THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1877.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 5018, 15 December 1877, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1877.

It is somewhat interesting to speculate on what will be the effects of tho present war—oll what will be tho net results of the terrible slaughter and confusion of which we have all been reading for these months past. Dreadful reading the news has been, and each may say with Cowper— My rar is pained, My soul is sick with every ilay's report Of war and outrage, Willi which earta is filled. Such a collision of nations, involving as it does the calamities of battles, of massacres, of towns and villages destroyed by fire, the wasting of harvests, with, in addition, all the old antagonisms of races, of governing and of subject peoples, stirred up, must have far-reach-ing effects. All great wars have had important consequences for humanity, consequences, most frequently, quite different from those expected by the wisest men. In many instances wars have brought immense benefits to the world, and have put an end to evils which in 110 other way could be got rid of. War has been called "God's daughter," and till the race is perfect, will remain a necessity, as a cure for greater and more permanent evils. What has been called the Eastern Question has been tho great problem of Europe for centuries, over which every few years the nations either came to war, or were upon the point of coming to war. There can be 110 real pcace till that question is settled. That that question—caused by the dominance of the Turks over large Christian populations, and the existence of a powerful, ambitious, and aggressive State on her border—will be greatly advanced towards settlement, .there can be little doubt, but the time is not yet for considering how far. Wo have heard much about thennalterablenatureof the Mahoinmedan rule. For it there seems little probability of improvement or modification for the better, and anything which has been done to render the rule of the Sultan more tolerable has been the result of force or of outside pressure, and as it is not founded 011 any modification or improvement amongst the Pashas, who are tho governing power at tho Porte, there seems small hope of improvement of the government of any of the Turkish provinces except by amputation.

One of tlie most important questions which has emerged, and respecting which there is at present some material for discussion, is the efl'ect which the war will have upon the people and the Government of Russia. It is safe here, we think, to assume that there will be a great and \ beneficial change in the despotism of the Muscovite empire. From the correspondence from all parts of .Russia, the temper and disposition of the people, before the warandat present, are pretty clear. The war was national and popular, not merely dynastic. Everything conspired to make it popular with tlie Russian nation. The Turks were their ancient enemies, over whom the greatest successes of the Russian empire had been achieved ; the Bulgarians, the victims of Turkish misrule, wore of the same race and the same religion ; and of this the ruling powers made the most in the eyes of the nation. 'All these considerations, and the fact that the predilections of the military caste count for much in an empire like Russia, made the war universally desired. The Russian people were greatly astonished at the stubborn resistance made by the Turks, and much disappointed and grieved at their own defeats. The criticism of the events of the war has given birth to a public opinion which will henceforward be a power in the Russian empire. The Government ean put down any expression of opinion upon a subject which interests only a part of the population, but when the hopes and expectations of the Russian people wore grievously disappointed, when the blood of the soldiers was being spilt like water before tlie entrenchments of Plevna, every man in the nation commenced to criticise the conduct of the war. The disasters of the Crimean War were to Russia the beginning of a new and better era of existence. The Russians felt that serfdom waß a weakness, and that the power of the nation could not be put forth while railways and many other facilities of civilised countries were non-existent. Since the present war began, the liberty of the Press lias made a stride. Russians greet the dawn of a brighter day. It is the coming day of freer thought and freer speech. Criticisms of the acts of the Government, which formerly a man would hardly dare to whisper to his friend in secret, are now uttered boldly at the street corners. The people, too, are led to conclude that even an intelligent despotism is not the best form of

peculation, and mismanagement in all the departments of the Russian service, and every member of the community must see that one great cause of the3e evils springs from the fact that they are to a great extent removed from public criticism. Where a -whole nation is stirred, however, public opinion must be expressed, and cannot be suppressed. As to the present temper of the Russian people there can be no mistake. They have made up their minds that Turkey must succumb. That they consider the only possible ending to the war. The other nations of Europe having up to this period kept out of the contest, the only danger of their becoming involved is when the terms oE peace come to be settled, if Russia then makes exorbitant demands. It is asserted, however, that Russia has no such intention, and that she is not mad enough, having suffered so severely from war, to draw upon herself the antagonism of Europe. It may be said that in this article we are looking at the course and result of events with too much of an optimist's eye, at least so far as Russia is concerned. Perhaps so, but it is tempting amidst all the slaughter and suffering of the present time to look beyond to happier conditions which may flow from what is taking plnce. It is absurd to expect that with its population in its present condition, Russia can be anything else than it is, but with progress, and largely from the effects of the present war, public opinion may be strengthened, the power of the Czar may be limited, there may be something like an approach to constitutional government, the attention of the nation may be more devoted to internal improvement than to foreign conquest, and thu3 the Muscovite empire may cease to be the menace to civilised Europe which it has long been supposed to be. It is not to the interest of England, or of the English race anywhere, that Russia should be prevented from making progress. With a more enlightened commercial system, and a less exclusive devotion to merely military affairs, Russia would be a most valuable and in all likelihood a non-aggressive member of the family of nations. And what shall we say as to Turkey ? Whether or not the present war will end in a complete severance of Bulgaria from the Turkish empire, it seems certain that the Turkish power over the Christians will be largely modified. If there is, indeed, any chance for Turkish improvement, if it is in the power of the Turkish method of government to stimulate useful and good qualities in the people who are ruled, then the chance for Turkey is when it is relieved from the necessity of having to keep down, over almost the whole of her Empire, subject and hostile races— races antagonistic at every point—of different descent, of different religion, different laws, institutions, and customs. With Greece, Servia, Montenegro, Roumania, on her borders, all intensely hostile, all ready to assist insurrection, Turkey needs all her strength to maintain her life, and cannot commence internal improvement, even were such a thing otherwise possible for her.