The reply of the Porte to the proposals put forward
by the Austrian and Russian Governments was purely evasive, the Turkish Ministers contending that the reforms are already in operation ; that the gendarmerie are being re- organised ; that the Sultan has set aside money for the repatriation of homeless Macedonians ; that the Christians themselves are unwilling to enter the gendarmerie ; and that as to the judicial service, the law8 of the land meet all requirements. The two powers have accordingly forwarded a Memorandum—not, it is said, a " Note "—insisting peremptorily on the acceptance of the proposals, and the Sultan, it is believed, is ready to agree. Many of his counsellors, however, urge him to resist, at least until irresistible force is applied ; and by some accounts his Majesty is casting about for new excuses, and hoping to find them in some new .agreement with Bulgaria. This will come to nothing, but it is probable that negotiations will be long; and meanwhile all goes on as before, the Mace- donians dying and flying, the Turks pillaging and slaying, and Hilmi Pasha reporting that everything is now quiet. The general idea, both at Sofia and -Vienna, is that action of any kind will be postponed till spring; but the Near East is accustomed to surprises, and events may compel either the Sultan or the Powers to come to definitive resolutions. A report, for example, from the Treasury at Constantinople that the Army could no longer be paid on the war footing would bring matters at once to a head.
