THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1901.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11622, 9 April 1901, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1901.

The Macedonia which Alexander made classic is once more attracting attention. But in what a different manner to when the irresistible phalanx marched to the,lndus and set the famous Grecian as master over half the ancient world ! Today, a handful of conspirators lias been arrested in the Bulgarian capital, wherefrom they direct a semipolitical movement against Turkish rule. Inferentially, it would appear that the long-threatened rising of the Macedonians is nearing a head, and that the- arrest of members of the Macedonian Committee by the sympathetic Government of Bulgaria is due to a desire to avoid complications' with the suzerain Porte. But international rivalries are so intense on. all questions affecting the Balkan Peninsula that the world easily takes alarm at the slightest indication of coming trouble in that Debatable Land. None the less so, at present, from the fact that Russia is peculiarly interested in relieving any strain which may have arisen in the Far East, and that she might do this by reawakening the old " Eastern Question" which of late has seemed to slumber. The Tsar may consider it an opportune moment to complete the cordon of Sclavonic States which is being thrown round Constantinople, or he may simply be reminding Europe that it is well to let sleeping dogs lie. However that may be, it can hardly be doubted that Russian influence is dominant among the Sclavonic peoples of the Peninsula, and that the Macedonian movement is a knight on the chessboard. It moves in tortuous fashion. It advances and retreats to suit the. Russian play., The real or nominal arrest of a few unknown Macedonians in itself means nothing. As a " swirl indicating fierce currents underneath it may mean a very great deal. • t .

Ai comparison between the map of Europe before the downfall of the Holy Alliance and at the present time shows that since '48 a very considerable reconstruction has taken place, mainly on national lines. Small States have been gathered into great ones. Aggregation, not segregation, has been the order of recent years. The great exception to this general rule is to be found in the Balkan Peninsula, where a considerable number of States have arisen out of provinces long subject to the Sultan. Had it not been for the stand made by Western Europe, these provinces would have been torn piecemeal from Turkey and added to the empire of the Muscovite, saving only such Adriatic provinces as may have fallen to the share of Austro-Hungary. The nominal Russian frontier being held at the Danube, the process of Moslem -disintegration took its present shape. Autonomous provinces of Turkey became independent States, as Servia; subject provinces became autonomous, as Bulgaria; Russian diplomacy promptly adapting itself to the enforced conditions. Russia has exerted herself to become the recognised protector of the Sclavonic States, whose national instincts may be expected to ultimately merge them, with her, into one homogeneous whole. With the unvarying intelligence of which autocratic governments alone seem capable, she has perceived that the Greek people possess a diverse national ideal and that pride in their wonderful predecessors, from whom they claim such dubious ; descent, inspires them with an ambition to be other than henchmen of the Tsar. Russian ships fought at Navarino, but she has since done all in her power to exclude the Greeks from increase of territory northwards ; the singular frivolity of the modem cTellenic character has enabled her to do so effectively. At the Berlin Congress of "1878, Bulgaria was constituted an autonomous State, and subsequently enlarged by the addition of part of Roumelia. Roitmania alone lies between Bulgaria and Russia. Maoe-

donia alone lies .between Bulgaria and the sea. The three are mainly Sclavonic; theiv Christian population is of the Eastern Church; only Macedonia lacks autonomy. It was imagined by the Greeks, in 1897, that the Macedonians would rise against the Turks, and that the Greek Kingdom would be promptly enlarged by the addition of Epirus on the north-western and Macedonia on the north-eastern frontier. Our readers will remember that the war was commenced by the entry into Macedonia of armed bands of Gieeks inciting the inhabitants to revolt. But Macedonia remained passive. Only along its coast do the Greeks predominate; its interior is peopled by Sclavs of Bulgarian extraction, whose affiliations are with their own kinsfolk, and who receive their cue from" St. Petersburg and not from Athens. Promises: of reform were made by the Porte; all the great influence of the neighbouring Sclavonic States was exerted against the Hellenic incitation ; and the pitiful end of the Graco-Turkish imbroglioone can hardly dignify it with the term "war"—completely settled the question as to the direction from which help could come tc Macedonia.

, When the Balkan resumed its normal condition of expectancy, theMacedonian Committee now reported to be under arrest commenced its agitation. Two years ago it notified the Powers that Mace-,' donia demanded reforms, the effect of which would be to establish it as an autonomous province, much on the Bulgarian status. The alternative threatened was a revolt against Turkey, and implied an appeal to the kindred Sclavonic States. The difficulty in the way has been that the erection of Macedonia into an autonomous State would make the most vital political issues depend upon the decision of a petty people, whose race, religion and affiliations all tend to influence them in favour of the Russian. The Turk.has no friends, but the Russian entry to the Mediterranean has become the traditional nightmare of Europe; and across Roumania, Bulgaria and an autonomous Macedonia, the Russian might reach the open sea at Salonika and turn the flank of the long-fougtit-for Dardanelles. There are not wanting indications that both Britain and Germany are preparing for the exit of Russia, from the. Black Sea. Our own occupation of Egypt and the German establishment in Asia Minor are both strategic positions of immense value in such an eventuality. The present line of defence will doubtless be held as Song as possible, but it is comforting to know that even if it should be broken at Constantinople, or turned through Salonika in Macedonia, the Empire can still expect to keep open the Suez road.