TRIUMPHANT ADVANCE OF THE SERVIANS. Turkey Declines to Interfere.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 129, 21 November 1885, Page 5

TRIUMPHANT ADVANCE OF THE SERVIANS. Turkey Declines to Interfere.

Sofia, November 17. c- Despatches from the western frontier dis's tricts announce that the Servian army is io advancing upon this city. Prince Alexit auder has received from the Sultan a leply c- to his request for aid. The Porte declines ir to assist Bulgaria, and points out that jf Alexander's violation of the Treaty of le Berlin encouraged the Servians to invade ie Bulgaria, r- London, November 17. Intelligence is to hand that the town of £ Kula has been captured by the Servians !" after a stubborn resistance on the part of '» the Bulgarians, who are retreating to 0 Widdin. 0 Twenty thousand Roumelian troops are *» marching to Sofia to assist the Bulgarians. a Roumania is protesting against the forti'r cation of Widdin, this being regarded as a * breach of the Berlin Treaty, which stipu- | lated that all fortresses in Bulgaria should yl be destroyed. The Roumanian Government '* have also advanced a claim to Silistria, a ? Bulgarian frontier town. The Attitude of Turkey. 3 Constantinople, October 18th. The reply of the Great Powers to the ) original note announcing the Bulgarian coup d'etat has been received at Jast. 3 The Great Council deliberated on x Thursday and decided that the Porte should send another note, to serve . as an ultimatum, to Prince Alexander. { The note concludes by pointing out the r great military expenditure already incurred r by Turkey, and the improbability of de- , laying active proceedings much longer. The Minister of War has presented a report upon the military situation, showing that 1 there are 200,000 men under arms. He re- • commends that, in addition, all the reserves ; be called out. Tha expenditures up to the , present are estimated at £500,000 for ; increase, mobilisation, and maintenance ef the army. To put the army into the field and keep it there six months would require, j 1 according to the report in question, £6,000,000. The Porte is on the eve of concluding a loan with a financial eyndi- > cate represented by Mr Watson. This will < place at the Sultan's disposal £2,000,000, * and an understanding undoubtedly exists with Greece of such a character as to ' leave the Porte free from apprehension as j to Macedonia in case of war with Bulgaria. * If no great Power intervenes to prevent the l restoration of the status quo ante, the Sul- * tan is much inclined to settle the matter £ directly with Prince Alexander, but neither c the military party here nor Russia will a allow this. Should the old form of administration be restored in Eastern Roumelia, <] Aliko Pasha would probably return as Governor. The Danger of the Position, Once these Slavic nationalities of the Balkan Provinces are aroused, the danger is that a war of expulsion or extermination j may be entered upon. The Servian Minister at London, on this aspect of the question, says :—": — " The teaching of history in this respect is very clear. At the outset the Greeks tried to have predominance over the Bulgarians and the Servians, and in that attempt exhausted themselves. . Then the Bulgarians were ambitious to tJ rule from sea to sea over the Servians 9. and the Greeks, and they in their turn were ? exhausted. And then we Servians were ~. inspired by the ambition to unite the Ser- j° vian, Bulgarian, and Greek nations under " a Servian Emperor, and the best blood of rp the Servian people was lavished in the attempt. When the horsemen of Osman came to the Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus, and, looking across, saw nothing but ruins, B disorganisation, and exhaustion, they naturally enough came over and took M possession of what once were the Greek, the Bulgarian, and the Servian Empires. M Now, gentlemen, to our mind it is clear, that history will repeat itself when the peoples will not profit by her teaching. If y any nation in the peninsula at the present day should obtain a decided preponderance w of power, or even seek to obtain it, the old a struggle will be renewed, and it will v , ultimately exhaust our energies and make w us fall an easy prey to a foreign invader.