The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-01-05 00:00:00

NEW YEIR PROSPECTS.

The gloom and depression which had settled
down upon the land consequent upon the an-
nouncement of the early summoning of the Legis-
lature have been to some extent dispelled by the
obvious desire of one of the nations now at war to
make peace if this can be done upon honourable
terms. Immediately upon the, fall of Plevna, on
the 10th December, Mr. Layard, the British
Minister at Constantinople, was instructed to
impress upon the Porte the advisability of re-
questing the services of the neutral Powers with
a view to mediation. As a result of this, a
Circular Note was despatched by Turkey to the
signatories of the Treaty of 1871 ; but the appeal
thus instituted proved unsuccessful, as with the
exception of England the Powers to whom the
request was addressed, declined in more or less
friendly terms to take part in any mediation
between the belligerents. Upon the failure of
this attempt to secure joint action, the Porte
applied to Great Britain to use her own influence
with Russia; and after the part we had already
taken this request could not possibly be refused.
A. fresh, and it may be a final effort is now there-
fore made to re-establish the peace of Europe;
and a breathing time has been secured during
which the powerful influences that work in favour
of a cessation of hostilities will have an opportunity
of asserting themselves. There is a rift in the
clouds—a ray of light where previously all was
dark and unpromising.
While therefore we hope for the best—for hope
is certain to be the predominant feeling at the
opening of the new year—it is as well to bear in
mind that as yet the public have no means of
giving an opinion as to the extent[of the con-
cessions which Turkey is prepared to make; and
at the same time they are entirely in the dark as
to how far Russia is anxious to make peace at all;
and still more, respecting the terms upon which
she would consent to suspend her victorious
advance. Will Russia be inclined to forego her
avowed desire of treating directly with Turkey,
without the intervention of any neutral Power?
That is a question which will be answered before
long, for Parliament is about to assemble, and
Ministers will be anxious to give all the informa-
tion possible, consistently with the public in-
"terests. Whatever be the result of our mediation,
one thing is clear. The latest development of the
Eastern Question will bring us into a more direct
connection with the war, supposing it to proceed,
than we have yet occupied. Our Government had
no option As to the answer to lve made to the
request for mediation made by the Porte. With
the British Fleet riding at anchor in Besika
Bay, and with the manifestations of sympathy
which have been made in this country towards
the Ottoman cause, we could not with either
justice or self-respect, have declined to use our
influence with Russia in order to facilitate the
conclusion of such a peace as Turkey is enabled to
accept.
The bitter cold which now sweeps over the
passes of the Balkan mountains, and has filled
the Danube with floating ice, necessarily causes a
suspension of military operations, and time is
allowed for the diplomatist again to assert his
sway. The pen once more takes up the tale; and
although the sword, in the alyence of an
armistice, can scarcely be said to be sheathed, its
operation is for the time in abeyance. It was so
three-and-twenty years ago, when the allied
armies were besieging Sebastopol. Many of us
remember how in that terrible winter, in the early
part of 1855, when more men perished in the
trenches from the awfnl cold than from the shot
and shell belched forth by the Russian batteries,
negotiations for peace were opened at Vienna.
These, however, came to nothing; the siege of
Sebastopol was prosecuted vigorously, and six
months after the plenipotentiaries had met in the
Austrian capital the Russian Black Sea fortress
fell into the hands of the allies. It would ha
fruitless to compare Plevna with Sebastopol, for
the latter was the great symbol of Muscovite
power in the south of her dominions, and with
the capture of the fortress the power was broken
and destroyed. Plevna, on the other hand, was;
up to a few months ago, an open town which the
genius of Osman Pacha converted into a fortified
camp that defied the assaults of the Russian
army and barred its progress, until starvation
effected that which artillery had been unable to
accomplish. Turkey still possesses her Quadri-
lateral of fortresrses—Rustchuk and Shun.la,
Silistria, and Varna; these are proviioned for
nine months, and, supposing the war to go on,
and these to be reduced by the autumn, the Turks
would still have the impregnabre lines of Gallipoli
to fall back upon. Turkey has shown extra-
ordinary vitality in a supreme hour of national
peril, and is in a position to give the Russians an
infinitude of trouble if she cases to be obstinate.
She is not like France was in the winter of 1870,
utterly beaten down and crushed:by a victorious
foe, and compelled to submit to almost any terms
, dictated by the conqueror. She has certainly
I, suffered some serious reverses, but all that the
Porte has now done is to ask England as a mutual
friend of both the combatants to use her good
offices with Russia with a view of bringing about
' ter us of peace if it is possible to be done.
What does Russia want, and what will Turkey
concede ? These are weighty questions, and
upon the answers will depend the existence
of thousands of lives. Even if we fail, we shall
have the satisfaction of knowing that we have
done our best to restore to Europe the blessings
of peace._

THE IRON TRADE.

WOLVERHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY.

Where orders have been secured parts of works
are being set on to-night. The business doing
relate 3 mostly to sheets, in which there has at
some other works been activity since Wednesday
night last. For heavier samples orders come in
very quietly, whether reference be had to high-
class or common iron. Nevertheless there is a
fair amount of local business doing. which pre-
vents the distress incidental to districts which
depend mostly upon an export trade. Much
interest in the probable course of prices was
mitnifestacl this afternoon by consumers, but
makers gave them no 0409urageraeut to look for

any alteration• at the quarterly meetings next
week: A point, however, was made by con-
sumers of the fact • that the managing director
(Mr. Richard. Williams) of the Patent -Shaft and
Axletree Company, of Wednesbury, blis just been
successo in inducing, the workpeople there to
ace,eßklower wages, "so .as to enable the firm td
quote lower - prices" and the men to secure
regular eniployment. The arrangement is under-
stood to have to led to very happy results. The
Patent Shaft Company are unconnected with the
,Wages Conciliation, Board, and have usually been.
able to arrange such matters amicably with their
workmen. Mr. Samuel Loveridge, one of the
firm of Messrs. T. and C. Clark a.nd.CO:, of the
Shakespeare Foundry, in this town, is the buyer
(through Mr. William Gibbs) of .the - ShruMaary.
and, Swab Garden Ironworks of :Messrs. G. B.
Thorneycroft and co;, for £45,000. • A portion ,o
the -Works is likely to 'be' re-started at no very dis-
tant date. The Mines Drainage Commissioners
have to-day had a warm debate, in private; upon
the clauses of the proposed new Act. The most
significant clauses yet remain to be disposed of.
gutside the Commission a fund is being raised -to
oppose the new bill when it .gets into committee,
unless it is very considerably altered from its
'present draft shape. If it should be declared by
the Commissioners that the 'Bilston 'district have
..not legally petitioned themselves out of the
operation of the existing Act, the pronouncement
will be contested. •