Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1897-05-20
THE PORTE'S TERMS,
Jpoa Which the Dogs OF War
WIN DO Called on,


TIC Porte. titimstau TO the Powers.
coNsrANriNoriE. May 10. The porte
has replied officially 10 the note Of the
powers. aud declines to agree to an
srmisiicc until the following condi-
tions arr accepted;
The annexation % ThcSSaly, an in
demuity % "a. o0c. 900 pounds Turkish.
and the abolition os the capitnlatians.
The porte proposes that plcnipoten-
tiaricS Of the powers should meet at
Pharsalos to discuss the terms %, peace.
and declares that IL thes. conditions
are declined. the Turkish army will
continue to advance.
The demand for the annexation Of
ThesSaly Is based upon the fact that
the province was originally ccdcd to
Grecee on the advice Of the power,
with the object OF ending brigandagc
and Greek incursicnS into Ottoman
territory. the porte believing at the
time that the ceSSion would attain
these objects. but the recent incursions
~ Greek bands and the events imme-
diately preceding the war have proved
Ia the contrary.
This is the substance OF the reply:
The ambassadors met to-day u con-
slider the porte's answer. which is re-
gar,icd as raising
An Estr~m~iy Grave Issse.
IL 49,
will be made TO the sultan personally
to issue a modification of these terms.
hut Il i forcSeen that this will be very
difficult. owing to the attitude OF the
powerful old Turk war party.
IL the porte should prove obdurate n
European conference u not improba-
BILE. although at present Russia is OPP
paved 10 this
1t is regarded as quite certain that
the power will not consent To retro
ceSsion Of Thessaly. Even Germany
is believed Ia he resolutc ON this point
because il would involve violation of
the Berlin treaty and impcril the peace
OF the balkans.
Altogether the reply of the porte has
caused the greatest surprise. II APP
pears that during the discussion of the
note from the powers by the council of
the sultan's ministers, news reached
the council that x 900 GreelSs had landed
at Palona and were marching To Janina
with the intention Of cooperating with
other forces FROM Arta. This created
a bad impression among the ministers
More Fighting In which Il I. Claimed the
Gre~ts Were Worst-d.
CoSsrANTISorLE, May I64-The coun-
ell of ministers met again to-day aud
the sultan has ordered distribution
of troops at various points along the
salonica railway. Official dispatches
| have been received from the command
ant at Jauina, who says that division
of the Greek forces approaching the
town by n narrow gorge from the
direction of Gremenitza, charged the
heights Of Griboro and Konoari. bu,
suffered heavily. losing 200 killed,
while ON the other side the Greeks
were driven back upon Paraskevi.
| The commandant states also that
| fighting has occurred at Krmusates
No further details are given except
that all these battles lasted until even
ing, and that the imperial troops ~
tanned their position, with the proba-
bility that the Greeks will he reinforced
and the fighting renewed to morrow.
No statement is made as to the Turkish
losses
/ The Turkish commander at Lures
telegraphs under yesterdays date a.
follows:
| "Thc outcome of desperate battle
lasting two days against force of Is
900 Greeks is that the latter have nban
doned the position on the heights they
had previously captured and have
withdrawn to the olive groves OF
Gremenaitza-S
Oniy a Case of Oriental Bsrg.iaisx.
LoSDoS. May 1.-THE preposterou,
terms proposed by the porte must be
regarded as the natural and usua
method of oriental bargaining. They
would not be serious did they not fore,
a continuance of the fighting.
With the failure of the Greek dasi
in Epirus there is no chance to make {
further stand unless at Thermopyle
which, by virtue Of its natural condi
tions, is an immensely strong position
from which the Turks would have the
greatest difficulty in dislodging tn,
| Greeks
At Domokos the Greeks must be suf
fering severely from the heavy rains
as they have no tents The capture ol
evacuation of the town is only ques
tion of a few days The Turks hav,
been seen ut the passes east and ives
of Domokos. and Gen. Smolenski ha
warned the crown prince to expect nj
attack.
The weakness Of the Greek position
is in the great extent of the line. Tn,
news of the retreat in Epirus serves I.
still further demoralize the troops il
Thessaly.
As to the terms on which peace will
finally be declared the general belle
in official circles is that they will b,
settled by an European conference.