ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 390, 28 July 1877, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

A WARNING NOTE. TO TUH .■--. I-1 ;is I■: OF TIIZ EVEXI.W MAIL. Sin,— it appears to me, after reading the recent war LeL-grams, that there is a far greater chance of tiie colonies being affected by the action of the European Powers than was at first anticipated. The situation is briefly this : The Russians, invading Turkey in Europe, had two very strung natural obstacles in their way—the Danube and tlio TJ.dkans. Tiiese obstacles, which, by aniiioial aid, could have been made almost insuperable, have been neglected through either the apathy or cowardice of tiie Turks, thus leaving the road to Constantinople comparatively el.ar. But here Great Britain steps in, and by occupying Gallipoii with her tro-ps, and the Sea of Marmora with her iloet (that of Turkey being pre-eminent in the Black Sea), effectually puts a stop to t'.te hitherto victorious Muscovite army caking, or even coming near, the Ottoman capita!.

In some of the papers it is strongly j hinted that the abandonment of the j above-mentioned natural defences was j premeditated : t!:at_ the Turkish ?.iininters, knowing the importance to G'reat I Britain of Constantinople not falling into the hands of a iirst-rate pou'-.-r like Russia, were sure of aid should such an event seem likely. This may be the case : but one thing is quite certain, that when a campaign is about to be brought to a victorious conclusion by the occupation of the capital of one of the belligerents by the troops of the other, a power which has hitherto preserved and enjoined strict neutrality, has stepped in to the aid of the vanquished. What, then, should be more natural than a system of reprisals on the part of those who have thus had the cup dashed from their lips just as they were about to drink I And where is the spot of all others where those reprisals could be most easily effected I The answer is plain. The Russians have a strong iieet in the Pacific, against which the harbour of San Francisco would certainly not be shut, and could easily do a tremendous amount of mischief io these colonies with comparative safety to themselves. It appears to me, therefore, tiiat if the British Ministry choose, as a matter of policy, to combine with Turkey against Russia, their duty is to send us out here the wherewithal'for defence, instead of orders as to our conduct towards the belligerents' ships, should they come to our shores ; orders which, in case of the Home country taking a hand in the game, we would be utterly incapable of carrying out. Apologising for this somewhat iengthy epistle.—l am, &c, Bcxdoeg.