THE INTERNATIONALISTS AND THE GOVERNMENT. TO THE EDITOR OF TEE
"SPECTATOR.") SIR,—There is a letter in last week's Spectator, signed " Jno. Hawkins," finding fault with my letter, published in the Spectator of the 13th ult., under the above heading, and challenging the correctness of one of its statements. Mr. Hawkins evidently knows very little about me, or he would not imagine that I could be "hurt in my mind" by Lord Beaconsfield, or anybody else, " dishing " any number of Conservative or other parties, "by passing household suffrage in boroughs." That, however, is not of much importance, either way. More relevant is Mr. Hawkins's reference to those "fables of the massacres," which I had said Lord Beaconsfield had denounced. He wonders what "special sources of intelligence I possess," and calls upon me to "make them known," before "setting aside all that painful narrative of poor McGahan as romance," Sze. The subject is too large to be entered into at length in the columns of the Spectator, but I will mention one fact illustrative of the whole case. When the Bul- garian massacres first came to light, General Ignatieff declared the number of victims to be 60,000. The Turkish authorities asserted that that figure must be erroneous, inasmuch as the whole population of certain places mentioned did not equal the number of alleged victims in those places. In spite, however, of this official statement, and of the obvious fact that it was General Ignatieff's cue to exaggerate the affair, the Daily News deliberately and persistently adopted the figures of the Russian Ambassador. What followed ? Mr. Baring made his investigation, and in his report not only testified to the reality of those "intrigues of Russia," the bare mention of which seems to offend Mr. Hawkins, but estimated the number of the victims of the massacres roughly at, I think, from 12,000 to 15,000. Come later down still, and what do we find ? By the joint efforts of Turkish and consular authorities, a more searching and detailed investigation is made, and it is ascertained that this great "black crow" of 60,000 actually dwindles down, upon examination, to 3,200. These being the facts of the case, I should like to ask Mr. Hawkins whether he still regards "all that painful narrative of poor MeGahan " as "truthful newspaper correspondence." As for the evidence of the matter, the final portions of my state- ment may be certified by reference to the Daily News and to Mr. Baring's report. For the latter, I had the direct, personal testimony of our late Ambassador at Constantinople, and of our Foreign Minister.
But, Sir, need I tell you that I should not have troubled you with an answer to Mr. Hawkins's communication, but for the ex- traordinary editorial note which you thought fit to append to it? Can it be possible that your hatred of the Turk leads you to be- lieve all his friends flagrantly dishonest ? That I cherish a deep and "passionate" hatred of Russia is true—I should be ashamed of myself, as a cosmopolitan Democrat, if I did not—but I am sure that, upon reflection, you will see that that is no reason why, without further warrant, you should assert that had I myself seen the Bulgarian massacres, I would not have believed them. —I am, Sir, &e., [Certainly we do not believe all that any one says of the Turk. But we believe still less all that Turkish authorities say of them- selves. Mr. Maltman Barry will find that Mr. Baring's estimate of the extent of the atrocities is now considered by all impartial investigators much below the true mark. We do not include Sir Henry Eliot among the impartial investigators.—En. Spectator].
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