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TURKEY.
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MAIL CONTRACTS—WHO ARE T11K DELINQUENTS?
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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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rights and liberties of Hungary in a stream of blood ; nor does the Continent know whether England is prepared to let the Oerman Princes drink to the dregs that cup 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 . During the Italian campaign the King of Bavaria overstepped the limits of neutrality in his zeal for his Hapsburg friends , and t"he ' 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 an imminent contingency , is evident from her promises of
concession — Machiavellian engagements , always 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 Raineii , " is the position of our country ;" and no one could doubt it when so courtier-like a patriot as Count Appony rose , and declared that in accepting a seat in the new assembly he 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 .
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THE explanations of Lord John Russell do not diminish , in the slightest degree , the gravity of the resurrectionised Eastern Question . On the contrary , they prove that Russia has deliberately avowed her determination to violate the provisions of the Treaty of Paris , and that the Powers 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
stand alone in any energetic opposition to this encroachment of Prince Goetschakoff ; but 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 main and most disagreeable article to which it was compelled to
not concern himself in 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 deferring- to her demands so imperious , -it was a mere absurdity to bind her 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 Russellfor yielding when he was conscious he 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 infringement of the treaty , and no nominal interference with the Sultan's free will . Wherever
there is a difficulty , a French ambassador , like a Dens ex 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 Vizier , 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 practi cally sold to the highest bidder , and the purchaser naturally makes the most he can out of them by 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 Hatthumayoun lias efljected a' complete change in the ' ataliia of the Christians . ; They refuse any longer . - to . " deport-themselves as slaves . They clamour for the equal rights accorded them by that rescript , ' and at the same time are -unwilling--to abandon the old immunities which were some .. compensation for their de- , pen dance . They are ambitious and revengeful ; they want more than equality—mastery ; and they look to Russia to give it to -them .
How is it possible , then , in this conflict of the old power—which the Turkish officials refuse where refusal is possible to abandon- ^— . with the new claims of . -the Christians , -, that there should be a settled , orderly administration ? The government of Turkey wants re-organization , llussia is right there ; but for the Great Powers to prescribe that reorganization 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 . ^ 1 rTS" ^~ Rn ^ eiH ; o ^ liseo ve iM : 'l i ^^ than prescribe the true remedy . Perhaps the fatalism of the Turks themselves should guide us . Let us say to Russia , " Hands off , " anil 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 . .
. showed such suffering on the part of the Christians , that if they should lead to insurrection and massacre the Emperok of Russia would not remain a tranquil spectator . In plain terms , that he repudiated the article of the Treaty of Paris , which absolutely denies any right of interference * between the . Sultan andhis subjects to any one or to all of the Great Powers ; reasserted the claims founded on the treaties of Kainardji and Adriauople , which that treaty nullified ; and intended to repeat the interventions ' and-occupations which his father loved so well . It is evident that Prince Goutsciiakoff 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 PalmKitsTON and Lord John Russell would have met it by a distinct and decided denial of the right it claimed , if thcvJuul 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 wage 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 Christum provinces of Turkey had become intolerable ; the second , that there should be an inquiry by the Officers of the Sultan , assisted by the Consuls of the Vive Powers ; and the . third , that it was necessary to have u new <) rganizntion of those provinces . Of the first of these precious propositions , it may be suid that there is no evidence to show that the Christians are worse oft' than the Mussulmans ; of the
second , that such an inquiry would , be a gross infringement ot the Sultan's sovereignty ; and of the 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 , but he did not think it prudent to stay aloof and say he would
consent . Prince G . oJtTSCHAKOFF , 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 tlu > Sin . TAX , more especially Bosnia , Roumelia , and Bulgaria ,
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milE Committee appointed on the 30 th of January to " inquire X into the manner in which Government contracts , extending over periods of years , have been'formed or modified , " ha * made a first report , the information in which deserves public attention . Occasional mismanagement and occasional failure is common to all men . To err is human , and error only strikes us as awful and criminal when we find it predominant amongst . those who undertake to guard us against error and its consequences . From Government we expect ' a perfection not to be found in the poor mortals governed , and when our expectations are disappointed we lose hope , not only in ourselves , but in the institutions that are to save us from disorder ami despair . The Committee } tells us that
there is a want of concert in the Post-office , Admiralty , and Treasury , and of well-defined responsibility . Of the three Boards , the Treasury , which should guide the others , is the worst . " It has authorized important contracts without having before it tluvelemwita necessary ibr a right . determination . " We could only smile with something like bcuignimcy—recollecting , as we all do , our own exemption from frailty—at such charges , were they made , against the- quarrelling members of a privato family , one of whom was u young lady over impatient for wedlock ; but we are shocked nnd confounded to find the infallible masters of the people no better than the Weakest and humblest of themselves . This general charge against departments , which insist on our believing that they cannot possibly do wrong , is
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Jtjne 9 S 1860 . J The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 537
Turkey.
TURKEY .
Mail Contracts—Who Are T11k Delinquents?
MAIL CONTRACTS—WHO ARE T 11 K DELINQUENTS ?
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1860, page 537, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2351/page/5/
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