EASTERN QUESTION". 



253 



arose from the assumption that special and se- 

 cret arrangements had been entered into be- 

 sides the principal treaty. The Russian Gov- 

 ernment, though restricting the discussion to 

 but few clauses, never refused to communicate 

 t!ie entire treaty; but England claimed that it 

 would be clearly useless to examine this com- 

 pact, part or whole, unless a guarantee be given 

 that all that had been done was submitted. 

 The discussion of this question of submitting 

 the entire treaty of San Stefano to the Con- 

 gress continued thoughout March. At the close 

 of this month all hope of a European Congress 

 to consider the Eastern question seemed to be 

 at an end. The Russian Government persist- 

 ently refused to assent to the British proposi- 

 tion, and, notwithstanding the intervention of 

 the German Government, which tried to medi- 

 ate between the two Powers, no compromise 

 was effected between these divergent views. 

 The Russian semi-official press accused Eng- 

 land of preventing a settlement of the pend- 

 ing difficulties and the restoration of complete 

 peace in the East; but even some Berlin papers 

 warned Russia against insisting too strongly 

 upon the advantages of achieved success. The 

 idea of holding a Congress in which England 

 would not be represented, which was mooted 

 in some quarters, might have been feasible if 

 it had not been certain that France and Italy 

 would not participate in a Congress in which 

 England declined to be represented. Both Rus- 

 sia and England now resumed their preparations 

 for war with renewed vigor, and a conflict be- 

 between these two Powers seemed imminent. 

 When their relations had reached this critical 

 point, General Ignatieff was dispatched upon 

 a mission to Vienna, where he arrived on March 

 23th. Although his mission and its results re- 

 mained secret, it was generally supposed and 

 admitted that he had been sent to Vienna with 

 far-reaching powers to make concessions to 

 Austria and prevent her from taking sides with 

 England. The mission was generally regard- 

 ed as a failure. Austria, in reply to Russia's 

 propositions, was understood to have proposed 

 a rather extensive counter-programme, which 

 demanded as a counterpoise to the new Bulga- 

 ria under Russian influence a closer union of 

 Bosnia, Albania, Servia, and Montenegro with 

 Austria, the construction of a railroad to Sa- 

 lonica, the renunciation by Bulgaria of a coast- 

 line on the ^Egean Sea, that Turkey should 

 be guaranteed the possession of its remaining 

 provinces, and a direct regulation of these mat- 

 ters between Austria and the Porte. Gen- 

 eral Ignatieff left Vienna on March 31st, and 

 reached St. Petersburg on April 2d. 



An important change had taken place in 

 England in the mean while. In consequence 

 of the calling out of the reserves ordered by 

 the British Government, Earl Derby, who was 

 opposed to any aggressive measures, resigned 

 his position as Secretary of State for Foreign 

 Affairs on March 28th, and was immediately 

 succeeded by the Marquis of Salisbury. Other 



changes in the Cabinet made at the same time 

 restored harmony in it. (See GEEAT BRITAIN.) 

 Lord Salisbury immediately, in a note to the 

 Powers, dated April 1st , defined the position of 

 his Government. After reviewing the events 

 that had transpired up to that time, and regret- 

 ting the decision of the Russian Government 

 in refusing to submit the entire treaty for dis- 

 cussion, the note continues : 



By the declaration annexed to the first protocol of 

 the conference held in London in 1871, the plenipo- 

 tentiaries of the Great Powers, including Kussia, 

 recognized that " it is an essential principle of the 

 law of nations that no Power can liberate itself from 

 the engagements of a treaty, nor modify the stipu- 

 lations thereof, unless with the consent of the con- 

 tracting Powers by means of an amicable arrange- 

 ment." 



It is impossible for her Majesty's Government, 

 without violating the spirit of this declaration, to 

 acquiesce in the withdrawal from the cognizance of 

 the Powers of articles in the new treaty which are 

 modifications of existing treaty engagements, and in- 

 consistent with them. 



The most important consequences to which the 

 treaty practically leads are those which result from 

 its action, as a whole, upon the nations of southeast- 

 ern Europe. By the articles erecting the new Bul- 

 garia, a strong Slav state will be created under the 

 auspices and control of Russia, possessing important 

 harbors upon the shores of the Black Sea and the Ar- 

 chipelagOj and conferring upon that Power i* prepon- 

 derating influence over both political and commer- 

 cial relations in those seas. It will be so constituted 

 as to merge in the dominant Slav majority a consid- 

 erable mass of population which is Greek in race and 

 sympathy, and which views with alarm the prospect 

 of absorption in a community alien to it not only in 

 nationality but in political tendency and in religious, 

 allegiance. The provisions by which this new state 

 is to be subjected to a ruler whom Russia will prac- 

 tically choose, its administration framed by a Russian 

 commissary, and the first working of its institutions 

 commenced under the control of a Russian army, 

 sufficiently indicate the political system of which in 

 future it is to form a part. 



Speaking of the effect of the stipulations 

 providing for improved institutions for the 

 populations of Thessaly and Epirus, the note 

 continues : 



The general effect of this portion of the treaty will 

 be to increase the power of the Russian Empire in 

 the countries and on the shores where a Greek popu- 

 lation dominates, not only to the prejudice of that 

 nation, but also of every country having interests in 

 the east of the Mediterranean Sea. 



After criticising the remainder of the treaty 

 of San Stefano in a similar manner, the note 

 concludes : 



A discussion limited to articles selected by one 

 Power in the Congress would be an illusory remedy 

 for the dangers to English interests and to the per- 

 manent peace of Europe, which would result from 

 the state of things which the treaty proposes to es- 

 tablish. The object of her Majesty's Government at 

 the Constantinople Conference was to give effect to 

 the policy of reforming Turkey under the Ottoman 

 Government, removing well-grounded grievances, 

 and thus preserving the empire until the time when 

 it might be able to dispense with protective guaran- 

 tees. It was obvious that this could only be brought 

 about by rendering the different populations so far 

 contented with their position as to inspire them with 

 a spirit of patriotism, and make them ready to defend 



