The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-03-13 00:00:00

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

(Reuter's Telegrams.)
BELGIUM! March 3,
_ _ ,

The fourth anniversary of the Proclamation ot the
Kingdom of Servia was celebrated here to-day. A
Te Deum was sunz in the cathedral, but the King and
Queen, and the members of the diplomatic body, who
attended the celebrations in former years, were not
present on this occasion. King Milan will leave for
Nisch by special train this afternoon. The new line
of railway from Nisch to Leskovatz was formally
opened to-day.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 6.

The objections raised by Russia to the Turco-Bul-
garian agreement regarding Roumelia having !yen
removed, and an agreement having thus been estab-
lished among the Powers, the Conference will meet
immediately in order to sanction the arrangement, in
which certain slight alterations will be made. After
this the Turco-Bulgarian Commission charged with
the revision of the Rournelian organic statute will
commence its labours. The modifications proposed
by the Commission will be sanctioned later- on by a
second Conference, which will meet at Constanti-
nople. It is hoped that the Greek question will also
soon be settled in a peaceable manner. Nevertheless,
the Porte has never intended to make the slightest
concession, territorial or otherwise, to Greece. The
reports to a contrary effect, published by some Faro-
peen journals, are without the slightest foundation,
and instructions have been sent to the Ottoman Ambas-
sadors abroad to deny them. Sir William White, who
was to have left for Bucharest to-day, postponed his
departure at the last moment, in consequence, it is
understood, of the receipt of a telegram from Lord
Rosebery. The object of the prolongation of Sir W.
White's stay here is stated to be to enable him to
assist Sir Edward Thornton at the Conference.

CONSTANTINOPLE, March 7.

The Porte has requested Prince Alexander to
abolish the Customs cordon established on the I:ne
of demarcation between the province of Eastern Rou-
melia and Adrianople. It is considered here that
this step will give satisfaction to the demands of com-
merce. The second conference for the modification
of the toumelian organic statute is not expected to
meet for several months, but the first conference of
Ambassadors for the ratification of the Turco-Bul-
garian agreement will assemble immediately. Sr
William White having already presented his letter of
recall to the Sultan, it is uncertain whether he will
be able to take part in the proceedings of the Con-
ference. The telegram received by his Excellency
from Lord Rosebery contained no formal instructions
for him to remain here, but merely a semi-official
request to this effect. It is expected that Sir William
will not leave for ten days. It is believed that the
Porte will shortly despatch an ultimatum to Greece
calling upon the Government to disarm.

PARIS, March 7.

According to intelligence received here from Sae,
the Bulgarian Government has informed the Freun
Consul that tho Turco-Bulgarian Customs line is
abolished until further notice.

CONSTANTINOPLE, March 8.
As all the Powers as well as Turkey and Bulgaria
have assented to the modifications in the Rouruelian
Agreement proposed by Russia, every obstacle in the
way of the meeting of a conference to ratify the
Amended Convention appears to have been removed.
The original agreement will be adhered to except as
regards the three following points: The clause regard-
ing the military alliance between Turkey and Bul-
garia will be eliminated; the name of Prince Alex-
ander will be replaced by the title of Prince of Bul-
garia; and a second conference is to meet to ratify
the modifications made by the Turco-Bulgarian
Commission in the Organic Statute of Eastern
Roumelia. The new agreement to be submitted to
first conference will be drafted this week. As Sir
W. White has already presented his letters of
recall, the difficulty in the way of his attending the
conferenc,3 can only be removed by his appointment
as a special delegate to assist Sir Edward Thornton.
Rechid Bey arrived here to-day bearing the treaty of
peace between Servia and Bulgaria. He will return
to Bucharest with the treaty after its ratification by
the Porte. Mr. Vincent Caillard, English member of
the Ottoman Public Debt Commission, had an inter-
view to-day with Kiamil Pasha, the Grand Vizier, in
reference to the Bulgarian tribute to Turkey and to
the proportion of the Ottoman debt to be borne by
the Principality. Kiamil Pasha stated that he re-
cognised the importance of the question, and ex-
plained that it had not been included in the arrangement
between Turkey and Bulgaria owing to his desire not
to complicate the political question, in order that a
pacific solution might be speedily arrived at.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 8, Evening.
The first sitting of the Conference will probably be
held here on the 13th inst.

SOFIA, March 8.

The Bulgarian Government has ab.olished the
customs line established on the frontier between
Turkey and Eastern Roumelia.
CATTARO, March 8.

The proclamation to the Servians issued in the name
of Prince Peter Karageorgevics is generally believed
to be apocryphal. Mr. Kirby-Green, British Chargé
d'Affaires, was received in farewell audience by ti.a
Prince of Montenegro to-day.

CONSTANTINOPLE, March 0.

France has adhered :to the Conference in cone-
sequence of the announcement made by M. Zanotl to
the Porte of the abolition of the Roumelian Customs
line. Sir William White has been requested by Lord
Rosebery to remain in Constantinople, not in order to
act as British delegate at the Conference, but simply
tp place Sir E. Thornton completely au courant with
the position or =airs. moreover, as the points at
issue with regard to the Turco-Bulgarian Convention
have already been settled, the Conference will, it is
expected, meet only to sign a protocol sanctioning the
Convention, so that the attendance of Sir W. White
as a plenipotentiary would not be necessary. A pacific
settlement of the question between Turkey and Greece
is expected at the Porte.

BELGRADE, March 9.
King Milan not having accepted the resignation of
M. Garashanin, the Cabinet will retain office for the
present. The Government has decided to convene
the Skuptschina at an early date for an
extraordinary session, in order that the Budget for
1886 may be voted and explanations be given by the
Government upon the application of the recent war
loan.

VIENNA, March 9.
The continued war preparations in Greece, and
the bellicose tendency of public opinion in that
country, are exciting grave apprehensions among
the European Cabinets. It is feared that the moral
effect of the presence of the combined fleet in Suda
Bay will not be sufficient to deter the Hellenic
Government from further action, and that a resort
to stronger naval measures may be necessary.
Greece has consequently been warned that should
she now, regardless of the wishes of the Great
Powers and of their naval intervention, persist in
violating the peace just newly attained, by invading
Turkish territory on her northern frontien she will
not be consulted by the Powers in re,i:eot, of their
further action, and will he left to bear the our.:shment
which the Turks are sure to inflict on her. Greece,
however, declines to disarm while the armies of the
other Balkan States are on a war fooi:mg, and re-
asserts her presumptive right to Epirus on the ground
that the inclusion of that province in the Greek do-
minions was as much within the original design of the
Berlin Congress of 1878 as the constitution of a United
Bulgaria was the main purpose of the San Stefano
Treaty. The Greeks further contend that they yielded
to the rectification of frontier, and accepted the com-
promise thus arrived at with Turkey in 1881, not from
any acknowledgement of its justice, but as a conces-
liOn to force mcveure.