The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-04-06 00:00:00

THE TREATY AND THE CONGRESS.

A despatch from the Marquis of Salisbury, the new
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to the British
Embassies abroad, was issued on Monday night as
further correspondence respecting the affairs of Turkey.
After recapitulating the course pursued by her Ma-
jesty's Government up t,) the time when the Russian
Government claimed a right of "accepting or not
accepting" discussion on any points in the treat' of
peace raised at the Congress, Lord Salisbury pro-
ceeds :

"Her Majesty's Government deeply regret the decision
which the Russian Government have thus announced.
"How far the stipulations of the Treaty of San Stefano
would commend themselves as expedient to the judgment
of the European Powers it is not at present possible to de-
cide. But even if a considerable portion of them were such
as were likely to be approved, the reservation of a right, at
discretion to refuse to accept a discussion of them in a
Congress of the Powers would not on that account be the
less open to the most serious objection An inspection of
the treaty will suflici,ntly show that Her Majesty's Govern-
ment could not, in a European Congress, accept any partial
or fragmentary examination of its provisions. Every
material stipulation which it contains involves a departure
from the Treaty of 1850.
"By the declaration annexed to the first Protocol of the
Conference held in Loudon in 1871, the Plenipotentiaries of
the Great Powers„ including Russia, recognised that it is
an essential principle of the law of nations that no Power
can liberate itself from the engagements of a treaty, nor
modify the stipulations thereof, unless with the consent of
the Contracting Powers by means of an amicable arrange-
ment.'

"It is impossible for Her Majesty's Government, with-
out violating the spirit of this Declaration, to acquiesce in
the withdrawal from the cognizance of the Powass of articles
in the new treaty'which are modifications of existing treaty
engagements and inconsistent with them.

"The general nature of the treaty and the combined erect
of its several stipulations upon the interests of the Signatory
Powers furnish another and a conclusive reason against the
separate discussion of any one portion of those stipulations
apart from the rest.
" The most important consequences to which the treaty
practically leads are those which result from its action, as a
whole, upon the nations of South-Eastern Europe. By the
articles erecting the new Bulgaria, a strong Slav State will
be created under the auspices and control of Russia, pos-
sessing important harbours upon the shores of the Black
Sea and the Archipelago, and conferring upon that Power a
prepondering influence over both political and commercial
relations in those seas. It will be so constituted as to
merge in the dominat Slav majority a considerable mass of
population which is Greek in race and sympathy, and which
views with alarm the prospect of absorption in a community
alien to it not only in nationality lout in political tendency
and in religious allegiance. The provisions by which this
new State is to be subjected to a ruler whom Russia will
practically choose, its administration framed by a Russian
Commissary, and the first working of its institution com-
memied under the control of a Russian army, sufficiently in-
dicate the political system of which in future it is to form
apart.

"Stipulations are added which will extend this influence
even beyond the boundaries of the new Bulgaria. The pro-
vision, in itself highly commendable, .of improved institu-
tions for the populations of Thtssaly and Epirus, is accom-
panied by a condition that the law by which they are to be
secured shall be framed under the supervision of the Rus-
sian Government. It is followed by engagements for the
protection of members of the Russian Church, which are
certainly not more limited in their scope than those articles
of the Treaty of Kainardji upon which the claims were
founded which were abrogated in NM. Such stipulations
cannot be viewed with satisfaction either by the Govern-
ment off,Greece or by the Powers to whom all parts of the
Ottoman Empire are a matter of common interest. The
general effect of this portion of the treaty will be to in-
crease the power of the Russian Empire in the countries and
on the shores where a Greek population dominates, not
only to the prejudice of that nation, but also of every
country having interests in the east of the Mediterranean
Sea.

"The territorial severance from Constantinople of the
Greek, Albanian, and Slavonic provinces which are still left
under the Government of the Porte will cause their admin-
istration to be attended with constant difficulty, and even
embarrassment ; and will not only deprive the Porte of the
political strength which might have arisen from their pos-
session, but will expose the inhabitants to a serious risk of
anarchy.

