The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-12-22
RUMORS or VAR.
1he Feeling ia E,srope-A Rerie,c of TIE
Situation.

me feettnA q" E"Fope-A hetie'c OF h'
Situation.
a careful reading of the report Of the
cars speech at Moscow does not show
so decidedly warlike tone as the Eu
r0pean press perceive in it. 1t may be
that other information, not conveyed by
telegraph, is ia the passsssidn 8f those
who see war imminent, but so far as the
public are instructed here, the new ele.
ments in the problem are merely the
speech Of Lord Beaconsfeld, the cars
counter address to the people, and DIS
patch in regard to the intentions of the
Turkish government to the London Tele
graph. Disraeli's speech certainly con-
veyed threat and announced di-
plomatic position. But any Russian
statesman knowing England knows thai
| neither Of them may be supported by the
| British uation, and both are probably
/ designed to influence the approaching
conference. 1t is true that before the
Crimean war the British ministry per-
mitted the people to drift into war, yet
there was a long and gradual process of
hHaming public opinion, so that when
war declared, the mass of the nation and
parliament were decidedly in favor of it.
Under the old theory in regard to the
balance of power and the Importance of
Constantinople, the British interests
| seemed at the time on the side of Turkey
and strongly against Russia.
But now all this is changed. The
public opinion of England is almost uni
versally opposed to war. The idea that
Turkey must be upheld and Russia
crippled has passed away. In fact, since
the outbreak and the Bulgarian mas
sacres, large numbers ofpeople in Eng
land believe that Europe would be the
better, if Turkish rule in it were swept
utterly away. A war to support such
tyranny, and to continue such Noham-
medan brutality over the istians,
must be intelerable to great ma esof the
British nation. The policy Is still cher
ished, indeed of the importance Of
preventing COnstantinOple becoming
Russian. But even this is questioned by
high authorities, and it is perfectly cred
ible that opinien should yet changed on
that question, up at least to the point of
PERMITTING Constantinople to become a
free city, whose independence was
guaranteed. Then it must be remem
bered that in the event of Turkish defeat
and prostration, Russia may accept much
less than the possession of the city of the
Bosphorus, and may content herself with
the breaking down of the Turkish dom
ination in Europe.
Under almost any event, we look upon
the prospect of England carrying out
Lord Beaconsfeld's threat as very faint,
and that she is not likely to be drawn
into this war, if war comes. The car,
in his speech, does not claim more than
Russian diplOmatists have claimed from
the beginning, thats turkey must give
absolute and satisfactory guarantees that
she viii cary out the reforms she prom
ises. This is clearly necessity. The
Turkish government, after the Crimean
war, and on several occasions since,
promised on papers radical and sweeping
internal reforms, and yet the people and
the christian peasar try have been none
the better off. 1t is notorious that the
pledges of the Turkish government are
MT like the pledges of civilized govern
ments. The porte is unable to keep
them. The bigotry and fanaticism OF
the Mohammedans are so intense that
the government cannot resist them. As
Il consequence occur the expressions of
Bosnia, and the massacres of Bulgaria.
1t is obvious TO all Europe, that if the
czar desired merely to secure real pro-
lection to the christians of European
Turkey, he could only do so by a tenn
porsry occupation of those districts by
the European power behind the christians
to guard them.
When Dsraeli lays down the condi-
tion of conference that the Turkish ter
ritory must be kept inviolate, he clearly
prevents, or seeks to prevent, final
settlement. But though the claim of
the car may not be in advance of the
limit of diplomacy thus far, his address
to the Russian people, and their en-
thusiastic response, reveal a popular ex-
citement which may easily end in war.
If the report of the intentions of the
Turkish government sent to London is
true, the conference can accomplish little.
And here, undoubtedly lies the danger.
Turkish fanaticism may easily burst all
the peaceful restraints of diplomacy.
The sultan may reason, and very justly,
that war could not cost him more than
the permission of foreign occupation
of his territory, and with the spirit
which has not utterly died out of the
wild race of Bajazet, he may prefer to
be driven out of Europe, scimetar in
hand, and perish amid the ruins of his
seraglio, than to retreat at the word of
diplomacy, and live in petty territory
by permission of the czar. The moment
full of pearls, but we think it not un-
likely yet that Turkey will yield, Eng
land be neutral, and the countries on the
Danube be paci6ed without general
war.-Neig York Times