The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-26 00:00:00

THE PEACE CONFERENCES.

The conferences of the Plenipotentiaries of the
Great Powers of Europe to arrange the terms upon
which peace with Russia may be concluded were to
commence yesterday at Paris, and, if we may judge by
the reports recently current as to the intentions of the
more important parties, they are likely to terminate
more satisfactorily than it was at one time imagined
was hardly possible. It is said that the Emperor of
the French is in perfect agreement with the English
Minister as to the course to be pursued, and that this
comprises a firm determination to insist upon those
conditions which are deemed indispensable to the
security of the future. Such a resolution on the part
of the Western Powers will tend materially to weaken
the influence of the German States, and render them
powerless to defeat the objects of the conference by
diplomatic intrigue ; while, at the same time, it may
remove many of the objections which Turkey would
naturally entertain to any settlement which did not
promise her effectual immunity from future aggres-
sions. Notwithstanding the important part which
England and France have occupied in the resistance
to the aggressive character of Russian policy, it must
not be forgotten that Turkey has the largest and most

direct interest at stake. It is her territory and her
independence which have been menaced, and should
Russia at any time succeed in realising those schemes
of ambition which it is believed she has not relin-
quished, but postponed through urgent necessity,
Turkey would be the first victim, and therefore, al-
though we may entertain but a moderate opinion of
Turkish ability to conduct a difficult negotiation, in-
volving future probabilities,we cannot dispute her right
to have a potential voice in a settlement ,in which she
is intimately concerned.
It is also said that Russia, feeling convinced of the
absolute necessity of putting an end to hostilities by
which she has been so seriously damaged, and which
threaten, if protracted during another year, to render
her almost, if not altogether, prostrate by the exhaus-
tion of her resources, both in men and material, has
resolved to make all the concessions demanded by the
Allies, even to the dismantling of the fortress of Nico-
laieff, for which, not being on the Black Sea, exemp
tion might reasonably be claimed. Should this state-
ment prove to be correct, the negotiations will present
but little difficulties for a speedy settlement, for the
recent official despatches report Sebastopol as having
been rendered completely powerless for future mis-
chief, and, consequently, although the government
have acted wisely in persevering with warlike prepa-
rations, even to the appointment of an Admiral to cora-
-1 mand the Baltic fleet, we have great reason to antici-
pate that they will not be required, but that in a short
time we shall be relieved from the burdens rendered
necessary by a continuance of the contest.
The return to a state of peace affords grounds for
anticipating an increase in our commercial operations
more rapid than any which we have yet experienced..
The re-opening of the trade with Russia will of itself
be an important item in our future commerce, while
the breaking down of that exclusivenesss which has so
long hedged in Mohammedan institutions, owing to
the presence of the Allies in Turkey, will augment our
trade with that country and the shores of the Black-
Sea to almost an indefinite extent. The Christian
subjects of the Porte, under the protection of the
Western Powers, more liberal and effectual than that
of Russia, will be able to develope the almost exhaust-
less resources of the most fertile district in the world,
and the exports of Great Britain, which, according to
the returns of the Board of Trade, just published, were
nearly a hundred millions in a year of war, may very
shortly show a large and permanent addition.
These are some of the fruits arising from the war
which has opened up for us new markets for traffic,
and largely augmented the old ones. If, therefore, we
obtain no reimbursement from Russia for the enormous
expenditure which the war has occasioned, we shall
not be without compensation in that increase of com-
merce of which this country must enjoy by far the
largest share. The alliance with France has also•
tended considerably to remove many of those restric-
tions which formerly impeded trade with that country,
while we may reasonably hope that the settlement of
a peace with Russia may tend to negotiations of a
commercial character by which our exports to that
empire may likewise be considerably increased.