The latest rumours from Berlin signify that Russia and Ger-
many are fully in accord. The plan arranged, it is reported, is that in the event of complete victory, Russia should obtain a right of free passage through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles to the Mediterranean, and that the provinces north of the Balkans should be formed into a Confederation, probably with Prince Charles of Roumania as its Federal head. That was the original plan of the English Liberals, and is still the best, though it has been pooh-poohed as an impossibility ever since Mr. Gladstone outlined it. There would be no objection to an Austrian Archduke as Prince of Bosnia and the northern half of the Herzegovina, the southern half going to Montenegro. If Epirus and Thessaly were at the same time added to Greece, enough would have been accom- plished for the moment, leaving Europe to settle the destiny of Roumelia and Constantinople when a fresh opportunity arrived.
