276 



EASTERN QUESTION. 



several Governments for the preservation of 

 peace in the East. The Conference several 

 times adjourned, partly on account of the in- 

 disposition of its president, partly because 

 Lord Granville wished to await the arrival of 

 the French ambassador. Unofficial negotia- 

 tions were, however, continued, and every thing 

 prepared for the public sessions. The hope of 

 the English minister, that the Conference 

 would get through its work before the opening 

 of Parliament (February 9th) was not fulfilled. 

 Lord Granville had invited Jules Favre, the 

 French Minister of Foreign Affairs, to come 

 to the Conference. Favre, in a note to the 

 diplomatic agents of France, declared that he 

 could not leave his place in Paris as long as the 

 bombardment of the capital continued. He 

 would nevertheless have gone to the Con- 

 ference, if Count Bismarck had not refused to 

 give a passport to him as a member of the 

 Government, on the ground that the French 

 Government of National Defence was not in a 

 condition to act in the name of France, as long 

 as it was not recognized by the French nation. 

 The military authorities would have been jus- 

 tified in giving the passport ; for it was not 

 their business to inquire into the objects of the 

 intended journey of Favre, but the official ap- 

 plication of Favre, which expressed his desire to 

 represent France at the Conference, prevented 

 the adoption of this expedient. The influence 

 of France in the Conference had, however, been 

 considerably diminished when it became known 

 that Bismarck positively refused to allow the 

 French-German "War to be brought before the 

 Conference, and that the Prussian ambassador 

 in London, Count Bernstorff, was instructed 

 to leave the Conference as soon as an attempt 

 to discuss the war was made. 



As France was not represented at all at the 

 Conference, and as Austria was too weak to 

 bring a sufficient pressure to bear upon the 

 Conference in support of its view, England 

 had, from the start, but little hope of making to 

 the schemes of Russia an unflinching resist- 

 ance. Russia, on the other hand, appeared to 

 be determined to adhere to her plans, and was 

 greatly strengthened in this design by the en- 

 thusiastic manifestations of public opinion of 

 tbe Russian people-. "When, therefore, Austria 

 proposed a declaration that no power is at 

 liberty to abolish the treaties or to withdraw 

 from them, England regarded this as a wel- 

 come bridge for her retreat. 



The demand of the Government of Servia, 

 to have an official representative in the Con- 

 ference, was not granted. The Conference 

 also declined to take up the Rumanian ques- 

 tion, as the Turkish Government protested 

 against it on the ground that it was a purely 

 internal question, which could not be discussed 

 unless a proviso was adopted guarding the 

 sovereign right of the Porte. On February 

 27th tbe Duke de Broglie, who had been ap- 

 pointed by Thiers as ambassador of France in 

 England, arrived in London. He took part in 



the Conference, which, however, in the mean 

 while had nearly finished its business. 



As Turkey had adopted the modern view 

 that the continued limitation of the navigation 

 in the mouth of the Danube afforded to her no 

 protection, the other governments had no oc- 

 casion to oppose the opening of this passage to 

 international commerce. On the other hand, 

 the Conference resolved, on motion of thePorte, 

 to continue the existence of the Commission for 

 the Navigation of the Danube, to which all the 

 treaty powers send one deputy. 



On March 13th the following new treaty 

 was adopted and signed by the representatives 

 of Prussia, Austria, France, England, Italy, 

 Russia, and Turkey : 



ARTICLE I. Arts. XT., XIII., and XIV., of the Trea- 

 ty of Paris of the 30th of March, 1856, as well as the 

 Convention between Kussia and Turkey included in 

 the said Art. XIV., are revoked and are to be replaced 

 by the following articles : 



ART. II. The principle of closing the Dardanelles 

 and the Bosporus, as set down in the separate 

 treaty of March 30 ; 1856, is upheld, as well as the 

 power of his Imperial Majesty the Sultan to open the 

 said straits in times of peace to the ships of friendly 

 and allied powers, if the execution of the stipulations 

 in the Treaty of Paris of March 30, 1856, should re- 

 quire it. 



AKT. III. The Black Sea is open, as heretofore, to 

 the commercial navies of all nations. 



ART. IV. The commission appointed under Art. 

 XV. of the Treaty of Paris, in which each of the treaty 

 powers is represented _by a delegate, and who was 

 intrusted with the planning and execution of the work 

 to be done below Isaktcha, namely, of clearing the 

 mouth of the Danube as well as the neighboring 

 parts of the Black Sea of sand-banks and other ob- 

 structions, in order that this part of the river and the 

 said parts of the sea be put in best order for naviga- 

 tion, remains in its present composition. The dura- 

 tion of this commission is fixed for a further term of 

 twelve years, to wit, from the 24th of April, 1871, to 

 the 24th of April. 1883. The limit for the redemption 

 of the loan contracted by this commission, under the 

 guarantee of the Governments of Germany, the Aus- 

 tro-Hungarian monarchy, France, Great Britain, It- 

 aly, and Turkey. 



ART. V. The conditions of the reassembling of the 

 river commission, created by Art. XVII. of the Treaty 

 of Paris, shall be determined by a previous agreement 

 of the river powers, without prejudging the clause 

 referring to the Danubian Principalities; and, wher- 

 ever a modification of Art. XVII of said treaty may be 

 involved, it shall be made the subject of a special 

 convention between the undersigned powers. 



ART. VI. The powers which possess the banks of 

 that part of the Danube where cataracts and the iron 

 gates cause obstructions to navigation, while reserv- 

 ing for themselves the right of coming^ to an under- 

 standing with regard to the removal of these ob- 

 structions, recognize the right of the high contracting 

 powers to lay a tax on ships of all nations which 

 derive a benefit from it, until the loan contracted for 

 that purpose shall have been repaid, and they declare 

 that Art. XV. of the Treaty of Paris of 1856 is not ap- 

 plicable to this part of the river for the time which is 

 required for the repayment of the debt. 



ART. VII. All buildings and establishments erect- 

 ed in consequence of the Treaty, of Paris of 1856, or 

 of the present treaty, by the European commission, 

 shall continue to enjoy the same neutrality which has 

 protected them heretofore, and which shall, in the 

 future, under all circumstances, be respected by the 

 high contracting powers in the same manner. The 

 advantages of the privileges arising therefrom shall 



