NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Southland Times, Issue 3180, 22 August 1878, Page 2

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

■^evhave ' {catted- a few exj^tHfrdnv!\ Eurbp^n boiTespondence,- published Sin tfce^V" MelbouniejAigus.; ■'■" »; : I■. \- y';l\ -r t;l:?j \ ; Mi^regard(to ;the ;result'pf the Congress^/ oiC^%tea^>^\r;;:-.^i v ;^^:y? ; WMle some'arefprepsiredlo xec ; 6gniseji|ilas a glorious triimph^.for European7*land ea->---pecially for British mpldmacy, otters -view it as a disastrous surrender of all tp principles - -and-*aH» the * ;^tereste^ wl^lr^ffitu^j^^snd'f England in pairticular,'hadradertaken -to de-. s . •fend. The trutb,perhaps lies as iisuWin-the mean/\ -between these two extreme opinions^* The ._{OTangement-which~h^be^ "mulcirto'bljaWo^^ of us had expected. 'Judged by' Lord Salisbury's circular, the resultis certainly anything ?but glorious, but, on the other hand, compared ttfthe treaty of San Stefand; ftisa very decided - gain, for which Europe] "there, cannot be a doubt, is indebted_fx>;'i^eV.finunesa>dißplayed by the British plenipofcentaries, . • Scarcely any! of the handiwork of General Ignatieff, happily termed by, Lord;; Beaconsfield, ,. 'l'AlexandreDumasde la diplpmatie,' is to \ , be recognised in the work -of; iie j Congress. *', ' Instead of one 'great independent' Bulgarian state, extending from the ! Black* sea to the j : borders of Greece, and. from the Danube-to the : swallowingup all other nationalities, ; we have a principaliiy bounded on the south ' by the Balkans^ while all the districta south - of that .range remain practically in hands of the Porte. Turkey, which had alnibstdisap'peared?as a European- state in ; the Treaty of San Stef ano, is restored to very much of x her old political and military power^ ' and perhaps not greatly weakened by the sacrifice of her trans-Balkan province. The provision for the maintenance of a fortified line of posts albng the Balkans may turn-but to ! be illusory as a barrier against renewed Rufli sian aggressions, but there- is an' enormous gain to Europe. in the exclusion, pf direct Russian influence from the Mediterranean. The limitations which have been imposed on, Servia and Montenegro "will tend to the reduction of a power which experience nas ;i -'. shown us is always tb : be f oUnd on the side of - Russia in Eastern complications. : The ' Russian commissary ' has been wholly excluded from the south' of the, Balkans. The retrocession; of Bessarabia was inevitable,' but it' has been accompanied by conditions which will greatly restrict the gain which Russia acquires by that most discreditable transaction." 'M the "first place, Roumania is for ever sevei'ed from all Russian sympathy, and can scarcely be reckoned again as an auxiliary in any Russian enterprise. In the next, Austria is placed in a position, by the occupation of Bosnia and Herzgovina, which will enable her to exercise a powerful counterbalancing influence in the Balkan Peninsula.

Dealing with the condition of Turkey another letter says : — It is becoming apparent that there is no executive and administrative power at the Porte. The caprices and suspicions of the Sultan are paralysing its best friends. The brief revival of hope consequent on the warlike demonstrations of Lord Beaconsfield is giving place, to despair. As an illustration of the Sultan's temper, the Times correspondent repeats the following anecdote now circulating in the city : — " In a farewell visit of Princess Reuss, wife of the German ambassador, this lady congratulated His Majesty on the deep reverence and affection entertained towards him by his subjects gently and adroitly insinuating that so much devotion should be rewarded by the Padishah showing himself more frequently in public. The Padishah listened with a long and astonished face, and when the Princess left, remarked to the bystanders, "I should like to know what interest this woman can have in getting me assassinated."

The state of affairs in other parts of the empire is scarcely more encouraging. The 1 Stamboul' publishes,apparently with the consent of the Turkish authorities, or at least as facts known to them, and not to be gainsaid, a terrible story of oppression in Syria. The new Governor, one Sevdet Pasha, is said, besides the tyranny exercised by himself, to have supported the under-governor of Nablous, Stolo Pasha, who, on account of his outrageous conduct, had been dismissed and imprisoned by Sevdet's predecessor. " Stolo Pasha, on being restored to his office, adopted an even more outrageous line of conduct against the people of his district,imprisoning, banishing, and bastinadoing many of them* Sevdet Pasha rejected all appeals addressed to him by :the sufferers, till the distressed population sent a petition to the Sultan for redress and for justice. The Sultan's Government referred the petition to Sevdet, who in his turn forwarded it to his subaltern, Stolo. This latter had thus an opportunity of wreaking his vengeance on the signatories of the petition, who were among the richest notables of the locality, and were mulcted to the almost entire exhaustion of their means."

From other sources we learn that the Bashi-Bazouks who have been landed on the Syrian shores, armed to the teeth, and laden with the spoils of the war, are true to their old character, and tyrannising over the districts through which they are scattered.™ From various parts of Armenia we hear also of frightful crimes committed by the Kurds. Bands of these marauders have devastated the country, and are murdering still, in the wholesale way which has given them such an evil name. A band of Annen« ians has left Erzeroum, in the hope of reaching Berlin by way of Tiflis, to lay these last facts before the Congress. Apart from these disquieting rumours, the position of the Armenians had been brought under public notice. They have contrived to put in their plea for autonomy under the Sultan's Government. A meeting has been held in London, at which Dean Stanley presided, in order to urge their claim to consideration at the ■present crisis.