" By the other portions of the treaty analogous results
are arrived at upon other frontiers of the Ottoman Empire.
The compulsory alienation of Bessarabia from Roumania,
the extension of Bulgaria to the shores of the Black Sea,
which are principally inhabited by Mussulmans and Greeks,
and the acquisition of the important harbour of Batoum,
will make .the will of the Russian Government dominant
over all the viciiiity of the Black Sea. The acquisition of
the strongholds of Armenia will place the population of that
province under the immediate influence of the Power which
holds them; while the extensive European trade which now
passes from Trebizond to .Persia will, in consequence of tbe
cessions in Kurdistan, be liable to be arrested at the pleasure
of the Russian Government by the prohibitory barriers of
their commercial system.
•

"Provision is made for an indemnity, of which the amount
is obviously beyond the means of Turkey to discharge, even
if the fact be left out of account that any surplus of its
revenues is already hypothecated to other creditors. The
mode of payment of this indemnity is left, in vague language,
to ulterior negotiations between Russia and the Porte. Pay-
ment may be demanded immediately, or it may be left as an
unredeemed and unredeemable obligation to weigh down the
Independence of the Porte for many years. Its discharge
may be commuted into a yet larger cession of territory, or it
may take the form of special engagements subordinating in
all things the policy of Turkey to that of Russia. It is im-
possible not to recognize in this provision an instrument of
formidable efficacy for the coercion of the Ottoman Govern-
ment, if the necessity for employing it should arise.
"Objections may be urged individually against these
various stipulations; and arguments, on the other hand,
may possibly be advanced to show that they are not indi-
vidually inconsistent with the attainment of the lasting
peace and stability which it is the highest object of all pre-
sent negotiations to establish in the provinces of European
and Asiatic Turkey. But their separate and individual
operation, whether defensible or not, is not that which
should engage the most earnest attention of the Signatory
Powers. Their combined effect, in addition to the results
upon the Greek population and upon the balance
of maritime power which have been already pointed
out, is to depress, almost to the point of entire
subjection, the political independence of the Go-
vernment of Constantinople. The formal jurisdiction
of that Government extends over geographical positions
which must, under all circumstances, be of the deepest in-
terest to Great Britain. It is in the power of the Ottoman
Government to close or to open the Straits which form the
natural highway of nations between the Agean Sea and the
Euxine. Its dominion is recognized at the head of the
Persian Gulf, on the shores of the Levant, and in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the Suez Canal. It cannot be other-
wise than a matter of extreme solicitude to this country.
that the Government to which the jurisdiction belongs
should lie so closely pressed by the political outposts of a
greatly superior Power that its independent action, and
even existence, is almost impossible. These results arise
not so much from the language of any single aiticle in the
trely as from the operation of the instrument as a whole.
A discussion limited to articles selected by one Power in
the Congress would be an illusory remedy for the dangers to
English interests and to the permanent peace of Europe,
which would resultfrom the state of things which the treaty
proposes to establish.

"The object of Her Majesty's Government at the Constan-
tinople Conference was to give effect to the policy of re-
forming 'turkey under the Ottoman Government, removing
well-grounded grievances, and thus preserving the Empire
until the time when it might be able to dispense with pro-
tective guarantees. It was obvious that this could only be
brought about by rendering the different populations so far
eontented with their position as to inspire them with a spirit
of patriotism, and make them ready to defend the Ottoman
Empire as loyal subjects of the Sultan.
"This policy was frustrated by the unfortunate resistance
of the Ottoman Government itself, and, under the altered
circumstances of the present time, the same result cannot
be attained to the same extent by the same means. Large
changes may, and no doubt will, be requisite in the treaties
by which South-Eastern Europe has hitherto been ruled.
But good government, assured peace' and freedom, for
populations to whom those blessings have been stranr,
are still the objects which this country earnestly desires to
secure.

"in requiring a full consideration of the general interests
which the new arrangements threaten to affect, Her
Majesty's Government believe that they are taking the
surest means of securing those objects. They would
willingly have entered a Congress in which the stipulations
in question could have been examined as a whole, in their
relation to existing treaties, to the acknowledged rights of
Great Britain and of other Powers, and to the beneficent
ends which the united action of Europe has always been
directed to secure. But neither the interests which Her
Majesty's Government are specially bound to guard nor the
well-being of the regions with which the treaty deals would
be consulted by the assembling of a Congress whose delibera-
tions were to be restricted by such reservations as those
which have been laid down by Prince Gortchakoff in his most
recent communication.

'Your Excbliency will read this despatch to the Minister
for Foreign Affairs, and give him a copy of it.—l am, itc.,
"Slusaunr."

