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June 9, I860.j The Leader cmd Saturday A...
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TURKEY. fTHHE explanations of Lord John ...
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MAIL CONTRACTS—WHO ARE THE DEL1XQUENTS? ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Movement Abroad. The State Of Europe...
rights and liberties of Hungary in a stream of blood ; nor does the Continent know whether England is prepared to let the German Princes drink to the dregs that eup of bitterness and destruction that would be thrust upon them if , through their miserable jealousies and their' absolutist principles , they should be rash enough to provoke a collision with Imperial France . Buring the Italian campaign the King of Bavaria overstepped the limits of neutrality in his zeal for his Hapsburg friends , and the South German princes will expose the whole confederation to danger if the war should be renewed , and they continue to behave as Austrian lieutenants , and not as patriotic and independent kings . That Austria believes another Hungarian revolt to be im imminent contingency , is evident from her promises of
concession — Machiavellian engagements , alwaj's offered in the hour of danger , and never kept when the peril has passed away . " Very serious indeed , " says the President of the new Council , Archduke Eainer , "is the position of our country ;" and no one could doubt it when so eourtiei ^ like a patriot asCount Appony rose , and declared that in accepting a seat in the new assembly lie had not abandoned his national principles , but felt bound to preserve the historical rights of his country . Look where we will , we find opposing principles rushing- into collision , while the best advice the British Government has to give , is to express a wish that oppressed nations would go to sleep and not disturb the general repose .
June 9, I860.J The Leader Cmd Saturday A...
June 9 , I 860 . j The Leader cmd Saturday Analyst . 537
Turkey. Fthhe Explanations Of Lord John ...
TURKEY . fTHHE explanations of Lord John Russell do not diminish , X in the slightest degree , the gravity of the resurrectionised Eastei-n Question . On the contrary , they prove that Russia has deliberately avowed her determination to violate the provisions of the 'Treaty-of Paris , and that thePowers which are most disposed to sustain that settlement are willing to join in the infringement rather than let Russia do it alone . The English Minister could ,
perhaps , take no other course , conscious as he was that he should standalone in any energetic opposition to this encroachment pf Prince GoiiTscHAKOFF ; fbut the fact that he has yielded is a striking '' illustration of the value of solemn treaties , made ¦ after so much discussion , consecrated by so many protestations , and celebrated by fireworks and bell-ringings as . guarantees' of universal peace . The Treaty of Paris is but four years old , and already the vanquished nation has succeeded in nullifying the wain , am I most disagreeable article to which it was compelled to
consent . Prince GonTsciiAKOFP , according to Lord John Russell ' s narrative , first intimated to the Turkish Ambassador , and subsequently to the Ministers of the Great Powers , that the accounts ' received by him from the different Christian provinces of the Sultak , more especially Bosnia , Rpumelia , and Bulgaria , Showed such suttering on the part of the Christians , that ifTlISv should lead to insurrection and massacre the Emperor of 'Bussja would not remain a tranquil spectator . In plain terms , that lie repudiated the article of the Treaty of Paris , which absolutely denies any right of interference between the Sultan
and his subjects to auy one or to all of the Great Powers ; reasserted the claims founded on the treaties of Kainardji and Adrianpplc , which that treaty nullified ; and intended to repeat the interventions and occupations which his father loved so well . , Tt is evident that Prince GouxscuAKorF ; would not have made this most impudent avowal if he had not been well assured of . the -connivance of France ; and it is equally evident , we venture . — -for the honour of English statesmen—to assert , that Lord JPalmkiiston and Lord John Russkll would have met it by a distinct hud decided denial of the right it claimed , if they had not been convinced of that same connivance , and been afraid
that any big words they might fitly enough use , would have to be ? eaten , unless England was willing to wuge single-handed , a desperate war in the utterly desperate attempt to prop up a man sick beyond recovery . Our Government did not protest , and took into consideration the three propositions which the French Ambassador drew up at this meeting of diplomatists : the first proposition being , that the state of the Christian provinces of Turkey had become intolerable ; the second , that there should be
im inquiry by the Officers of the Sultan , assisted by the Consuls of thcFivo Powers ; und the third , that it was necessary to have a . itew ofgariizal ion of those provincesr Of the fiTst of thpse precious propositions , it may be said thnt there is no evidence to show that the Christians arc worse oft than the Mussulmans ; of the . second , that such tin inquiry would be a gross infringement of the . Sultan's sovereignty ; and of tho third' , that its enforcement would be tantamount to handing over the government of Turkey to the Five Powers , or rather to Russia and France . ' , Lord John Russell seems to have regarded them in this light , !> ut ho did not think it prudont to stay aloof and say he would
