The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1868.

. factory solution than has ever yet been se-
. cured of that most intricate problem, known as the
Eastern Question. The_proposition is, in other words,
' that each of the Powers which were signatories of
the Treaty of Paris, should appoint as its represen•
tative to this end a Plenipotentiary Extraordinary
who should be deputed to confer with the diplomatic
representatives appointed in the same way and to the
same end by the other Governments, ostensibly
at least for the immediate purpose of bringing about
some satisfactory arrangement between the two
Governments now in arms and in actual collision
with each other, meaning, thereby, of course, Greece
and Turkey. Obviously the intention held in view
by Russia in countenancing, or more probably even,
we may say, in suggesting another Conference of this
kind, precisely at the present juncture is—to put it in
plain terms—to afford Greece an opportune breathing
time, and to save it from the otherwise imminent peril
now impending over it—the peril, that is to s y, of
trine retributive punishment by Turkey for its more
recent, its long-sustained, and its certainly most law-
less aggressions. By the Treaty of Paris the integrity
and independence of the Turkish Empire were guaran-
teed. That independence and that integrity have
been not alone first of all insidiously, but—lur-
ing these last two years, and still more flagrantly
within these last few months --openly and audacio-
usly assailed by the little kingdom of Greece through
a succession of acts which have very recently been
summarised in a series of distinct charges
preferred by PHOTIADES BEY, the late Turkish Am-
bassador at Athens, against the Greek Government
Those charges are clear, and succinct, and categori-
cal charges of filibustering. They refer to the noto-
rious encouragement of the Candian insurgents by
Greece—to the cordial reception of the Cretan refu-
gees in iEgina and other Greek provinces by the re-
cognised agents of the Government—to the actual
mustering of volunteers in Greece with the conni-
vance and material assistance of some of the local
authorities—to the notorious facilitation of the draft-
ing of the soldiers of the royal army into the expe-
ditionary forces bound for Crete, as wet: s the mar-
tialiug even of those forces under officers lately in the
service and in the pay of .King GEORGE—to the
enrollment especially of the legion brought
together under the command of M. PETP.O-
PAULAK I, and to the ready supplying of
ammunition an I of arms to the filibustering
volunteers, and to the Cretan insurgents generally
with the undeniable cognizance of the War Depart -
ment of the Greek Government. These, in brief,
were the charges preferred against that Government
by PHOTIADES BEY in his now historical remon-
stance. Instead of being denied (which for that mat-
ter, of course, they could not be) they were absolutely
in a manner justified, according to his way of putting
it in his official reply, by the Greek Foreign Minister,
M. DELYANNI. That Minister, as plainly as words
could put it, announced to the diplomatic represen-
tative the Sublime Porte, not merely the inability,
as he frankly intimated, but, as he shrank not from
adding (il.must be said most impertinently) the disin..
clination of Greece to prevent her own people, to
prevent the subjects of the Hellenic Sovereign,
during a time nominally of peace, from descending in
open arms upon a portion of the Turkish dominions
Remembering all this—and these things are of very
recent occurrence—it would be difficult indeed .to feel
anything like surprise at the rupture which has now
taken ]lace between Greece and Turkey. Assailed
herself, and insulted into the bargain, Turkey re-
taliates upon the filibustering Government. OMAR
PACHA by land, HOBART PACHA by sea, appear upon
the scene in vindication of the outraged dignity of
the SULTAN. The Turkish squadron under HOBART
PACLIA cruises off Syra—the Greeks are awed into
scuttling and sinking the Enosis—there is a pro-
spect of the Greek navy being altogether swept
off those seas and of tare Turkish army taking pos-
session of Thessaly. Then, but then only, Prussia
and Russia step in with their proposition of a Con-
ference 'at Paris. If held —as seems iu some de-
gree probable—this Conference, it is earnestly to
be hoped, will lead in some way to the adoption of
measures for the prevention of the renewal of
any such proceedings on the part of Greece (endan-
gering the peace of the world) as those which have re-
cently been witnessed, or at any rate for the preven-
tion of their renenewal—with impunity.

IT is very clear that the chiefs of our national spending
departments will have a difficult task in effecting any
savings. Just as we all admit ourselves to be
miserable sinners en masse, but resist as an insult
the personal application of the phrase to ourselves
individually, so the " departments," while admitting
that the expenditure is too high en bloc, will
not hear of a reduction being applied to them in
detail. At the present moment the organs of
the two military services are in a state of white hot
indignation because the Government is determined
to reduce our army and navy. Even journals which
commend this conduct in their leading articles
admit severe strictures in the column devoted to
g‘ Military and Naval Intelligence." A sacrilegious
hand has been laid upon the Royal Marines, and
therefore it is discovered to be by far the most useful
corps in either service. The most unworthy
reasons are assigned for the selection of this
particular force, how unfairly is proved by the
imputer's own words, since he immediately goes no
to speak of other contemplated reductions in which
the motives imputed cannot apply. In this second
case boldness of assertion is made to take the place
of slanderous suggestion. The rumour that a reduc
tion of the army by 20,000 men is about to be effected
elicits a protest against any diminution of our
" already ridiculously small army," and a warning
that the state of affairs in the East will render
it necessary for us, if not to go to war, at
least to negotiate, and "that in no tone of timidity
or time-serving. Our plenipotentiary must be able
to insist upon what he thinks right." How our pleni-
potentiary is to " insist " upon anything with " our
ridiculously small army" is not explained. The
paragraph which we have quoted is indeed utterly
inconsequential; but it is a fair specimen of the
arguments which are common in professional
circles—arguments which hitherto have prevailed
with the nation.

It requires but little reflection to see that our army
is either too large or too small. It is too small if, as
the United Service Gazette would imply, it ought to
be used to back up diplomacy. This was the fatal
error of 1864. We talked big, and blustered; but
when the Powers we threatened (taking a more
accurate estimate of our military strength than we
had done) heeded neither our exhortations nor
our threats, we were compelled to abandon
the little State that had been lured on
into obstinate and fatal resistance by our
promise of support, and we inflicted a sorer blow
upon our prestige than if we had lost a battle. Since
then the armies of the Great' Powera have gone on
increasing. France and Prussia could each bring a
million of men into the field within a month.
Austria has lately fixed her standing army at 800,000.
There is not one of the Great Powers which could not
crush us utterly if we came to a hand-to-hand con-
flict. Add to this, that our army, " absurdly small"
as it is, has to do duty in five continents,
and we see how small a matter is the
disbanding of 20,000 men. But while our
army is too small to affect the politics
of Europe ; while we shall never again, unless we are
actually demented, fight to maintain the Turkish
Empire or to bring about a new Treaty of Vienna
for future NAPOLEONS to tear up ; our army is far
too large for the only purpose to which it can be
applied—that of self-defence, That is apurpose,more-