TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9668, 5 March 1897, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

On the 23rd December last a The Real remarkable document was "Concert." handed to the Porte for

transmission to the Sultan. It was a final and definite warning in the form of a note from M. Nelidoff, signed jointly by the Ambassadors of the Great Powers, to the effect that certain steps which the Sultan contemplated would be " fatal' to the integrity of his empire. And what were these ■" contemplated steps " concealed behind the cumbrous language of diplomacy? Was the Sultan promoting another Armenian massacre, or the extirpation of the Cretans, or the invasion of Greece? Not so. The Sultan merely intended to rob his creditors. The unfortunate Abdul, hemmed in by corruption, is always in want of money, and he had been forced by a constantly growing deficit to attempt a loan secured by revenues already mortgaged to the many foreign creditors of Turkey ; now mark the result. The Great Powers have looked on helplessly while unutterable outrage, unspeakable slaughter have left an ineffaceable stain on the fair fame of those governments who had proclaimed so loudly their ..intention of protecting the innocent victims of the Moslem. " The unanswered cry of virgin souls for vengeance," the wail of those "despoiled of all that made life sweet —left bare to snow and wind and sleet and roofless to the inhospitable sky " — the prayer of "the homeless people in their mortal pain"—all these things seemed to appeal only to deaf ears and blinded eyes. Had not the Tzar declared that he would use no force, nor would he allow force to be used in coercing the Sultan ? Is not the independent existence of Turkey " essential to the peace of the world r" To any prayer that might involve the danger of this monstrous mass of atrocity and corruption, miscalled the Turkish Empire, the heart of the Russian autocrat was " colder than Anatolia's mountain snow." But in an instant everything is changed. The Sultan dares to move a finger towards the Bonds— those sacred embodiments of the Power that moves' the world, —and momentarily the European Concert, harmonious here at least, makes itself heard with no faltering voice. Let the Sultan but threaten the wealth of the great financiers, on whose goodwill the great Powers depend, and, whatever becomes of the peace of Europe, his throne is in danger. He has taken what may be a "fatal", step. Of all the distressing and unedifying phases of this great Eastern question, surely this is the most dishonourable. For years the "conceit" of Europe has been bnt a by-word and a scoffing, bnt the merest prospect of danger to their financial interests has united the Powers, "as promptly as if the Ten Commandments were but precautionary measures to the eternal laws of the Stock Exchange." William

Watson has just re-issued his terrible indictment of the Moslem and his protectors, and in the preface'to this work the Bishop of Hereford has spoken out boldly on this particular aspect of the Eastern question. He laments bitterly over the " pinchbeck patriotism of the commercial jingo," " very militant if any material interests aro threatened," and deplores the humiliation done to England by the sacrifice of her traditional chivalry and humanity " at the secret dictates of the bondholder and commercial speculator." Of England's helplessness, deplorable as the fact may be, there can be no reasonable doubt. but this last disgraceful episode has revealed more clearly than any foregoing event the base and sordid motives that have guided the councils of some of the great Powers. In the eyes of all to whom national honour is dear, these last few months of European history have been indeed, in Watson's words, a " year of shame." A well-known and popular The New Canterbury minister, the Wesleyan Rev. P. W. Fairclough, of President. Kaiapoi, was, by a practically unanimous vote, elected and installed President of tho Wesleyan Conference yesterday. The numerical strength and the energy of the followers of John Wesley in this colony give the election more than a denominational interest. The population of New Zealand is over 700,000, and the Wesleyan Methodists' strength is at least 70,000. The zeal these thousands exert at public elections, the interest they take in all our public questions, make their leader, or President, a responsible member of the community. In all moral questions he is their representative, and is often called upon to voice their views. As many of our readers are aware, the new President is a man with a clear head, a cultured mind and large sympathies. For over a quarter of a century he has been closely identified with the Wesleyan Church in New Zealand, and fifteen years of that period have been spent by him in Canterbury. The vote that he received is proof of the place he occupies in the affections of his people. We congratulate the Conference on its choice. Mr Fairclough came to Christchurch in 1871 as a candidate for the Wesleyan ministry and, after passing preliminary examinationSj read with the Rev. A. R. Fitchett, who was then at St. Albans. He next spent a period at Newington College, Sydney, under the tutorship of the Rev. Dr. Fletcher, one of the ablest ministers of the New South Wales Wesleyan Church. In 1874 he was appointed junior minister of Timaru, and since then has done his share of tho itineracy demanded of all Wesleyan ministers. His appointments have been to Rangiora, Leeston, Patea, Invercargill, Timaru, Kaiapoi, New Plymouth, Lyttelton and Kaiapoi a second term. Known as an original preacher, he never attempts anything in the shape of florid oratory, but always gives his hearers food for thought* For five years past he has been editor of the -7-K- Zealand Advocate, and has made his paper popular by his vigorous writing. Among his brother clergy and his congregations his name is synonymous with kindness and courtesy. We wish him a happy and successful year of office. Ever since the publication of Made Mr Williams's exciting little in book, it has become the duty Germany, of all patriotic politicians in England to prove two facts— that German exports are not so numerous as they are supposed to be, and that they are necessarily inferior to the English article. A paper which is not exactly jingoistic in its insular prejudices has observed that " a respectable proportion of German exports is of a character to give a reasonably civilised being a fit of apoplexy." It is easy to make out a tolerable list of such abominations— " the knife blades that curl up when pressed point downwards, the cottons that would make good sieves if the size were blown through; the woollens that never came within a mile of a sheep," and soon. At the famous banquet in " Our Mutual Friend," Eugene Wraybum is in doubt as to whether it is the sherry or the port that came from Day and Martin's. If Dickens had written today, he would certainly have said " Germany. '** At all events, there issues from German ports a wonderful medicated "■ sherry-," wholly innocent of any connection with grape juice. And now a favourite beverage of these colonies is to be added to this list. At Calcutta. 150 cases of "finest malt whiskey" have lately been seized by the customs. On an analysis they returned a fair test quantity of irritant poisons, but no malt spirit at all. The exporters were a well known Hamburg firm, the consignees well known Calcutta wine merchants. ' It would be interesting to discover how much of this sort of thing is done and with what results. For the sake of " local colour." the "whiskey" was labelled with a distinguished Scotch title; and doubtless a fair quantity of this druggist's wash had been consumed in India before the discovery was made. . England imports about 1,700,000 gallons of foreign spirits per annum, outside rum and brandy. One would like to know what proportion of this is " real Scotch " whiskey " made in Germany." . But this last step on the part of "the well known Hamburg firm" is not likely to benefit their country. We might put up with the knives and the cottons and the other impossible commodities, but Germany must be prepared to be left severely alone by- the majority of the English-speaking race, unless she will consent to leave us to the unsuspecting enjoyment of the ** real Mackay."