not concern himself m the matter , and would object to other powers doing so as an infringement of the Treaty of Paris , because , forsooth , Russia is so great an empire , and has so much influence with the Christians of Turkey . If the influence of Russia is so great , and . the necessity of . dtjlerriug to her demands so imperious , it was U mere absurdity to ¦ bind Jier by the Treaty of Paris not to do what everybody knew she would do upon the first opportunity . We have said we cannot blame Lord John Russell for yielding when he was conscious lie could find support in no quarter ; but we cannot the less designate the concession as humiliating . There is a chance , however , that for the present there will be no technical iufrinsrement of the treatv , and no
nominal interference with the Sultan's free will . Wherever there is a difficulty , a French ambassador , like a J ) em elc machina , is always ready with a suggestion which gives his master the substance of what he wants , whilst it saves his slow-witted colleagues of other lands a world of trouble ; and he . of Constantinople has got rid of the question of Consuls or no Consuls by sending the new Grand Vizier upon a -roving tour through Bosnia , Roumelia , and Bulgaria , to punish the persons who have
been guilty of the outrages and establish remedial measures . The Grand Yizieiy departing with the fear of the ambassadorial wrath before his eyes , and full of the desire to secure its good words , will doubtless execute summary justice upon sundry persons . He will have some hung , many disgraced , and probably , in his impartiality , will take for that purpose the guilty and the innocent in about equal proportions . There will be quiet for a time , but his Excellency will scarcely be back to Constantinople before the complaints will be as loud as before .
How can it be otherwise ? The finances of the empire are in inextricable confusion . Offices are practically sold to the highest bidder , and the purchaser naturally makes the most he can out of them'hy ' ¦ cheating , and oppressing the people over whom he is placed . Neither the civil functionaries nor the army can get their pay , and their only resource is to rob the people . The Ha'tthumayouiv has effected -a complete change in the daim of the Christians . They refuse any / longer to deport themselves as slaves . They clamour Tor the equal rights accorded them by that rescript , * and at the same time . tire unwilling to abandon the old immunities which were some compensation for their dependanee . They are ambitious ami revengeful ; they want more than equality—mastery \ . arid they look to Russia to give it to them .
Ho \ t is it possible , then , in this " conflict of the -old power- —which -the Turkish officials refuse where ' refusal is possible to abandonwith the new claims of the Christians , that there should be a settled , orderly administration ? The government of Turkey ' wants ' re-organization . Russia is right there ; but for the Great Powers to prescribe that re-organization would be to break their solemn guarantee given but four years ago , and assume the control of the Government for the profit of France and'Russia . -ItTS ^^ nsi eaH ^ -diseo wi ^ ie ^ than prescribe the true remedy . Perhaps the fatalism of the Turks themselves should guide us . Li : t us say to Russia , " Hands off , " and leave Turk and Christian to settle the matter themselves . Whether we should back those words by deeds is a question it were useless to discuss before it is directly put to us .
Mail Contracts—Who Are The Del1xquents? ...
MAIL CONTRACTS—WHO ARE THE DEL 1 XQUENTS ? rnHE Committee appointed on the 30 th of , 1 unitary to " inquire J _ into the manner in which Government contracts , extending over periods of years , have been formed or modified , " has made a first report , the information in which deserves public attention . Occasional mismanagement and occasional failure is coin ' mon to all men . To err is human , and error only strikes us ' as awful and criminal when we Und it predominant amongst those who undertake to guard us against error and its consequences . From Government we expect a perfection not to l > e found in the poor mortals governed , and when our expectations are disappointed we lose hope , not only in ourselves , but in the institutions that arc to suvo us from disorder and despair . The Committee tells us that
there is u want of concert in the Post-olHce , Admiralty , and Treasury , and of well-defined responsibility . Of the three Boards , the Treasury , which should guidn the others , is the worst . " It has authorized important contracts without having before it tho dements necessary for arightietmunuiLion .. " We could only smile with something like benigniuicy—recollecting , as wo all do , our own exemption from frailty—at such olmrges , were they nuulo against the quarrelling members of a privates family , one of whom whs a young lady over impatient for wedlock ; but we are shocked and confounded to find the infallible masters of the people no better than the wenkcst and humblest of themselves . This general charge against departments , wlucli insist ou our believing that they <; anuot possibly do wrong , is
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1860, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09061860/page/5/
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