There has been - an outburst of brigandage near Constanti- nople. A
band of brigands, said to be Greeks and Mahout- medane of Bulgaria, on Saturday stopped an express-train near Teherkesskeui by removing rails, robbed all the pas- sengers of their money and watches, and finally seized four German tourists and carried them off for ransom. They demanded 28,000 for their lives, and the German Government has agreed that this should be paid. The Sultan, however, has paid it, and has at the same time despatched troops to slay or capture the brigands. That is all very well, and if the Sultan threatens enough, the brigands will probably be cap- tured; but what is needed is steady watchfulness, exact justice, and a certain inevitableness of moderato punishment. This is what an Oriental State in decay never seems able to secure, probably:because its officers have lost all faith in it. To the last particular crimes are savagely punished; but for criminality there seems to be no preventive. The release of the captured travellers, we should observe, is not yet announced.
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