The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1912. RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 69, 14 November 1912, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1912. RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA.

On the eve of the outbreak of the present blaze in the Balkans, Dr. H. Friedjung, a well-known Austrian publicist and historian, expressed the view that Russia’s forces were, at the moment, much more engaged in the Ear East than had been the case for many years past. She must, therefore, he held, desire that calm should reign in the Balkans so that she might not he disturbed in the digestion* of her possessions in Manchuria and Mongolia, and might exercise vigorous pressure upon England in order to place Northern f Persia entirely under the sceptre of the Tsar, The British Government was bound to consider the Radical wing of the Liberal majority, and maintain at least the appearance of striving to maintain, as far as its power reached, the independence of Persia, which was given away in 1907. The forces of the Tsar’s. Empire were not sufficient to assert themselves with effect, along the immense frontier line from the Amur to Armenia, and at the same time to solve the question of the Dardenclles and assist the Bnlgars in Macedonia in their struggle for their national rights. Hence the firm determination to prevent any outbreak in the Balkans and to defer the solution of the Balkan problem. Were people at St. Petersburg not iso prejudiced against the intentions of Aus-tria-Hungary an understanding could easily he reached between the two, Dr. Friedjung was sure. The greater part of what the Russian press attributed to the selfish designs of Austria-Hun-gary belonged to the realm of fable, and. the Vienna Cabinet, whether in common union with Russia or relying upon its own strength, would content itself with furthering every step in the political and economic progress of the Balkan nationalities which was compatible with the preservation of peace. But notwithstanding these predictions, the war broke out and the amazing rout of Turkey’s forces almost at once began. That relations are strained between Russia and Austria is plain from recent messages, hut all the world hopes that high diplomacy may save a conflict between these two Powers.