The Times (in a leader on Tuesday), remarking upon
Lord Salisbury's circular despatch to our representatives at
foreign Courts, says it will certainly leave no cause of com-
plaint open with respect to. the clearness with which the
Position Of our Government is defined. The main tendency
of the Treaty of San Stefano is directly challenged. The
Government reiterate their anxiety to secure " good govern-
ment, assured peace, and freedom," for the populations in
whose interest Russia declared war, but they have now
avowed without reserve a conviction that the terms extorted
from Turkey go so far beyond the necessities involved in
such an object as to be inconsistent alike with the
interests of this country and with those of Europe. In
that opinion they will, The Times believes, be ois the
whole firmly supported bythe public opinion of this country.
It seems obvious, from such a review of the treaty as is con-
tained in Lord Salisbury's despatch, that it is indispensable
it should be considered as a whole. It is as a whole that it
operates, and as such it must consequently be considered.
But, as Lord Salisbury observes, even if the treaty as a
whole were acceptable, it could not possibly be recognised
as valid without the consent of the Powers who were parties
to previous treaties on the same subject, and it would be a
mockery to ask that consent unless they were at liberty to
discuss it fully. The issue is now clear; and it is for Russia
to decide whether by ill-timed presumption she will throw
away all chance of a peaceful settlement of the momentous
Issues she has raised.

The Morning Pest says the despatch may not improperly
be described as an indictment of the Treaty cf San Stefano.
A perusal of it will satisfy any one that the differences
existing between this country and Russia are of so radical
and comprehensive a kind that for all practical purposes the
Treaty ot San Stefano does not offer, and can scarcely, un-
less it is entirely rewritten, be made to offer, a basis for
discussion between the two Powers. The siguifleance of the
despatch at the present moment consist in the fact that
England now states in clear and unequivocal language the
nature of her objectiors, and it may be added gives it to be
understood that they are objections to which she intends to
give practical effect. The Foreign Office has now passed into
other hands, and energy and decision have taken the place of
vacillation.

The Daily Nowt remarks that the despatch states with
great force the English objections to the treaty, but adds
little to our knowledge of the diplomatic transactions which
have led up to the present unsatisfactory and dangerous
position of our relations with Russia, and it throws no light
whatever on the questions asked in the Rouse of Lords on
Monday night as to the view which the other European Go-
vernments take of English objections to enter the Congress.

The Daily Telegraph holds that Lord Salisbury's circular
more than answers the questions put on Monday night to the
Government by Lord Grey, and furnishes public opinion in
the country with a clear and commanding exposition of the
views upon 11,hich her Majesty's Ministers have based their
recent policy, and are carrying out their preparations. It is
impossible that any patriotic mind can scan the represen-
tations of Lord Salisbury and not perceive how serious for
.England, and we may add for humanity at large, 13 the crisis
raised by the ambition arm' duplinity of Russia.

The Standard observa that, professedly only a resume of
exchanged despatches, the document is an unanswerable
indictment of Russia's statecraft, an invulnetable exposi-
tion of England's policy, and an indication every other
Power should accept of Europe's reasonable demands and
unalterable necessities. One cannot undersbend how any
cern and impartial man can read this description of what
has passed between the two Governments without admftting
that her Majesty has not overstated the case in her declara-
tion that the present state of affairs in the East constitutes
a " great emergency."

The Pall Mall Gazette says :—" Lord Salisbury's first busi-
ness as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has been to
espound, in language singularly clear, dignified, and de-
live the views'of.her•Sfajesty'sGovernment on the Treaty
49.1 a terano aud fo,indicata,lvith as much , ptecision as
needed for the purmetnitoctiligititka„
expected to take in dealing with ther whole -body—oritiissfaii
claims and pretensions."

10181

The Times (in a leader on Wednesday) remarks that the
events of the last few days have had the effect of completely
transforming the aspect of the Eastern Question, by trans-
ferring the condition for which we have been contending
from the domain of mere principle, however important, to
that of broad and palpable fact. There has hitherto been
a certain reserve on all hands in any authoritative
criticism of the treaty, as though no statesman could
quite venture to express his real opinion upon it,
and as though they were fencing with preliminaries.
Lord Salisbury's despatch and the language held to
General Ignatieff at Vienna have suddenly dispelled all this
reserve and hesitation. There is good reason to believe that
the result of General Ignatieff's communications with Count
Andrassy will have been somewhat of a surprise, and that
Russia finds herself in a position of far greater difficulty than
she had anticipated. Combining Lord Salisbury's criticisms
with those of Austria, it is evident that there is not a
material stipulation in the treaty which is not the sub-
ject of some objection on the part either of England
or of Austria. Russia is confronted by objections,
on the part of two Great Po.wers, which affect
the validity of the treaty throughout its whole scope,
and which are substantially in mutual accordance. States-
men of the experience of the Russian diplomatists ought to
have foreseen that they were in danger of placing them-
selves in such a position; but its sudden disclosure is some-
what startling. Such a state of. affairs, if properly treated,
ought to conduce to a pacific settlement. It is scarcely
conceivable that, if England and Austria are prepared to
support each other on the whole in their several objections,
and to act together for this purpose, Russia could venture
to maintain her present position.