The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-06-01
The Russo Turkish U0f.
THE WHY AND The WHEREFORE OF THE CONTEST

subject of deepest interest to the nations o
. the Old World. The armies confronting
each other on the banks of the historic
Danube and at the head waters of th,
Euphrates, under the opposing standards
of the Cross and Crescent, are inauguratinl
war which promises to be the most mo
mentous conflict of the present century.
/ In the presence of all this tumut and
confusion, people are speculating and the
orizing as to .he causes which have led &c
this appeal to the sword. The Gar in his
manifesto declaring war, alleges, i'll eXIen-
uation of his course, the sympathy he feels
for the suffeiings of the Christian subjects
of the Porte the refusal of the Turkish
government, in the rejection of the Proto-
col, to redress the wrongs OF long perSe-
cuted people, to punish the perpetrators OF
the foul massacres in Bulgaria last year
and to prevent the repetition of these out
RACES; and he says something about the
! vindication of the honor of Russia, insuted
! by the refusal of the Turks to listen to the
! suggestion of the Conference of CONSTANT
nople. AS supplement to this declaration
comes the address Of Grand Duke Nicholas
20 the army, in the course of which lie says:
1--WE do not march to make conquests, but
! to defend our brethern oppressed for
Chris.'s sake"
These enunciations are exceedingly phil
anthropic on paper, but no one who is ia
miiar with duplicity of kings aud emper-
/ ors believes word of them. In fact,
! 81, Ia, SaI
| by monarchs as mere formalities, intended
| to deceive rather than to inform the people
rs TO their real motives and designs. Hence
it is that meaning directly opposite to
! that conveyed by the rhraseology is taken
| from the address Of Nicholas. Conquest is
universally believed to be the paramount
| object of the invasion of the Ottoman En-
/ pire. For this Russia has many reasons,
/ the first of which is, that with the Black
! Sea and the passage from it to the Mediter-
! raneau. the Dardaneiles and Bosphorus, in
| The hands of the Turks, who are ever hos
| tile to her interests. Russia is deprived Of
| her great natural highway to the CONNER
| cidl marls of the worid-a circumstance
! which paralyzes her industries and retards
! her growth as a maritime nation. With
| Constantinoplc in her possession, she would
! have vast entrepot for her commercial
wares, and would in fact mouopolize the
/ traffic of the Mediterranean, to say nothing
! of the territory acquired. For this she
! undertook the war of the CIimea, twenty
! four years ago, and to oppose this England,
| France and Sardinia cspoused the cause of
! Turkey and forced Russia o accept the most
| humila:ing and unjust terms by the Treaty
| OF Paris, which took from her the control
| Of the mouths of the Danube, prohibited
| her war vessels from navigating tine Dar-
danelles and the Black Sea, and compelled
! her to dismantle the fortresses of the
/ Crmea- stipuiatious which she abrogated
| when the Franco German war rendered
| France no longer able to enfoIce the pro
visions Of the treaty. Besides this, Russia
has an eye to ;he further extension of her
Asiatic territory, and it is this phase Of the
case that particularly alarms England ror
tie safety Of her Indian possessions, which
/ IS not the only interest she has at stake, as
| Turkish bonds which represent hundreds
of millions OF pounds are held by Englisl,
mOney-lenderS, and which they will lose.
principal and interest, if the dlsme m be T.
ment of Turkey should be the result of ;he
! war. To protect these interests England
! would go to war tomorrow if She could
find an ally in Europe to fight her battles.
| and had she not the wholesome fear that
! Ireland, i'll the language of Wendell Phil
lips, would stab her in the back. The
| Muscovite has yet another reason for en-
Tt -.
| Emperor, shortly after tho war of the
| Crimea, seeing the discomfort of tie serfs
! to be an element of Weakness in the en-
pire. emancipa,ed them. BY this bold and
| humane measure he raised 3G, 0G0 600 of his
/ subjects from the level of the beast of bur
den to something approaching to the dig.
nifty of freemen. Not Only this. but he
gave to them right to the proprietorshiu
of the soil, SO that every child born in Rms
| STA is entitled to five acres of land as a
homestead. This made .he Car immense
ly popular and greatly strengthened his
| government. But it is a well known fac
that once the oppressed gain one concession
or, more property speaking, one right. the '
a,e never satisfied until they are in posses
sion of entire liberty. This, in remote
degree, is the case in Russia and this is
what the Car is not willing to grant. An
instance or two will demonstrate this fact
About year ago the students of a uuiver
siiy formed a Republican club and made 2
demonstration in favor of Republican sen.
timents. They were Immediately banished
to Siberia. y similar display took place
about month ago, and the participants
shaied Il Ike late, together with two law.
yers who had defended their cases. Til,
excitement and enthusiasm consequent on
a state of war will relard the advance o
these ideas; and the acquisition of terri
tory and the consequent increase in the
prosperity of the nation will for a time
satisfy ;he people and divert attention from
the shortcomings of monarchy, and the
comparative perfecilons of the Republic.
We viii now consider the Cars preten.
sions as champion of RELIGIOUS LJRER
TY. The protestations of the declaratior
Of war against Turkish intolerance stroucl,
resembles the cry "f 's;op thierr' in thI