8 OCTOBER 1881, Page 2

A correspondent of the Times, evidently considered impor- tant by

that journal, recently affirmed that Austria intended to go to Salonica and to make of Servia and an enlarged Greece vassal States. The Austrian papers were furious at the exposure, and a host of semi-official denials were at once put forth. The correspondent, however, this week reaffirms this statement, declaring that the States of the Balkans hate each other too much for an alliance, that Greece cannot stand alone, and that the Russian Government agrees to the plan, only demanding sufficient for its own share. He even defends the solution, as Austria can " discipline " the different States. As Austria certainly desires Salonica and accepted Bosnia, and as that singular phrase in the Russian telegram about the "unexpected moderation of Prince Bismarck" may very well have referred to this project, we will not say these letters are merely fanciful. But we would remark that every one of their arguments and assertions was repeated ad nauseam in 1859 about Austria in another peninsula, and that Italy is, nevertheless, free. Piedmont could not stand alone, the Tuscans hated the Romagnese, and the Neapolitans every- body ; but still there are Italians. Discipline will produce cohesion, no doubt, but it is sometimes the strong cohesion of a common hate. What harm are the Balkan States doing