The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-22
THREATS CoWED THE TURKS.
THE STORY OF THE VICTORY OF
THE POWERS.

A RectificatiOn of tho Existing Noun
tain Frontier For Strategic Pur-
poses the Only Gain in Territory
Allowed the Ottoman Government.
Two Small Greek villages IncIud-
ed In the Territory Gained-The
Greek Inhabitants to he Transfer
red to Greek Territory.
Constantinople, July 21.--The sultan has
issued an trade sanctioning the settlement
of the frontier question In accordance
with the wishes of the powers. The origi-
nal demand Of the Turkish government,
submitted June %, was for all the north
ern portion of Thessaly down to the river
Peneios, and to a point approximately
twelve kilometers beyond the line of the
Peneios (Salambria) In the direction of La
rissa. AS the Salambria rises in Mount
Dhobimi, a western peak of the Khassias.
and extends across the whole OF Thessaly
eastward to the Gulf of Salonica, a con-
cession of this demand would have meant
an important increase In the Ottoman ter
rltory. This proposal the powers have
unltedly refused to consider for moment
as practicable. In reply they offered the
Turkish government, all Turkey could
hope for, was a rectihcation of the exist
ing mountain frontier for strategic pur-
poses only; and the European military at
taches submitted a line drawn across the
Khassias mountains, which includes one
or two small villages inhabited by Greeks,
intimating to the Turkish government
that in its acceptance of this line, the
Greek inhabitants affected would be trans
ferred at the expense of the Greek gov
ernment and under the protection of the
powers to Greek territory beyond the aine.
On July 5, in reply to the note of the am
bassadors containing this proposal. a
special council of the Turkish ministers
drafted reply at Mazbata, stating that
the porte could not consider the frontier
proposed by the powers nor any other line
north of the Peneios, the natural bounda-
ry."
This attitude of the porte was firmly
maintained for a week until Baron Saur-
ma Won Jeltsch, the German ambassador,
received precise Instructions from the Ger
man foreign office to insist upon the STRAIT
egic frontier line proposed by the mill
tary attaches
This uncompromising attitude was evil
IDENTIFY the result of a msconception on
the part of the sultan, who had been led
to believe from sundry small differences
of opinion on matters of secondary i'm
portance, that Germany was not IN agree
ment with the other powers. on learning
from the quarter where he had hoped to
fnd support for his pretensions, that
there was no alternative but to accept the
decision of the six cooperating powers, he
appealed successfully to the Russian and
the Austro-Hungarian emperor, receiving
in each case the definite assurance that
the strategic frontier line was the maxi
mum OF territory that Turkey could hope
to obtain.
The sultan still haggled, explaining the
delay as the result of the demands of the
priestly and military parties In Turkey;
and II was not until the Russian govern
ment issued circular to the powers sug-
costing that steps be taken for expediting
the conclusion of peace, that the Turkish
government began to give way. The final
submission was not made until the am
bassadors on Monday broke off the nego-
tations, and referred the whole matter
to their respective governments, with a
view of applying coercive measures, and
informed the porte that any subsequent
decisions at which Il might arrive must
be communicated In writing, instead OF
orally, as heretofore.
The question OF indemnity still remains
to be settled. The ambassadors appear TO
have assumed that the capital sum would
reach 100000 Turkish, which Is, however,
highly problematical Financiers In Lon
don, Paris and Vienna consider that the
ambassadors are inclined to be somewhat
too generous. The pour parlers may drag
on for some time yet. 1t rs regarded as
certain, however, that a definite under
standing between the powers and the
porte on all questions connected with the
peace negotiations will eventually be
reached, and that the Ottoman troops
will be withdrawn from Thessaly before
the rainy season sets In In October.
The sultan's trade appears to accept the
frontier line fixed by the military attaches
of the powers with reservations, which
probably means that there Will be further
delays.
Berlin, July H.-Emperor William has
invited the sultan to send Turkish officers
m tUftnqgg the German military rnana,-