ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY. NOVEMBER 25, 1912. THE TURK AT BAY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 280, 25 November 1912, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY. NOVEMBER 25, 1912. THE TURK AT BAY.

The victory must go to the "big battalions" in the long run, but in the meantime the Turk, at bay is proving himself as tough and determined a combatant as the Russians found him to be at Plevna and in the Shipka Pass some thirty odd years agio. The ; gallant defence * the Osmanli are putting up at Chataldja must win. far them the admiration of even their bitterest foes; and at Constantinople, for the time being at least, the watchword is "No Surrender." No doubt the Sultan and his Councillors consider that there is very little real difference between ;■ being driven "bag and baggage"—to use Mr Gladstone's famous expression— out of Europe and acceding to "the terms laid down, by the Allies, for practically the Balkan States' and their allies the Greeks ''demand that the whole of Turkey in Europe save Stamboul, itself and a small strip of adjoining territory shall be surrendered for the Moslem's enemies to bargain for, to quarrel over, and perhaps even to come to blows over. So the contest has been, resumed, and all Europe and, indeed, the whole civilised.. jvorld stands aghast with horror :^t;. the deluge of blood which is being poured out in and round the lines of Ghataldja. It may be, as some of the correspondents seem to think,, that the Turk has got his "second w^nd," and that the Asiatic troops /wijfch which Nazim fiey!s and Mukhtar Pasha's armies have been reinforced may prove strong enough to keep, the Bulgarians and Servians at bay for stijfl some weeks to collate. But the, awful ravages made by cholera and typhoid constitute a factor of the highest importance; and although the assailants themselves are not free from this disturbing influence, the probabilities are that their hospital ,and medical aid arrangements generally are on more modern and efllqient lines than is the oa&& with the Turks, and that consequentlyl they i, will suffer less severely. The successes gained by the Servians at Monastir and elsewhere must within a week or two have as a result tho conjunction! of the Servian with the Bulgarian, forces. Bulgaria, it is rumored, has drawn upon her fighting strength, yt© the uttermost possible degree, and it seems clear that the rapidly succeeding victories gained by King Ferdinand's troops are not being repeated outside the stronglyentrenched Turkish position outside Constantinople. Still, it is difficult to see how the Turks can hope to stave off for very long the fatal day 'of complete capitulation, for numbers must tell, and it must be remembered that Greece has, up to the present, not put more than half''her available fighting strength into the struggle. The international situation, especially so far as Austria is concerned, appears to be less dangerous. If it be true that the Allies have recognised that Albania cannot be divided between the Servians and Montenegrins, but is to become an autonomous State, much of the jealousy and irritation felt at Vienna against the Servians may disappear. It is significant that jboth Italy and Germany are supporting. Austrian diplomacy with regard to the awkward question of Serbia's, alleged ill-treatment of the Austrian Consul at Prizrend ; but, on the other hand, there are disquieting rumors as to the possibility of Russian/ intervention on the side \ of King Peter. But neither Austria nor Russia would willingly enter upon a campaign until the spring of 1913, for the- winter in the Balkans is terribly sever©, and long before next Aprilor May there is fair reason for hope that the diplomatists will have settled the- international question in a manner which, if not altogether satisfactory to their principals, will at least have had the effect of averting a war the consequences of which might bo a complete reconstruction, of the map of Eastern Europe. Rumors of intervention there are, and it is not improbable that when once the Bulgarians and Servians j iad driven the Turks out of Chatalctja ! and are at the very gates of Stamboul. there may be some temporary danger of a general conflagration being; started from the present Balkan firea. But although we are not unreservedly optimistic about the general peace of Europe being preserved, the odds are, we think, _in favor of a settlement which will bring many years of peace- to1 Christians and Moslems alike in the Balkan States, and make the Near Eastern Problem no longer a porma'nent source of anxiety to the European Governments. 'Tis a consummation most

devoutly to be wished. Meanwhile1 the Turk at bay is affording Europe a splendid though pathetic spectacle. 111-armed, ill-led, suffering from the outbreak of a terrible epidemio, he is undaunted by the knowledge that his foes have already gained many victories, and that the Powers will not assist him with either armies or money. But he fights on gallantly, trusting in the God of his fathers to release him, even in these, seemingly the last hours of his occupancy of the territory won centuries ago from the Infidel, from the awful peril which threatens him. And the most pitiable feature of the situation is that all this gallantry and heroism will, in all probability, merely retard the final and inevitable collapse by a •few days, perhaps a few weeks. Unless something little short of the miraculous happens the Turkish 'Empire in Europe is doomed to be'ccfme but a mere shadow. The odds are too great against the Turk, and though Stamboul itself and a small strip of Roumelia may be retained by the Padisha, the great Empire won &o many centuries ago is on the verge of being lost for ever to the once triumphant Islam.