The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-07-13 00:00:00

Eke .3tonrbage @bunter.

SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1878,

THE WORK DONE AT BFRUN.

Those wki:
,ara eccustore.ed tee carry da es in
their .eiT:'earis nad in these, .1 nly da2,s matter
for much inttreat in points of contrast with
those of eight y..ars ago. It was ou the s'll of
July, 1870, that Earl Granville, on going to
the Foreign (Ace to bezin his official duties
thtre, in succession to the late Lord Clarendon
was congratulated by the Permanent Under
Secretary ou the fact that never had the poli-
tical sky of hu,ope looked more clear. That
very night a cloud arose upon the horizon as
big as a wan's band, threatening future dark-
ness ana tempest. A teleeram was received at
the F•r t. Office from Her Majesty's
Alinis::.4rs at stating that the then
vatee t are. eof e;pan had been offered by
the C ,it.t.ol I .13. tic:! Leopold of Hohetizoilern,
a la keresenta of he reigning House of
Pia. 9n the resaa day the eews fouud tne
whole of France in af, rm. ele. France had
leLeo jealous of the growing power of Prussia
ever sines the defeat of Austria at Sadowa, and
could not brook the idea of a Hohenzollern
being placed upon the Throne of Spain The
Minister for Foreign Affairs daelared, on the
6th of July, amid approving shouts of applause
in the Corps Legislatif, that if the scheme
were persisted in, "France would know how to
do its duty without hesitation and without
weakness." t,:o fierce was the opposition that
the candidature of the Prussian Prince was
withdrawal bet this was not enough. On the
13th of JiVy, IS7O, the French Ambassador.
rueetiug the iiiug of Prussia on the promena ie
at Ems, presented to him a di tuand that uuder
Lo circumstances ud at no future time should
the candidature of Prince Leopold be renewed.
So violent was the excitement in Prussia at the
overbearing tone of France that had the king
conceded this unreasonable demand, he would
have stood a very good chance of deposition.
He himself bad counselled the withdrawal, and
it was manifestly impossible for him to give
the pledge for which he was asked, seeing that
he was even then an old man, and could not be
expected to bind himself as to the future in
:he way specified. Highly coloured accounts of
that memorable meeting upon the promenade
were circulated in both countries, and on the
15th war was declared by France against
Prussia. The King arrived at Berlin from
Ems on the evening of the same day, and was
received by his people with indescribable
enthusiasm. A vast multitude, esti::: atee at a
hundred thoneand pereoes, assembled in front
of the Palace singing war songs, and shouting
"bo the Rhine ! " As night came on, the
excitement died away, and the lights dis-
appeared from house after house in the Prussian
capital. But there was one building which
remained lighted up the whole of the live-long
night. from roof to basement. It wks the
Ministry of War, where the finishing beaches
were being pat to that elaborate organization
which was destined to beat back the invading
hosts of Frence, and to alter her boundaries
from t:-.. It:int. to the Muscle. It is unneces-
sary to foam the story of that war ; it is
enongo ni rely to draw attention to the dates
by way of ceutrast with what is going on in
Berlin jnat now.
A month ago the Plenipotentiaries of the
Great Powers of Earupe assembled in that
city, in order to put au end if possible to a con-
dition of uncertainty which had long bordered
upon war. A conflict between Russia and
Turkey, in which the latter was overmatched,
had been brought to a close by a Treaty which
was admittedly open to revision. South.
Eastern Europe had been reconstructed in a
way to which the British Government had a
strong objection, and extensive naval and ,
military preparations had been made in this
country. The Plenipotentiaries have pursued
their labours amid much criticism, but they are
all very able men, and will defend their course
of action at the proper time. With the close of
this week the Congress is expected to terminate
its work; the dates for the State festivities
that are to celebrate the departure of the
Plenipotentiaries are already fixed, and no doubt
seems to be entertained at Berlin as to the con-
clusion of a pacific settlement. The mission of
the Congress, according to the theory which has
