South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1886.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 4070, 28 April 1886, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1886.

The Union Steamship Company has certainly been very unlucky of late. The terrible disaster which befell the Taiaroa the other day was still fresh in our recollection when news of another catastrophe reached ns. This morning we learnt that the Tanpo bad gone ashore near Gisborne, bat fortunately in this instance no lives were sacrificed. The recurrence of these mishaps will make people very chary of travelling by sea, if any other method of transit is available, and although it would not be fair, with the limited details at our command, to blame any person for the mishap, it is to be hoped that the matter will be thoroughly sifted. We have beard it reported that the Company offer some special inducement to tbe Captains of their steamers to make rapid passages and it has been suggested that the mishaps that have occurred may have been in a measure due to this fact. It is easy to see that a skipper under such circumstances as these would run risks which he would not otherwise think of, and, if tbe report we have referred to be well founded, tbe lives of those who travel in tbe coastal steamers are in constant peril. Anybody who knows the coast of New Zealand] must be aware that it is fraught with great danger, and it is surely of more importance that safety should be ensured than that good time should be made from port to port. There may be, of course, no truth whatever in the tumor, but in the interest of tbe Company and the public, we think that this phase of tbe question should be carefully enquired into.

It appears from the latest intelligence to hand that Greece has at last given way, and recognising the futility of her opposition to the will of the Powers has consented to disarm. Thus we have been spared the spectacle of another terrible war in Europe, for, as we said the other day, though the issue of the conflict was a foregone conclusion, much shedding of blood would have been inevitable. That the Greek Government were justified in protesting against the treaty of Berlin being broken, may be admitted, but they must have recognised how powerless they were to enforce their rights. The probable reason of Greece having held out so long was that she expected that Eussia would declare in her favor. In bis secret heart, there can be little doubt that the Czar is very far from satisfied with the decision of the Powers in regard to Eastern Eoumelia. He has lost virtually all control over Prince Alexander,and the presence of a strong

and united nation close to her own territory is not a pleasant state of affairs for Russia to contemplate. For “ ways that are dark and tricks that are vain ” the Muscovite is quite as .peculiar as the Heathen Chinee, and the fact that troops were being mustered in the neighborhood of the Crimea showed that the peace of Europe was threatened, and would put the other Powers on the alert. Sooner or later England and Russia must come to blows, but the latter would not take action on a question in which she would be opposed by all the other nations of Europe. That Greece has consented to demobilise her troops is no doubt due to the Czar having determined not to assist her, but whatever the reason there is cause for congratulation that war has been averted.