Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-02-16

NiSho al huAO III ottOh OllO NAbiCul-
ity as ours" Derision greeted the
announcement in Wednesdays pa
pers that Austria and Englasd
would not recognize any arraA ge-
ment affecting the treaty of Paris
made without the concurrence and
assent Of the powers parties there
to. ga pretty notion, indeed, to
rake up that old rag which your
own Salisbury twelve months ago
secuted and declared to be vitiated
and nullified by breaches here and
laehes there, and in short dead
letter" | think l foreshadowed
this extreme state Of feeling when
| wrote on December 10th. 1t was
then obvious to me that England's
hold upon Turkey was shaken al
most irremediably, and that the
Turks would rather make peace
than continue to fight, even with
England's support. From the
farther extremity OF Europe En-
gland has watched the military as
poets Of the war, struck balance
between victories and defeats, and
drawn the perfectly just cOnclu-
sion that Turkey is not militarily
bankrupt; that she has still men,
arms, munitions, constituting yet
formidable military force. But En-
gland does not know what invasion
is, and possibly loses sight of the
fact that Turkeys military losses
are the least of all her sufferings.
The universal impoyerishment; the
social disorganization; the wreck of
countless homes; the desolation of
districts; the millions facing the
inevitable famine to come, foretold
by untitled fields and cattle dragged
off to be seen no more; the dwin-
ding piastres-the paper token that
bought loaf a month ago, only a
half loaf to-day, and that may COM
mand no bread a month hence; the
general horror, disgust and sickness
of blood and waste; all these have
not, perhaps, been reckoned, or, if
they have been reckoned at all, they
have been lightly counted and
slightly recognized. Like the gath
ering symptoms of organic disease
they do not each work an arprecia-
bly, progressive havoc; but the hour
comes when their accumulated force
brushes the whole system; and that
hour has come in Turkey. The
military spirit, the sanguine tenn.
lperament and vigorous vitality Of
the patient, sustained the Otto
man people through the dreary
struggle in the northwestern
provinces, the war with Servia,
the jarring Of the conference,
the early reyerses of the pres
ent campaign, and the heart
breaking discord of leaders. A brief
period of success supervened, and
hope revived. But, when Sulei-
mans palpable incapacity crowned
the disasters of Kars and Plevna,
the heartstrings of the nation were
strained till they were incapable of
further tension; and when defeat
came closer home to it in the spec
tacle Of the people of the empires
best provinces mass Of fugitive
helplessnesS, suffering, starvation
and woe, the strings gave way, aud
there came the present day of pros
tration, detection and loss Of power
or desire to rally. The declaration
that we now stand upon the treaty
of Paris may mean nothing more
than Lord Beaconsfeld's speech at
Guildhall in 1876; but, if 1t has
any serious meaning, it may be
fairly said that that meaning is very
tardily expressed-so tardily that
there is no material to fit it to now.
1t will doubtless be wonder to fu-
ture generations how the rant of
ritualists and humanitarians could
have scared ministers for a while
from the plain course Of maintain
ing treaty engagements.
The pelting sleet drives against
my windows as / write, and biting
indeed is the blast that scathes the
cheek of the well-clad Porole. /
am at no loss to picture what mea-
sure of comfort there is on the bare
bleak billowy hills Of Thrace, over
the SHOWS of which forty or fifty
thousand homeless beings are at
this moment pressing their weary
flight in the outermost darkness OF
hopeless, helpless misery, dropping
and dying on the way from cold and
hunger. Such "bag ard baggage"
as they possess they have with them,
and the survivors will 90 to Asia.
But, even taking all this into aa-
count, the spectacle Is unsatisfying
when regarded as the present and
immediate result of two long years
Of laborious effort on the part of
the greatest statesmen Of tho great
est nations of the age.
Gambling In the Army.
New York Post.