The Pashas in Constantinople are, it is stated, greatly encouraged
by the fall of Port Arthur, and inclined to restore complete order in Macedonia by severe measures. They have appointed officers to command the troops there whose record is One of extreme severity, and they will, it is reported, meet any " demonstration " in the spring by measures which will involve great slaughter. The new gendarmerie try to prevent outbreaks, and are sometimes successful, but the Turks regard their policy with contempt. In the event of a new outbreak, scenes may occur which will compel Lord Lansdowne to remember the speech in which he virtually promised that, in the event of the commission which had been entrusted to Austria and Russia failing, we reserved to ourselves the right to exert new pressure on the Sultan, and that guarantees for reform would be exacted of a much more serious character. As soon as Parliament meets questions will be asked as to the real position in the disturbed districts, and the Government will be urged to take more decisive steps, and, in fact, in concert with Europe, to apply the only kind of argument to which Turks appear willing to yield. The Pashas should not forget that Europe stands pledged to the reforms as well as Russia; that Bulgaria has a very good army ; and that, though a fleet cannot " sail over the mountains of Armenia," Turkey is cloven in two, as Mr. Gladstone said, by a stretch of salt water upon which
battleships can float.
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