Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-26
BERLIN CABLE LETTER Russia Is Evidently Furnishing
 Turkey With Assistance. CASH BEING PAID FOR ARMS Although Turkeys Treasury Has Been Empty
 for Long Time. GERMANY AWAITING DEVELOPMENTS The Effect of the Alliance Between Turkey and Russia Upon the Triple Alliance
 Is Matter of Uneasy ;, Speculation.
GERMANY AWAITING DEVELOPMENTS

beTlI, Jdn Io.-DeSplte the aHectat1On of incredulity which pervades the for eign office in regard to the alleged agree ment between Russia and Turky con- cluding treaty which cements the two empires in an offensive. and defensive alliance, the popular belief grows that the convention is an accomplished fact. News received from Vienna upon this subject, gathered from semi-official ways. has had the effect to greatly weak len the power of the official denials of the story, which have been put forth most iassiduously within the last forty-eight hours. The Vienna advices have also led to the admission that the fact that an entente of some kind has been entered into by the sultan and the czar is not at all improbable. As a matter of fact, diplomatic circles here credit M. Nelidof, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, with having achieved a grand coup under the noses of the English and the Austrian am mbassadors, though both of the latter were known to have been watching the Russian diplomat, having had good req son to suspect that Russia was playing her own game while pretending to act in concert with other powers. In the early part of the week reports were in circu- iation that Turkish orders had been placed for large purchases of arms and other munitions of war with German firms. Those rumors awakened the at tention of the German public to the fact that previous negotiations of the same character had collapsed, owing to the fact that the porte was unable to give drafts for the amount which would cover the purchases, and 1t was generally be- lieved that the reports were unfounded. This time, however, the public have been fooled. The contractors, it is true, made raftr ta dalf 10 dc without a cash equivalent or adequate security, but they were astounded by re- ceiving drafts on account on the Con- stanttnople banks, together with the as- surance from the agents of the German government in Constantinople that not on1.- would the balance be paid, but that add honal orders were pending the pay melits for which would be guaranteed.
 As the financial embarrassment of the Turkish government Is well known, 1t is reasoned that Russian monetary assist ! ance is a part of the compact between I the two powers
 ! The correspondent of the Cologne Ga zette in Constantinople telegraphs to his paper that the public treasuries in Fur key are empty and that the officials and soldiers, even to the highest rank, who have been called out to proceed against the Armenians have for long time past been unpaid it being absolutely true that they have not had a penny for months. For many weeks, too, the authorized pur- veyors,t to the army have stopped fur nishing supplies to the soldiers who are in a starving condition, to alleviate which they have been preying upon the people. In some places the troops have beset houses at the instances of their com manders and demanded food
 Under these circumstances and many other kind of orders a Russian alliance would be more than desirable and the forced drafts upon the people would be certain to cease. How an alliance be- tween, Russia and Turkey would affect the triple alliance is matter of uneasy speculation. Newspapers which have no official connections in the meantime ig- nore the better informed view that the whole situation as regards the dreibund | is a blow to the aspirations of Austria, and agree that the subject is delicate one to handle. Some of these papers pursue the line of the Hamburger Mach trichten, Prince Bismarck's official organ, that the interests of Germany are not being immediately affected and the gov ernment must await developments before following.
 It is certain that the Berlin govern ment cannot be expected even by the more interested of it's allies, to take the initiative in demanding that Russia shall explain when the existence of the alleged treaty was verified The situation as it
 
 ton of the international stipulations of the treaty of Paris, concluded in 1856, and renewed later in the Berlin congress. This may finally set Europe aflame, whereupon there will be long pause. which will be devoted to active diplo- macy. After that what? .4
 The scandalous exchange of abuse be- tween Dr. Earth and Herr Won Kardorff in the reichstag Thursday continues to fbe the talk of the Hobbies of the represent alive house. duel between the two was expected, but the vice-president of the chamber intervened and that phase of the quarrel was stopped. The quarrel really owed It's climax to the fact that Baron Won Buol-Berenberg, president of the reichsfag, who was in the chair at the time is deaf, which fact prevented him from hearing the wordy war between the two, and consequently he did not catch the full meaning of the exchange of words, which began with an insulting re- mark to Herr Kardoff. who directed his words in the form of rebuke to pr. Earth. The latter's response, though harsh, was fully justified, and the judg meut of the house was with him.
 Yesterday during the sitting of the refchstag Dr. Rachem one of the centrist leaders. accused the government of hav- ing hi ndered the Catholic officials in their work of assisting at the funeral functions upon the occasion of the burial of Cardi- nal Melchers. In the course of his speech pr. Bachem gave other instances of similar discrimination against Catholics on the part of the government. where upon Dr. Miquet, Prussian minister of finance, replied that no distinction was made in. the treatment of Catholic or protestant officials, or others connected with religious bodies. Catholics, he de- ciared, had not been forbidden to take part Tn an unofficial capacity in the obse- quies: of Cardinal Melchers or at other funerals. s,S y r. '
 It is stated upon good authority that the emperor, In conversation with guest at dinner at the, castle Thursday even ing, expressed his opinion that the island of Cuba was lost to Spain. The best course for Spain to take, the kaiser is alleged to have said, woull oe to come