The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-31 00:00:00

TURKEY AND THE POWERS.

Writing from Constantinople on the 2Lth, the Corre-
spondent of The Times says :

The vague hopes officially and unofficially expressed
in Western Europe that Turkey will perhaps be wise
in time and submit to the moral pressure of united
Europe cause a good deal of surprise here, both
among the diplomatists and in the general public.
Moral pressure, not backed by the immediate
prospect of its being followed up, if necessary,
by material coercion, has no longer any influence
in Constantinople, and in the present case the Turks
are becoming more and more convinced that ma-
terial coercion will not be employed. The Porte
has discovered, through one of its agents abroad,
that England has confidentially sounded the Powers
on the subject, and has put forward the idea of a naval
demonstration in the neighbourhood of Dulcigno, but
the intelligence has caused no alarm. The Minister
of Foreign Affairs is reported to have said that any
demonstration of the kind would simply have the
effect of inciting the Albanians to energetic action,
and the naval authorities are of opinion that a hostile
fleet could not inflict much real injury so long as the
Dardanelles are properly protected by forts and
torpedoe=. The Sultan, who directs personally
the foreign as well as tne domestic policy, is as
impervious to moral pressure as any of his
Ministers and as incapable of taking a com-
prehensive view of the situation. He is guided
chiefly by the fear of immediate consequences, and,
his fears, together with all the other influences around
him, tend to make him offer a dogged resistance to the
will of Europe. In the first place, there is the imme-
diate personal danger of yielding. Not only his
Minister of Foreign Affairs and other high dignitaries,
but also a large number of the Palace Guards, on
whom he relies for his personal safety, are Albanians,
and he is naturally afraid to do anything that might
displease them. In the second place, his policy of
resistance has the moral support of the Mussulmans
generally, and even of some Christians, who think
that the Conference went much too far in the work of
dismembering the Empire. As this current of public
feeling coincides with the Sultan's own inclinations,
it is an important factor in the problem, and it is
very probable that an appeal will shortly be made to ft
by means of a grand national council similar tc, that
which was held before the war with Russia. Such a
national council has for the sultan a two-fold advant-
age. It enables him to lay the flattering unction to
his soul that he thereby divests himself of all responsi-
bility for ulterior disastrous consequences, and it, at
the same time, strengthens his diplomatic position in
the face of Europe by affording a proof that theVolicy
of resistance is approved, not only by the Albanians,
but also by all his subjects. An assembly of the kind
must be, of course, in a certain sense, simply a politi-
cal comedy, for it can do nothing more than confirm
and register foregone conclusions; but it will, if really
calleetocrether, have a grave political significance,
for the Sultan, by affecting to consult the national
will and to abide by its decisions, makes a solemn
public declaration not easily retracted, and, as it were,
nails his colours to the mast. For the moment His
'Majesty hesitates to take any decisive step, but the
native Press is allowed to stir up feelings of Mussul-
man patriotism, As an illustration of this I may give
here a brief summary of a long article which has
appeared in the Teijiniani Hakiket. The writer' who
professes to be one of the Uletna, referring to the
rumours about an Imperial manifesto having been
prepared for the purpose of exciting the Mussulmans
against the Christians, declares that such a manifesto
is quite unnecessary.
"From the beginning of the war with Servia," he says,
"down to the Congress of Berlin, all .the, acts of Europe
towards us were founded on injustice, as the Turkish and
European Press have fully proved. Diplomatists have talked
constantly about the integrity, progress, and independence
of the Ottoman Empire, but we have learned by sad experience
what all that really means, and have no need of manifestoes
to enlighten us. Even dumb beasts when led to the slaughter-
house have often a presentiment of their fate. The Mussul-
mans who have fled from Europe into Asia relate the suffer-
ings which they have endured. Hundreds of thousands of
refugees made last year the pilgrimage to Mecca; from
them the Mussulmans of the most distant countries will
learn what Islam has to expect from Christianity. The
decisions of the Christian Powers tend to drive us out of
Europe. Though the Treaty of Berlin affected to pro-
tect the Mussulmans in the countries where they had
ceased to be the dominant race, its stipulations in that
respect have remained a dead letter, and thousands
of them have to flee hi order to save their honour
and their life. Our honour and our religion are
trampled under foot and our property ruthlessly pillaged,
and when we venture to complain we are accused of false-
hood. With all these things before our eyes, what need
have we for manifestoes to convince us that Europe desires
our annihilation? If the Sultan had really called upon us
to take up arms we should have risen as one man, and the
face of the world would have been changed."

This article represents pretty accurately the feeling
of the educated Mussulmans of Stamboul, especially
those of them who have more or less intimate rela-
tions with the higher ranks of the officials, but the
great mass of the people, so far as I have been able to
discover, show a wonderful indifference to all political
questions, and are ready to accept with stoical resig-
nation anything that "Kismet' may have in store
for them.

The St. James's Gazette remarks :—lt is daily becoming
more obvious that if the Porte is to be subjected to coercion,
Austria, Germany, and France will not associate themselves
with the enterprise. They are apparently willing to take
part in a naval demonstration, but none of them conceal
their dislike to stronger measures. Every important journal
in Vienna and Buda-Pestli condemns the proposal that
Austria should in present circumstances, under any pretext
whatever, make war on Turkey; and the German news-
papers are equally Unanimous in protesting that Ger-
many can have no adequate motive for fighting
the Forte. French journals adopt precisely the same
tone with regard to France. Many Frenchmen are
sincerely anxious that the Greek claims should be con-
ceded; but the notion that France should support them
by arms seem to the mass of the people not only
inexpedient but ridiculous. The France openly maintains
that the nation "must not involve herself in foreign adven-
tures," and that "the only foreign policy she ought to pursue
is that in which the object is Alsace and Lorraine." Mr.
Gladstone's policy is characterized by the Temps as "aggres-
sive and adventurous," and it assumes that Russia is the sole
Power on whose help we can rely. It is significant that the
collective fleet will not, as was at first announced, be placed
under joint English and French command. It will be com-
manded by an English admiral alone. This arrangement is
intended, we are told, "to obviate any possibility of dis-
putes ;" but it must also be taken as a hint from France that
she does not wish even to seem to take the lead in a de-
monstration which may be attended by inconvenient conse-
quences.

Under date July 27, the Berlin Correspondent of The
Times writes :—" The answer of the Porte is awaited here
with great interest, as thereby the aspect of affairs will be
cleared up. It is now said that the Sultan has agreed to
concede Prevesa to Greece, but that he is still resolved not
to give up Larissa, Metzovo, and Janina. At the same
time, however, it is believed that this resolution is only
made in order to quiet the excitement of the Maho-
medan population, and that the Porte will soon be wil-
ling to make other and greater concessions. In order to pro-
duce such a desirable result, it will, however, be necessary to
convince the Moslems that the Powers are resolved to use
very strong measures, and the maritime demonstration has
probably been planned for the purpose of making a deep
impression more on flu? population than on the Turkish Go-
vernment itself. The Sultan may fear that the political and
religious feelings of the Moslems will be very deeply
wounded if he shows himself ready to fulfil the wishes of
the Great Powers without having been coerced by any mili-
tary pressure. It is, therefore, supposed here that the
Powers are bound to make an united maritime demonstra-
tion, and that after this the Sultan will accept the Con-
ference resolutions."