New-York tribune., 1867-03-06
THE DECADENCE or TURKEY.

The Turkish Government is making the ut
most efforts to conceal from the gaze Of tho
world the steadily advancing dissolution Of its
dOminiOns. Telegraph and newspapers are
bribed to announce fictitious signs of prOgres,,
and to deny the most ominous indications of
decline. Thus we are informed by tho latest
COnstantinOple papers, which write in the in
terest of the Sultan, that the insruTectiOn in
Crete is entirely over, and that nothing re-
mains for Must0pha Pacha but TO exteIminate
a few brgands who continue to defy the au-
thority of the Sultan. But other accounts
which possess much Better claim 10 be-
lief, state that these brigands-whicllis only
another name for the defenders of the national
independence-hav not only recently gained
several important advantages over the Turks
but that they. were, at the beginning Of Feb
ruary, in actual possession of the larger pOr-
ton of the island. The departure OF Garibadi
and his sons for Crete indicates that the cause Of
Cretan independence has not yet been abaB-
dOned and it greatly adds to the dangerous po-
sitiOn of the Turkish Government. Garibaldi
could be conquered by the Government OF
Italy, which was supported 10y the large ma
jOrity of the Parliament and the people; but
the collapse Of the Bourbon rule in Naples
ought to remind the Turks that the very name
Of Garibaldi constitutes a most formidable
danger TO governments which arc weak in
themselves and hated by their subjects The
inability of the Turks to display any re-
spectacle force for the defense of the integrity Of
their Empire has, of late, become so conspicuous
that even France, the only Power which openly
encouraged the Turks in their war against
ltrCtn tl,n torl lao
French Yellow Book, just published expresses
regret that the Sublime Porte did not follow
the counsels of France and promptly send
commissioner to Crete to settle the difficulties
which existed 1t then admits that the pOpula-
ton, over excited, demands now Incorporation
with Greece, instead OF the reforms which 1t
at first demanded" and that "the extension
"Of the insurrection produced agitation ia
"t the Hellenic provinces of Turkey" In con-
cluson, it significantly says: In presence OF
" the cOmmOtiOn which has been created in the
East, and the sympathics which have been
awakened in all Europe, will the cOmbina-
lions which were at first deemed sufficient
Z" be found to be so stlg The Ottoman
Government should form DO fallaciOus lu-
si0ns. IT must realize tho seriousness of the
existing state of things and must not hesitate
before such sacrifices as may preserve ID
from the periodical return Of similar crises"
Among the sacrifices which France has cOun-
secd the Turkish Government to make, ara
the appointment of a Christian Ho5pOdar'Of
Crete, who is to be as independent Is the
! Princes Of ROumania and Seryia, aud the with
drawal of the Turkish troops from the five
fortresses held by them in Servia. The latter
l..l ~.
most important concession, for it deprives the
Turkish Government of its greatest stronghold
in the northern part of its European dOMn-
ians The former concession Turkey would
likewise make without hesitation, if 1t would
satisfy the Cretans. But the Crctans insist
! on independence; and the support of their
demand by the Emperor of Russia indicatea
that Turkey ere long will have to make this
sacrifice as well as its recent concessions TO
Roumania and Seryia. The embarrassmentS 0t
the Turkish Government will be largely in
creased by the recent attitude of the Viceroy
of Egypt. who likewise aims at complete inde-
pendence. Egypt has more than once saved
Turkey from uin and il is difficult to con-
ceivc how Turkey would be able to undertake
a war against her.
Against these national tendencies the proposed
Representative Assembly will not be of any avail
Meetings of this kind may have great mission
TO perform in countries whore dismembered
parts Of great nationality are anxious to be
reunited and consolidated. They always provo
without effect when antag0nistic nationantles
with conflicting interests strive to dissolve
rather than to consolidate the organic unity OF
the Empire The Turkish Government, we
therefore suppose, will derive no advantage
from it's Parliament which, on the contrary,
may greatly add to the serious complications
already existing.