Neither the correspondents of the London journals nor Baron Reuter's
agents do reporting work well. Considerable trouble was taken to report the gist of Prince Bismarck's speeches on Tuesday on the Eastern Question, but much of the trouble was thrown away for want of attention to a detail. Important passages should be given textually, and when so given, should be marked to show the fact. TheAnti-Austrian drift of the first speech, which we have described elsewhere, comes out, but was strengthened by a blunder as to what the Chancellor said in the second speech about Count Andrassy. He did not accuse him of having told
falsehoods in past times, but accused previous Austrian Ministers. In the absence of a textual report, it is impossible to make out what the Prince meant about the Dardanelles, though he apparently wanted two things,—that the waterway should be free "commercially," and that Russia should not have Constantinople, which she had promised not to take. The total result of the speech is that Germany remains neutral, that she does not disapprove the terms of peace, and that though she will not resist Austrian action, she warns Austria that the Powers which drive Russia out must take charge of the Balkan Peninsula, which Austria, Prince Bismarck says, is not prepared to do. The Agence Busse expresses itself content, and there is a visible retrocession in Vienna, where they are now disinclined for war.
