Little has been heard from the East this week, but
that little is unfavourable to Turkey. The insurgents in the Herzegovina do not yield, the Turkish troops appear to be demoralised by privations, and it is more than doubtful if the Treasury will obtain the means to procure the half-interest still payable in cash. The regular bonds have sunk to 17, showing that Turkish security is considered almost worthless, and a large sum is said to be needed to pay the April coupons. The Times now admits in a leader, what we have so repeatedly pointed out, that the Pashas have absolutely no reason—except, of course, their consciences—for paying their in- terest, and intimating not obscurely that they will not pay it. It
will be found, we believe, when the smash comes, that they have one excuse for their conduct not yet acknowledged. They have drained the cow dry, and are not receiving in cash anything like the amounts put down on paper and really due. The mystery is how the Treasury lives on from day to day.
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