SIR, — The Sultan has triumphed. The "Financial Con- trollers" have ceased
to be controllers. There is to be a Turkish member among them. Their appointment is limited to two years. Hilmi Pasha is to be President. And the Sultan has a veto on all their proposals. Could triumph be more complete for the Sultan ? And this is the end of the naval demonstration ! The Powers have given the Sultan a lesson of which he will not fail to avail himself. He will laugh at the great naval demonstration, and the Powers will have to adopt stronger measures, or to own themselves beaten. The fact is, Germany, while superficially supporting the other Powers, has devoted her energies to the task of nullifying the whole scheme. She is pegging out claims to terri- tory all over Asia Minor against the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and she is determined meanwhile to uphold the Sultan's rule undiminished. Austria wants no effectual reforms in Macedonia, for that might bar her way to Salonica, the objective of her policy. Bulgaria has sickened Russia of autonomous provinces, and she is, moreover, too much occupied at home to spare much thought for Macedonia. There was one Power which now, as in 1881, could have saved the situation by refusing to allow the naval demonstration to become a farce,—Great Britain. The British Ambassador, we read, was the last to sign this ruinous fiasco. Who authorised him ? That is a question which will be asked by many voters in the General Election.—I am, Sir, Sze., 4 Beaufort Gardens, S.W. MALCOLM MacCom..
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