would do his c mntry the highest
/e,,vice and himself the highest honour by the duty
*Well he had undertaken. .
We give the following extracts from Mr. Bright's
I3Peech :
We are met here to-night-I hope we all feel that we are
in circumstances of some anxiety, and it may be even of
ss-onle Public danger. We have great autbornies-autho-
e-ttel to be found among leading public men, and
;`"borties in the public Press-who tell us that we
from some cause, hardly fairly explained, upon
e•
, .brink of that great calamity which men call war,
tome of those authorities beseech us not to say much
-"uat it. They tell us that ill-advised words may pre-
cltdtate the danger we would shun. They say
W
~t 3 must speak only in whispers if we speak at
r•so,,' (" Oh, oh.") They remind one of the advice
is given by guides to climbers amid the snowy
solitudes of the Alps. They are told not to speak above a
:bleper or the avalanche of snow which is above them may
ieeleend and overwhelm, not them alone, but the village
lies in apparent security far below. And now, Sir,
f7,e _are advised to leave everything in the hands
tier Majesty's Government-(hissea)-who will take
07,t,e, first of all and above all, if they can, of the peace
ieL'
farePe and what is of not less consequence, the inte-
,-"5 and the honour of this kingdom. (Hear, hear.) I
Vnaetlmes'llave 'thought daring the past year that tier
'lenity's Government were rather too much in favour of
rseace ; they are in favour of peace, it not at any price,
a. least at a price which some of us would scarcely
Zilb to pay for it. (Applause.) They are willing to
-hone/flee the interests, the happiness, and the freedom of
eTue 'ons of the Christian population of the Turkish Pro-
cf., and I am afraid they would make another great seed-
they would sacrifice the fair fame and the
43,"e11r of this country in binding us in perpetual partner.
„IP with the worst and the foulest Government known upon
ee-7,tb• (Cheers ) But if our Government is so much for
e-se"ces what is to be said of other Governments? All the
We'er Governments are also for pesce at this moment. We
I,s`ve no subject of dispute with the United States of America.
"a Justice and the megnanimity of this country have
lett se
s .1-- every question of difference between our free colonies
°*„'"trllerica and the Mother Country. If we come to Europe
b", uod that we have had no quarrel with our next
e,ighbour, the French nation; from the year 1860,
:eu'
the great Commercial Treaty was negotisted,
t..e. have had a constantly diminished feel, g of an-
Kl:Mituai to France, and at this moment I believe there
tfitts between the French people and the English people a
durable friendship than we have known in any former
iruxl of the history of the two nations (applause) ; and if
pie gentlemen in the middle of the hall will allow me, I will
41! them in a sentence one fact that will show how great
I,,,tee importance of the Treaty to which I have just re-
Youe have seen to-day in the papers a letter ad-
. e!etsed by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce to the
of Commerce of France, and front that letter you
loul find that whereas before that Treaty the imports from
' kiltence into this country were only 13 millions sterling per
ihettriM, they now amount to over 49 millions sterling, and that
'
exports from this country to France, which before the
itriaitY were only nine millions, amount now to 27 millions.
este'n eit lis this increased trade and communication
• bet '' nes been so advantageous in promoting friendship
._ ween the French and the English peeplss. (Applause,
illuti interruption, arising from the pressure in the body of
otlei hall ) Now, gentlemen, I have no doubt if you go to the
All er countries of Europe-to Italy, to Germany. and to
tiottrie-YOU will find the most perfectly friendly feeling to
let- country ; and if we come to Retitle we know :hat only
ti 'l7 the Ministers have told us how fit:redly are the Tele-
leen* even with that nation; and we have bad within the
ill fortnight a declaration from the lips of the Emperor of
hittlfda (cheers) which shows at least that he is as anxious to be
n:nde with us as we ate to be blends with him. (Applause.)
Dites_bow the question arises, la the Government in favour of
is ''''ll (Inteiruption.) I ask you, then, it our Government
tOl.lO, deeply anxious for it, how comes it that is e meet here
, w„l2,aht under the apprehension that we are on the brink of
'4.7 Let us for a moment consider that question.
