The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-14

from the sudden appearance before that city Of an
overwhelming Russian armament; while the tran |
quilty OF the Mediterranean, aud all the great in
terests in that sea- would have been liable to dis
turoance by the action OF aPoweri1l Russian neet,
ITO guard against this double danger the Govern
ments OF England and or France would have been
establishments in time Of peace, and permanently
to station their armaments at great distance from
their arsenals and resources; 60 that peace CON
more than an armed truce divested OF the security
which is the essence OF peace, and unaccompanIed
by tnat cessation OF expenditure which ought TO tol-
low the termination OF war.
On the fall of Sebastopol, and the conclu-
sion Of a treaty with Sweden, by which the
Allies would have been able to carry the war
into Finland, Austria renewed-the offer of her
good offices, and the four points were again
presented in a more detailed form. The third
point now took the shape of an agreement
that the Black Sea should be neutralized;
that its waters should be open to the
merchant marine of all nations, but
not to any ships of war; that there
should be no military arsenals on its banks
and that Russia and Turkey should mutually
engage to maintain in the Black Sea only
specified number of light vessels for the ser
vice of the coasts. Before this was submitted
to Russia, it had been warmly discussed by
the Western powers. A proposal by France
to lower the terms provoked an indignant
remonstrance from England, Lord Palmerston
declaring that sooner than accept inadequate
terms, England and Turkey would carry on
the war alone. England insisted that the
engagement as to the Black Sea must be
embodied in the general treaty with the
powers, and must not be modified without
their assent. These views carried the day,
and on the 9TH of January, 1856, Count Nes-
selrode, accepting the bases of negotiation,
! thus referred to the third point
Article is at bottom only reproduction OF the
proposal emanating from the Imperial Cabinet Chat
charged to communicate to the Austrian Govern
ment. We accept it, and thereby consent that the
convention to be made between Russia and the Porte
for this purpose should be previously submitted to
the sanction OF the contracting powers. We have
solely Intended to make the terms more clear and
avoid all misconstruction; the other is Tlhlng
Of the slave-trade on the Black Sea coast.
These preliminaries being settled, the
Congress of Paris opened on the 25th of Feb
ruary, and on the 4th of March the Third
point came up for consideration. 1t was
agreed that the Black Sea should be neu-
tralized, and that its waters and ports, while
thrown open to the mercantile marine of
every nation, should be formally and IN
peTpetuity interdicted to the flag of war,
either of the powers possessing its coasts or
of any other power, with the exceptions
stipulated in the present treaty" The
paragraph as to the prohibition of
military arsenals was also adopted.
Lord Clarendon pointed out that the
maintenance of an arsenal of the first-class
at Nicolaieff, though not on the shores of the
Black Sea, would justify public opinion in
"attributing to Russia intentions which she
cannot entertain" Upon this the First
Plenipotentiary of Russia replied ''that the
Emperor, his august MASTER on accedine
with sincerity to the propositions of peace,
firmly resolved strictly to carry out all the
engagements resulting from them; !
that in order at once to provide fol
ments of the naval service, the
Emperor intends only to authorize the con
struction at Nicolaieff of the vessels of wal
mentioned in the bases of the negotiations.
Further, Count Orloff agreed to the insertion
of his declaration in the Protocol, adding
that to prove his sincerity the Emperor re
quested free passage through the Bospho
rus and Dardanelles for the two ships of tn,
line which alone were then at Nicolaieff, ant
which would have to proceed to the Baltic a!
soon as peace was concluded.
1t must not be supposed that the only poin
at issue is as to the naturalization of tht
Black Sea. This is the leading question, bu
a number of other questions hinge upon it.
For example, as the Edin5urgh Re0ieW point
out, the arrangements as to the Roumanial
Provinces and the navigation of the Danub
are more or less dependent on the neutraliza
tion of the Black Sea- Indeed, the Danub
was opened by Austria on the express con
dition that no ships of war shoul
be within reach of its mouth. That Austri
is not disposed to waive that condition ma
be gathered from the letter from Pesth il
Wednesdays Times. 'If, it says, ''the rul
as to the neutrality of the Black Sea b
! altered, the Austrian Government will cor
slider the provisions with respect to tn
Danube to have ceased altogether, and wi
! demand other guarantees for the protectio
of the river than those devised in the treat
! of 1856. The perpetuation of the Europea
! Commission would be one of those qua
antees.