The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-05-17

ages whose conversations are reported pos
sess such opportunities for understanding
the situation that their opinions are worth
attentive perusal and comparison, although
more than three weeks have passed since
the conversations were held. Indeed, there
has been no perccptible change in the pos
ture of affairs since this mass Of interviews
was mailed at st. Petersburg The only
noteworthy event which has since occurred
is tho visit of Schouyaloff to the
Russian capital but the purpose
is enveloped in such close secrecy that 1t
affords no clew for getting out OF the laby-
rinth Of doubt and uncertainty. These in
teryiews are therefore as instructive as II
they had taken place yesterday and had been
transmitted by cable instead Of by mail.
The persons interviewed are the most emf
nent members Of the diplomatic corps at st.
Petersburg with the addition OF two con-
spicuous Russian statesmen, Jomini and
Hamburger, connected with the Russian
Ministry of Foreign affairs. The diversity
Of opinion which exists among them enables
us to look at the question from various
points Of view. To be sure, they do not
relieve it Of uncertainty, but they furnish
important aid in guiding speculation.
We will not discuss these opinions in de-
TAIL because their mutual contradictions
serve as mutual correctives but in the side
lights they throw upon the situation we
may find some assistance in interpreting
the developments which are yet to come.
1t stands out very clear in this interest
ing mass Of interviews that SO far as the
Treaty Of San Stefano is European ques-
ton, and not merely IN English question,
there is substantial unanimity among the
representatives Of the Continental Powers.
They have oil the same interest in the
European balance Of power that England
has, except that two OF them, Germany and
Austria being close neighbors Of Russia
and having conterminous boundaries have
distant nations Of Western Europe If these
near neighbors Of Russia are not alarmed
why should insular England manifest such
feverish dread of the growth of Russian
power? AS a member of the great European
family England ought to feel the most Sc
cure and Indifferent. being the most remote
from dangerous neighborhood. If any
European nation is put in peculiar peril by
the aggrandizement Of Russia that ma
ton is Austria, whose great river,
the Danube, debouches into the
Black Sea, and whose interests in
that quarter of the world are most nearly
touched. But Austria is perfectly willing
l.: IL
land relucts It is not as a European
Power, but as an Indian Power, that Eng
land is so jealous and recalcitrant She
looks upon Russia as a formidable rival in
the East. The new title bestowed on the
Queen of England by Lord Beaconsfeld's
how strongly her present Ministry is i'm
pressed with the importance Of her Indian
possessions. Beaconsfelds purchase Of
shares in the Suez Canal is another indica-
ton which points in the same direction. In
the Same line of thought is the recent order
summoning native troops from India to
rendezvous at Malta for the purposes of tho
expected war. This is q notification to
Europe that Great Britain, which has here
tofore ranked MS great naval rather than
as great military Power, intends to assert
her military strength. She has endless re-
sources in India for recruiting soldiers, and
the Sucz Capal has so shortened the dis
lance that she can make them available.
She has abundant wealth to pay them,
abundant ships to transport them, album
dant arrogance to faunt this possibility in
the face Of Europe, and it is not meant that
Empress Of India" shall be vain
title This consideration may, perhaps,
strength made by Lord Lotus, the British
Ambassador Mt st. Petersburg, in the inter-
view with him which we publish. In the
Crimean war England had no such resource,
because her power in India had not yet be-
come so we'll consolidated as it is mt pres
ent, and because the long circuit around
Cape Horn and through the Straits of
Gibraltar made Indian troops unavailable
i'm war with Russia. But since the COM
pletion OF the Suez Canal the distance from
India to the Eastern Mediterranean is SO
shortened that England. by her wealth and
her unequallcd facilities for transportation,
can easily draw upon her vast Indian popu-
lation Tor soldiers.
The Jewish extraction and Oriental imagi-
nation of Lord Bcaconsfield make the idea
of utilizing India for European purposes
irresistibly attractive 10 him. 1t was his
Oriental Imagination that devised tho pomp-
Gus title of Empress of India" and 1t was
similar seduction which led him TO
pounce SO eagerly upon the chance of pur-
chasing the Suez Canal shares. Whether
his intellectual keenness was confused by
his dazzling Oriental fancy remains to be
tested. But this brilliant dream is tho key
to his policy, into which the slower English
sense Of Lord Derby could not enter.