,
Mr.
of Tn., Bright then proceeded to detail the relations
bat Turkey to her Christian subject'', and justified the
ereat which Russia felt in them when, by the
trliseglect Of the Powers, no protection was exercised on
A.'eir behalf. After reading one of the clauses of the
a reati of 1856, Mr. Bright proceeded:—
4„Therefore, Russia being put aside by force of the war, and
h'ubdY being put in the place of Russia. you know that there
ealtbeen no man to take cognizance of the oppression of there
12,P1n rtunate populations, and no man to remonstrate with
Inn: power, and to insist upon a better treatment of them.
21_4 then comes the insurrection spreading from one Pro-
!Once to another; then comes the excited empathy of the
ittussian people; then comes the fear of Engtatie that some-
'Mug is about to be done unpleasant to iw ally and to its
great friend the Turk-("Oh, oh I" and laughter)-and then
comes the difficulty in which we find ourselves, that we are
hot supposed to be about to enter into war, or any danger of
It with regard to any Power except Russia, and with regard
‘0 Russia only on this ground-that Russia insists that
henceforth, spite of the Treaty of 1856, spite of the supposed
Interests of England, the Christian population shall have a
friend. (Loud cheers. And if the concerted and united
l'ewers of Europe will not he that friend, then Russia itself
,1.1 take the guardianship of these people, as it did in 18,e.
i 1 iiheere.) But why is it we are so alarmed eb rat Ressta ?
-vomitus, as you know, Russia is a long way from us. By sea
t-c;irMnd to Russia by the Black Sea from here Ismail} 3 000 miles.
„bY should
Turkey? And that is the we be so anxious about Russia, and care so much
:ruteselut upon which I would
eTh sPecially to speak to you. Probably all of you have not
k„,e_lztned the map of these countries, but many of you
"„uw that the capital of Turkey, Constantinople,
a:..thels at the shores or bank of a strait caled the Bosphorus,
!rung that the Bosphorus is a narrow passage wnicn leads
the Black Sea into a small sea called the Sea of liar-
, then another strait called the Dardanenea leads
j"rla the sea of Alarmora into the Mediterranean Sea. And
liaonstantinople' standing there upon that narrow strait,
ghel:he Power, if it chooses, and tilt has forts sufficlent and
me,oeucient and people sufficient to man them, to corn-
tioe'e,tbose straits, and the Russian Navy, the Russian
war, although they are now free in the Black Sea
8 '. -Kumla may have as many as she chooses in the Black
411, the Russian Navy is not allowed to pass those
rs nor to enter the Mediterauean. ,Now, that
b_ he chief point upon which all this difficulty arises.
'lastog.land imagines That some great danger will happen to
r;t, that she would lose her predominance in the Mediter-
e7otan, or that her route to India will be in some degree
T
the eeteel if a Russian ship of war should come through
te,tle Straits, and therefore England is anxious to main-
te'eu Turkey in its present position, holding the keys of
lis:se Straits and forbidding any portion of the Russian
Pass from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Is fiaktne-H) Now, you see, England-I speak now at England
.44„,,uest been, and Englund as represented by the present
oerthiatration-England is afraid. that it the Irak went
arty 'lle Russian would come in, and, therefore, we are
ths ejl to this dreadful alternative, that we must support
Iv; btark with all his crime and with all his cruelty, and
illecti't support' too, as we did practically support, the
bt „Ulhedan religion throughout the whole of that portion
eeZe World. Why, 700 years ago the people of this
b.eront, with, as history tells us, one of their
Ole „'" INO, joined the Crusades and went to Palestine for
Of tt4Pose of liberating the Holy Place from the possession
do? e„tufidel and the Mahomedan. Well, now, what do we
tepporte give the blood and the treasure of England to the
Itlid en' of this Turkish Government. We give Bethlehem
trees,Ztrary, and the Mount of Olives, through the blood and
44. -.es_of England, and the power over all these vast conn-
Ttsri,_Whblah are almost a wilderness and a desert under the
yeetrn ceptre-we do all this for the simple purpose of pre-
Bea f,,,g Russia passing by any ships of war from the Black
Delic the Mediterranean. ("Shame.") Now, that was the
Wile Y which brought about the Crimean War in 1864. I
Otte net tell you of the cost of that war. You have beard it
1(41 There is one point of this cost, however, that I °b-
p- e has not recently been referred to, except in one or two
itetiers se
„ here I have seen it noticed. But' let every working
51:" rerhember, it he is old enough, that while a loaf of given
fort Waa worth 4d. in the year 1852, before the war, and ba-
c)! tb aeY probability of war appeared, during the two ems
tr„ e war it rose to 7ii. or more. Your supplies, of Course,
Russia were cut off, and your bread was scarce and
I 0. Now, gentlemen, let not it be charged upon me thst
eeesrar asking you to shrink from some pupllc duty because
'en bread will be dearer (hear, hear); but when you are
Vlbting the coat and deliberating what has been done and
„ler should be done in future, I say that you are bound to
14;n into consideration all the enormous price that you are
nile d upon to pay for any given policy that may be Aug-
aested,to you. (Hear, hear.)
