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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3927, 8 June 1877, Page 2

TnE departure of the Russian ambassadors from the courts of London, Vienna, and Berlin was not, it will now be seen, an event portending hostilities or even strained relations between Russia and the three great neutral powers. Count Schouvaloff is on his way back to London with the instructions to receive which was, apparently, the object of his visit to St. Petersburg. It must have been known very well in London at the time when the cable telegram with reference to the departure of the ambassadors Avas sent, what its true import was; or, at any rate, that it was not what at first sight it would appear to be to the colonists ; and it would surely be a thing better worth while doing to add a few words of explanation in such case than it is to send us by cable lists of newly created C.M.G's. ! The invincible stupidity of the purveyors of telegraphic news has always been a source of wondei'ment to us. An Australian telegraphist will occasionally inform us that "Mr Jones, an old settle] 1 , is dead," while he will omit to transmit some piece of English news of world-wide importance, or will transmit it, in so abridged a form as to be misleading and incomprehensible. In the present case it will have been observed that the ignorant press of Wellington, for the most part, took the news of the departure of the Ambassadors as equivalent to news of an impending rupture. The same interpretation will, no doubt, have been put upon it pretty generally elsewhere, causing extensive and needless uneasiness. Three words from the telegraphists would have prevented all this. Count SchouvalofFs instructions, it is said, though only by report, bear chiefly on the contingency of a temporary oocupation of Constantinople by Russia, and his task will be to obtain,

if possible, Great Britain's consent to this. The ambassadors at Berlin and Vienna, presumably, have similar tasks allotted to them. As to what answers they are likely to get, it would be premature to speculate. If we can judge by the coxirse of Lord Derby's diplomatic action hitherto, England will not readily enter into hypothetical engagements, but will reserve to herself the right of acting when and how she thinks proper. The news, however, it may be observed, if correct, seems to indicate that, as we thought, political causes at any rate as much as military ones, have, up to the present time, retarded the progress of the Russian arms. It is significant that the occupation of Constantinople should already be made the subject of negotiations. The circumstance is calculated to create the impression that that event is looked upon as imminent by the Powers most concerned. The contest will, unquestionably, exhaust terribly the broken resources of the Colossus of the North. The fact of the recent vumovs in regard to the situation bearing date from the Hague, points, as a probability, at any rate, to a fresh increase of Russian obligations, as Russian borrowing has always been conducted through the medium of the Dutch exchange. Still the Czar can hardly draw back now without achieving some considerable result, at whatever sacrifice, and at a very great sacrifice it is the opinion of the best military critics that he can achieve much.