regulated its proceedings, lila not been to devise
a satisfactory settlement of the whole Eastern
Question, but to regulate the relations of
Turkey to Europe in such a manner as to
avoid any further immediate disturbance of the
public peace, and to reduce the advantages
accruing to Russia from the late war within
such limits as are deemed consistent with the
welfare of Europe. It is necessary to bear in
mind what the Congress had in view in order to
form any reasonable estimate of what it has
achieved. The most decisive result, outside
the provisions of the Treaty of San S:efano,
was undoubtedly what amounts to the practical
cession of Bosnia and the Herzegovina to
Austria. The Congress has held it to be in
the interest of European tranquility that Austria
should be entrusted with the mission of re-
storing order in the districts where the rising
against ottoman rule originated three years ago.
A similar desire to subordinate every other
consideration to that of closing the present
chapter of the interminable Eastern Question
withon, a fresh resort to arms seems te have
decal .ho poacy of the Pienipotentiariss with
respect to Greece. Turkey was called up mby
Greeee. to surrender Thessaly and Epirus, hut
this conla cot ht.,e seen effectea without a
renewal of husTities. The Porte would have
resisted by tom of arms, and, trilike Austria,
Greece would not have been strong enough to
hold her now provinces by her own military
power. There are those who urge that the
aggrandisement of Greece would be conducive
to the interests of Europe, and especially of
England. But as the almost avowed aim of
the Congress is to postpone any fundamental
settlement, merely dealing with the exigencies
of the present, its members declined to intro-
(Mess a fresh element of disturbance into a dis-
cussion the prolongation of which would be
dangerous to the prospects of peace.
More than half a century age, wieei Mr.
Canning was Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, he was told that a specified line of
policy, if persisted in, wonari end in war sooner
or later. " Then," replied the statesman, "let
it be later." Postponement might result even
in averting the dread calamity altogether ; at
all events each day of continued peace was a
vietery gained. No one expects the work of
the Congress at Berlin to be as permanent as
that of the Congress at Vienna, which lasted
forty years. It may not be even as
durable as that of the Congress at Paris in
1856. But at all events it gives Europe the
-enect of peace for the time. Dealing with
.alexitiea of to-day, it has done its best to
the perk .1). Some of the plenipotentieriee
reatovo th._ -;I board are advanced in years,
Yelled the clime_ - eel Palmerston did of the
end Way 43y mt :11 last my time." Lee
treaty of Perie, "It ee._ 4 ilture reguaite the
the etrcetuastancea of the ' for the d:t is
niScessities thereof; and suffictete. -s of the
the evil attendiee facts
Congresa have deow tie ir best with he
which war- mat before them. The work
that ilerlin wi•ovessoa to day is one of peace:
let its ebizens acclaim the authors of r,as
heartily as they applauded the seldier king who
eight years ago 1._:1 hi; periple forth to battle.

THE IRON TRADE:

CRS .)O.I.c.,ERLY MEETING.

T. . on Thursday at the Birmingham
1:71 was quite up to the average,
all-1;012;h %le aompan.y were somewhat late in
aev,. ml familiar faces were con-
spicu.-av ahsence—two or three, we regret
ta rollgh illness. The attendance included
as usual. oo 17 tr othe representatives of
Shron,,hire, Derbyshirt, Cleveland, and West
Coast horts,s, besides me,..,:.hants and brokers from
the principal shipping ports. Following- the lead
of the Lilleshall Iron Company, who had notifik_d
their intention on the previous day to make no
change in prices, the South Staffordshire smelters
agreed, at their accustomed meeting, to keep to
the old standard of £4. for hot and .25. for ola
bast all-mine pig, which has ruled since the Or-
responding quarterly meeting twelve months ego.
Some of the second-class houses, however, are not
quite so firm, and from 2s. 61. to ss. under nominal
quotations was ecct.pted in Str."'Vai
Cinder-pig. is procurable :.. 2 and• 1455 Wt
e
_mast hematites alsc. were somewhat eas •r, at a
little over Jr! fnr No. 3 'at, 131;'' • ,iiire
are streug; at 455 at Sheltelel, 014.'y

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