The Porte has forwarded a Circular to its Ambassadors upon
the proceedings of the Conference. This document, which is drawn with remarkable skill, and signed by Safvet Pasha, bases the refusal of the Porte to accept the propositions upon two grounds,—one that Turkey only entered the Conference upon the understanding that in the English programme, which she ac- cepted, her integrity and independence were protected ; and the other, that both were interfered with by the conditions. As to integrity, the argument is visibly erroneous, as the cessions of territory to Servia and Montenegro suggested by the Plenipo- tentiaries were not to be made to foreign Powers, but to States which Safvet Pasha himself claims as parts of the Ottoman dominions. As to independence, the argument is prima facie more perfect, but then how is Turkish "independ- ence "to be defined ? A State which but for English and French protection would have perished twenty years ago, which has gained no strength since, and which but for possible foreign sup- port would fall now, is not independent, but is a protected State, bound to take the orders which the Protecting Powers may give, or if it rejects them, to take the consequences. Turkey has a right, of course, to disdain protection, but it has no right to claim it, and yet refuse to keep the condition upon which alone it has been granted.
Previous page
