The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-28
RUSSIA AND MACEDONIA.


The St Petersburg correspondent Of the
London Times writes that. as is not IN
usual at this time of the year in Russia,
the air is full of rrmors Of great military
preparations. and even an impending war
Some OF these rumors have been transmit
ted abroad in a more or less definite form.
and il therefore seems well TO state at
once that no Importance is attached 10
them in the best informed quarters in
St Petersburg. There are three rea-
sons for this skepticlsm. In the first
place. such rumors are nothing out of
the common in Russia. Last spring. for
example. IT was freely asserted that i'm
mense preparations were being made in
eastern Siberia for a possible war with
Japan, and detailed figures were even
given as TO the men and munitions which
were being transported eastward by the
Siberian railway; but the whole story
turned out to be a ridiculous invention.
Moreover. such preparations as are al
legged to be in progress in southern Rus
STA could not be kept secret from those
foreigners whose business il is 70 be we'll
informed on such matters. and l have
| reason TO believe that no such information
has been received in competent quarters
in st. Petersburg Finally. all the evil
dence seems TO show that the Russian
government are perfectly sincere in the
| assurances they have given OF the peace
able objects OF their policy and in their
discoursgeme of the revolutionary agi-
tation in Macedonia. OF course. it is not
denied that Russia must and will be pre-
pared for eventualities. which. though
very improbable. are still not altogether
impossible in connection with the Mace
DOMAIN question. But the rumors Ia
which I have referred go very much
| further than this and are thus regarded
as absolutely untrustworthy.
a writer signing himself Spectator
contributes an interesting article to the
Moscow Viedomosti and from a political
point of view demonstrates the improba-
bility of the alarmist anticipations so
freely expressed in Russia. The unrest
of public opinion, he argues. is based
entirely on the parallel which is drawn
between the present situation and that
which Immediately preceded the last
Russo-Turkish war. and he points out that
the analogy is little more than superficial
twenty-five years ago Russia had a
clear and definite object in view-the au-
tonomy OF Bulgaria. But what serious
man can ever dream of the autonomy
of Macedonia? If autonomy were given
today to the three Turkish vilayets which
are grouped together under a name which
has lost all historical. geographical and
national significance, the result would be
the immediate outbreak of a bitter and
bloody struggle between the Greek. Bull
garian, Servian and Albanian sections
OF the population. Peace and tranquility
would be as far off as ever. and the
peninsula would become battle-ground
of nationalist passions. Nay. more, Ser
via and Bulgaria and Greece as well
would take the parts of their fellow
countrymen as soon as they began muir
dering one another in an autonomous
Macedonia.
He proceeds to point out that it is just
as impossible TO partition Macedonia
among the Greeks. Servians and Bulga-
rians as to make il into an autonomous
state. and that such a proceeding would
just as surely result in internec!ne war
fare among the orthodox races. The
Bulgarians. the Servians and the Greeks
all think that they have a right not &C
part. but to the whole of Macedonia, and
the Macedonians themselves are divided
into hostile camps according to their ma
tionality. Russia can thus aim at mel
thor the autonomy nor the partition OF
Macedonia. Her efforts can only be di-
rected towards the introduction of such
reforms as shall enable the population OF
the three vilayets TO live in perfect secu-
rity from the Turkish authorities and
from the local Mohammedan population
This is exactly the task which the Rus
sian government have undertaken. in the
iliIH iHttHlIOH oI carry i4lS II thiuusH ~ASH-
out a war. Moreover. all the powers have
given their sympathy and support 10
Russia. so that she is not isolated as she
was twenty-five years ago when she en-
tered the lists on behalf of Bulgaria, when
I the attitude of the covers induced the
porte 10 offer an obstinate resistance 10
Russias just demands IN this respect.
as in others. there is no analogy between
the two periods"
1t would be idle 10 deny that up TO a few
days ago the situation was regarded with
considerable anxiety in diplomatic quar-
ters; but the most recent developments
the assurances of the Russian foreign Of
fee and more mature reflection seem q
have dispelled this feeling. and the fu-
ture course of events Is awaited with