The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-02-13
Enrland,s Dilemma.


ment has ordered several ships Of the squad
ron to go to Constantinople, not for any act
in violation of neutrality, but to protect the
property in that city of British subjects
But if there is such q condition existing in
Constantinople as to make this precaution
necessary, may not the Russian army also be
forced to enter in order to prevent mas
sacre of Christians and to guarantee the
safety of the city itself against the fanatical
fury of an enraged and semi-barbarous
population? Russia has the same right and
the same duty to exercise this protection
with her army as England with her fleet"
On that day or the next the Sultan
refused to permit the advance OF
the British ships to his capital, assigning rs
his reason the fact that this would involve
on the part Of the Russians the action indi-
Gated above, and, on Sunday, the Russian
Chancellor notified all the governments in
Europe that as England had determined to
send in her ships his government was
''obliged to contemplate the entry of por-
ton of it's troops into Constantinople."
We cite the circumstance that this progress
of events was foreseen by us only as an evil
dence how obviously and necessarily one
fact was the consequence of the other. AS
there are in any game of mingled chance
and skill certain moves that open invariable
sequences Of moves which are forced one
after the other by the very constitution Of
the game and the human mind, SO Eng
lands action being given Russia's followe
inevitably, and this fact was equally pla
to all the world, with the exception, p9
haps, of the British Ministry.
It was pretended automatically Il
England was satisfied with Russia's ass
ances in regard to Constantinople that
relied upon the pledge of that Power not
occupy the city militarily, save in some
traordinary contingency. Her reliance up
the faith of great Power, If it were res
dispensed with any necessity for anothe
guarantee But of course the reliance wa
pretended only. It was mere formality and
sham. The position OF the British govern
ment in it's home conflict was based upoT
the theory that Russia is not to be trusted
that her pledges are of no value and thar
the government must guarantee its own
interest for itself. and against the uncer-
tainties Of the faith, good or bad, of any
foreign Power. Tell the British patriot
that Russia is honest in her pledges and he
will tell you that that is only the
fancy of Missionaries like Gladstone,
whose windows must be broken from
time to time to give ''premonitory symp-
toms" of danger to the world when the
said patriot rises in his wrath and his
might The government was in sympathy
with these opinions OF the British patriot,
and hence the first great difficulty of its
position. To England it was compelled
to exhibit its distrust Of Russia and to act
on that distrust to Russia it was COM
PEELED to put. ON an appearance of calm
and profound confidence in the sincerity of
the assurances given, for to have openly
distrusted that Power--to. have declared
plainly that it meant to act from the
impulse Of that distrust-would have in
volved rupture of diplomatic relations.
But it was compelled to act nevertheless
for the opinion Of the world at large that
the noise England had made was incon-
sistent with her inactivity at this critical
time reacted on English opinion and thrust
the government forward. Hence the thin
fiction by which it attempted to reconcile
action taken in distrust of Russia with
full confidence in Russias uprightness.
British subjects and property in Constan-
tinople were in danger-it must protect
them Russia met the move with legiti-
Enn hod hotta
sources of knowledge than Russia of what
was imminent in Constantinople, for she
had On ambassador there, and if her SUBJ
jects were in danger oil the Christians in the
city were in the same danger, since they
could be in peril only because Of their Chris
tianity. And as England must protect her
subjects Russia must protect all Christians,
for that has been her Office always, and she I
must more scrupulously discharge it now
because it is through her that the ottoman
government which protected the Christian
sometimes, could not protect them now
Thus one pretence was met with another.
AS the London Times points out, Eng
land on this occasion, by her insincerity,
played directly into Russia's hands Eng
land put forth n pretence which justified
the counter pretence of Russia, and thus
enabled the Northern Power to take step
beyond any it could have taken on even the
legitimate ground of victory for If in this
crisis she disregards her obligations to the
Sultan that potentate must himself recog-
nize that EnglaAd's covert menace forced
such consequence. But the Times, by re-
garding this pretence as an "evasion of re-
sponsibility," seems to assume that the
Ministry could have dealt frankly and
openly with Russia on the point 1t does
not see, apparently, that such q course was
not open to government that had dealt
with the issue from first to last on basis OF