The proposals for advancing English money to the Sultan are
endless, but the most dangerous is one put forward by Mr. Hamilton Lang, in the Times of Monday. He declares that the " mime difficulty," that isi the difficulty of the forced-paper currency, is a serious danger to Ottoman rule. This currency amounts to about £13,000,000, but the expenditure of £2,500,000 in buying up the paper would at once relieve the pressure and restore confidence. He therefore proposes that England should advance that sum on account of the Cyprus tribute, and
buy up the paper to that amount through the Ottoman Bank, —that is, the British Government is to advance twenty-four years' rental of an island which, within ten years, it may cede to Greece, in order to rescue a Government which, by the unani- mous judgment of civilised Europe, ought to be allowed to perish as rapidly as possible. Will Mr. Hamilton Lang just suggest the guarantee which is to prevent the Sultan from issuing fresh caime's the day after the current ones have been redeemed ? A written pledge will not do, for the Turkish bondholders had a written pledge, and caimis can be issued secretly, or in a manner re- cognisable only through their fall in value.
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