After comparing Turkey to a man suffering under a
'ro,oePing paralysis, which gradually extended itself
1,7 F his body, Mr. Bright proceeded to allude to the
4(7 of the war of 1854, and asked if "it would be
ans:atent with wisdom and justice, or would it be c,m-
ant only With ignorance and panic, or presumption,
it Z We should turn back to that policy, accept it as if
aos ere good, and reestablish it as the act of '
England
&laud ....r Government in the year 1876." (" Never,'
s A
lute .0; no.)"—Mr. Bright, after alluding to the
ba1....g:31ty of the Ottoman Empire," and "the
1:77:e of Power," went on to say—
Illae-kwaeltii eulVosed that if Russia had ships of war in the
a
l'sne,„ ,as she has, and if they c-itild come to the liediter-
Men ,"'• lie they might but for the closing of these Straits,
Wheelebt would be more powerful in the Mediterranean.
the'. 01 course she would. Nobody denies that, and that
re see
loupe nld be another naval Power added to those whose
into ulaL!'e. bow found in that sea. If the Black Sea fleet came
Med,. ° Mediterrauean, there would be one flaet more in ti e
ha. illrroean-that is simple and clear. At present Spain
lbere withf war in the Mediterranean. France has a fl-.et
Tosuch (Meyer she likes. She has a greet naval power at
tioesee;Seal You know. Italy has a fleet there. She is building
With e'ovrY fooliehly, to my mind-an enormous fronded
fire e ;shun which is called a hundred-ton gun, and which is to
-"el ' f nearly a ton weight. I say nothing of the
aeldhlt:errrotar,u,n;
fea'ilyof such venture.. But Italy has as fleet in the
Austria has ships e f war there; Turkey
Would 4,..`"P4 of war there. 1 ask what would happen?
be le, the aky fall (laughter), or would the British flag
or tw erect and dishonoured for ever if ealt-a.dozsn, or ten,
Were° or three, as the else mieht be .Rassian ships of *war
Pern3itted freely to navigate these Straits-no; straits
Z.sh! Turkey or mado by England, hut olive by Nature
i an 'ci:re,?; and inteuded, of course, to be a pasiage open, to
ransom _ !'" between these two great seas-the MedLer-
e„ ~ ra the Black Sea? Now, it is a very curious thing.
te'eu_tt I worth considering as a fact that we who live here so
hil'in and who have the biggest fleet in the world-a rather
ten,ggrt4rente......etit.,. lA. believe, than all the rat of the would put
NVlghte um we are the only alarmists upon this matter.
nth- r ) Nobody cares about it . except the Eat-
i,..,r Government ; no people have the smallest
tillat hi it . except the English people ; and I
may be shoeo that they have no real interest in
hos( 'll4eodair, hear) Other Buttons have no panic about it, end
ea et goieg to wer to support the Turk far any
k....".PurPOse as keeping the Russians blockaded in the Black
"14,1; ou see in the papers-and it is wonderful how well news.
et.bd writers write about things which they do not under-
loud laughter)-or whim), if they do undersraml, they
otttempt to explain-(langlt,r)-it is not so unreason-
atera men should write well upon what they do not
Now, I know there is a very clever and amusing
eteettica7d. who was lecturing in this country not toeg ego,
(3:Lae said that by and bye he intended to come back and to
ller another series of lectures upon subjects that he knew
aZr,ahout-(laughter)-and therefore, if he could do that
8os:n a.nitising, and get people to pay five shillings a piece to
ette`'Zl bear him, I do not lee that ills any discredit to
not ""raPaDers to say they can write about what they do
weU understand. (Laughter.) Well, the newspapers