The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-05-04

eueis sies De cramped and shut in
because of the envy of the English nationP
1t England can hold Gibraltar by force
why cannot we hold Constantinople 2''
There IS no principle of law or Justice on
which England has acted for the past one
hundred years, which would prevent Rms.
sia from holding Constantinople if she can
get it.
The occupation of Gibraltar by the
English has been q constant source Of com
plant by Spain for whole century. Not
only is it humiliating to her to have
foreign fortress on her soil, with its guns
turned upon her dominions, but its occu-
patton Is a constant source of trouble from
the smuggling of goods from Gibraltar into
Spain. Mr.. Bright acknowledged to me
that England has no right to Gibraltar.
and only held it by the law of force, and
at an immense expense, and that he would
be willing to eede it to them again. I
asked if he would be willing to turn it
over with all its formidable forti6cafions
and guns, and with its present strength for
doing evil to the commerce of the world (?
de said no; that he would dismantle it
and, by treaty, have it stripped of its
ability to threaten the commerce of other
nations. He said Mr.. Golden once told
MIN, after he had been travelling in Spain.
that If the English would cede Gibraltar
to Spain, they could obtain treaty from
Spain In relation to duties and commerce
which would be worth millions of pounds
annually to England. Now it costs Eng
land 81 100000 annually. We do not
wonder, however, that Englishmen hold
on to this as one of the Jewels in the "crowu
Of the Ocean Queen" 1t accommodates
from 5000 to 5000 troops, who, after
staying here for one year, are acclimated
and prepared for the hotter climate of In
dla. Ii is one of the chain of fortresses
on her grand highway to India; Malta.
Alden and Bombay being the Others. This
is the first great cOaling depot on the line
from England to the East, and these de.
pots for coal are absolutely necessary for
steam marine; for no war vessel, at its
highest efficiency, can carry more than six
or eight days supply of coal. England
thus maintains this line Of Notifications
from her own shores to India, so that her
steam marine is irresistible by any other
power, and she is literally the mistress of
the Mediterranean. She, at Gibraltar.
holds the key of this great sea, and con.
trols its commerce. It is true that the
Strait is twenty miles wide at Gibraltar.
and none of its SO-ton guns can reach the
opposite shore, yet they have only to sta
tion across the straits a few Of their iron
clads, supported by the harbor and fortress
of Gibraltar, and they completely dominate
the straits. IF England could always be
at peace with all the world, she is the very
best power to hold Gibraltar. But sup
pose she was at war with America, no one
of cur ships could safely pass the straits.
1t is too late for the nations of the
world to complain of the occupation of
Gibraltar and Malta. The right has be-
come prescriptive, but what we do con-
tend for is, that England cannot, with any
consistency, object TO other nations occu-
pying strOngholds on the map Of the world
which do not belong to her Russia has
done herself immense credit in a war from
which England prudently retired. That
worst of all tyrannies, seated on the Bos-
phorus, which has dominated with heart
less cruelty ove' Eastern Europe for four
hundred years, las been destroyed by Rus
sia. Conquered and bankrupt, the power
Of the Sultan, as an European Govern
ment, IS gone forever. 1t is the death
knell to Mahommedan fanaticism in Asia
and Africa The millions of the deluded
followers of the false prophet have regard
ed the Sultan as the great Caliph and sue
cessor of Mohammed, and, as such, irwin
cibie, as having the power of God and the
p rophet on his side. The charm is now
broken, the delusion is gone forever. No
other champion of Islam will ever rise.
Mahommedanism will now begin to retire
before the spread Of Christian and liberal
principles, and more changes will be
wrought upon the followers of Mohammed
in ten years than a century past has been
able to accomplish. Russia has the great
glory Of inaugurating this great change, Of
down the last pillar of this monstrous tyr
amy. Shall she now, by the envy Of
England, be shut out from the reward of
her achievement Shall she, SO mighty
nation, striving for progress, eager for
development, be shut out from the Medi-
terranean and from the Indian Ocean /?
When England gives up Gibraltar, Malta
and Alden, then may she object to the free
passage of the DardanelIes.
The only justification offered by Eng
land for her interference at the present
hour is the plea that the possession of
Constantinople by the Russians viii dis
turb the balance of power in the Mediter-
ranean. This, when reduced to plain
English, means that as England has now
the supremacy of the Mediterranean, she
is afraid Russia may rival or excel her.
To prevent it, she win again risk, as she
did in the Crimean war, her blood and
treasure. She boasts that she will, single
handed, oppose herself to the victorious
march of the Russians to C0nstantinople,
and the free passage Of their ships to the
Mediterranean. This may show pluck,
but what principle is behind it beside mere
selfshness? What territory of England
will Russia trespass upon what rights of
England on the great highway of nations
will she infringe on what will she do that
she will not find abundant precedents for
in English history?
But, says England, Russia is bound by
treaties in which all Europe has an inter
est, especially the Treaty of Paris of 1857,
which shuts her up to the Black Sea,
which limited her navy even there.
Who does not know that this treaty was
extortel from Russia when she was down,
while England, France, Turkey and Italy
stood over her with the knife at her throat?
And has not Turkey, by unparalleled
cruelties, broken this treaty; and has not
England herself broken it by anchoring
her irOn-clad monsters opposite St. Sophia?
When Russia insisted on a reform of the
monstrous evils Of the Turkish Empire,
and that this reform should be made on
the basis of the existing treaties, did not
England fold her hands and say the Mus
eovite and the Mussulman may fight out
this battle between themselves? And
now, after the battle is fought and the
victory won by so much blood and treas
ure, is England to step in and say to Rus
sia Your victory shall be barren one;
we are willing you should redress the
wrongs os Christians and punish the bar
barity of the Turk, if you do it at your