THE BALKANS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 4 June 1908, Page 6

THE BALKANS.

BRITISH REFORM SCHEME AND THE POWERS. A RUSSIAN REPORT. 31. TELEGRAm —PKKSS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. St. Petersburg, June 2.The Russian Press asserts that Russia, Franco, Italy, Germany, and Austria ' support tho scheme of reforms in regard to Macedonia proposed by Sir. Edward Grey, British Secretary of Stato for Foreign Affairs. THE GREY PROPOSALS. AN INDEPENDENT GOVERNOR AND AN IMPROVED GENDARMERIE. This message, if correct, carries the prospects of reform in Macedonia a good deal farther than did the recent statement in the' "Novoo Vremya." According to that paper, it was the Russian proposals that Britain and Russia agreed on, and "Russia has accepted the proposals of Sir Edward Grey as desiderata for eventual realisation." If the British proposals have really gained acceptance, ■ the results should be far-reaching. In their original form, as first outlined by Sir Edward; Grey, they included an addition to the gendarmerie,/the grant of full executive control to. the, officers,;,and .a reduction, of tho Turkish'troops. I '-. These proposals are' intimately related. Mobile columns of gendarmerie under European : officers would, it is claimed, afford tho best chance of putting down the patriotic bands who pour into the .vilayets of. Macedonia from Bulgaria, Servia; and Greece. To raise and equip a force adequate for this purpose need not bo a source of great espouse, but it wouJd cost something. More than enough might be provided for the purpose by reducing the Turkish troops. In reply to criticisms by the Powers of these proposals, Sir Edward Grey not only answered them, but elaborated his original scheme. It is. in this dispatch" that he brings forward liis project for the appointment of a Governor irremovable for a term of years without tho assent of tho Powers. Were such a Governor named and a sufficient, force of gendarmerie and European officers placed at his disposal, "His Majesty's' Government aro convinced that the country might bo clearcd of bands and pacified in a sjiort time." j A guarantee of the intogritv and external security of the province by the Powers would be a necessary part of any such' arrangement. .The Govern-, ment bolieve that the remedy they propose would bo complete, prompt, and effectivo, but t.hoy express their readiness to consider any jiohemes which other Powers may prefer which are as likely to bear fruit. They will also lie ready, they declare, to co-operate with the other Powers in taking' whatever measures are necessary to secure the adoption either of their own schemo or. of another, or they will :\?ree that such measures should lie tnkon by "any Powers which are prepared to act on behalf of the Concert." -. THE RUSSIAN SCHEME. According to information received by the official St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency, tho essential features of the Russian proposals for rolbrm in Macedonia aro as follow-.—

It is proposed that, the office of InspectorGoneral of the three Macedonian vilayets shall lis retained at least so long as, with the consent of tho Sultan, the additional 3 per cent. Customs duty shall be levied, and, pending the continuanco of this condition, the InspectorGeneral cannot bo romovod without the consont of the Powers. . The rights vested in the Russian and Austro-Huhgariim Civil Agents'shall be, accorded, as far as general control 1 is concerned, to tho. representatives of France, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy on the International Financial Commission for Macedonia; The General commanding the gendarmerie organisation shall tako part in tho proceedings of the Financial Commission with, a deliberative voice in administrative questions. Tho members of the Financial Commission and the Civil Agents, as well as the adjoints of tho General commanding the gendarmorie organisation, may be taken into the Turkish servico. The judicial reform scheme prepared by the Powers will bo recommended to the Porte for acceptance in its full extent, and the control of the administration of justice will bo vested in the Financial Commission, which, as mentioned abovo, will consist of the delegates of the oix Powers, who will have entered tho Turkish service. For the bettor preservation of order in the co'untry and for the security of the population the system of rural guards will be introduced, or, more accurately speaking, will be developed upon now lines. Theso guards will be organised with the co-operation, and. under the supervision, of the European officers of the remodelled gendarmerie. Tho oxisting gendarmerie will be increased so far as the Macedonian Budget will allow.