PEACE NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1607, 26 November 1912, Page 5

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN

PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE HELD.

SERVIA DEIANDS ACCESS T0 THE SEA.;'

AUSTRIA DETERMINED TO RESIST.

By Telegraph—PW Association—Copyright

(Bee. November 26, 0.25 a.m.) Constantinople, November 25. Nazim Pasha, who has charge of the peace negotiations on behalf of Turkey, has had a preliminary meeting with General Savoff, the Bulgarian representative, near Chatalja. The other Ottoman delegates are Izzet. Pasha, Osmani Pasha, Hadi Pasha, Reshid Pasha, and Nazami Pasha. The lastnamed is Turkish! Ambassador in Berlin. GREEK PEACE DELEGATES. (Rec. November, 26, 0.25 a.m.) . > . Sofia, November 25. The Greek Minister and Military Attache at Sofia will represent Greece in the peace negotiations, while Bulgaria will represent Servia and Montenegro. . FIGHTING CEASES. Constantinople, November 24. ' Additional delegates have been appointed in connection- with the armistice proposals.' ■ ' ... , There was no . fighting; around Chatalja on Saturday. The Bulgarian plenipotentiaries will arrive .on Sunday. BULGARIA GREATLY WEAKENED. , Berlin, November 24, , Opinion regarding the prospects of a peaceful settlement is increasingly optimistic. , The opinion in military, circles is that the situation is grave, but not Alarming. The rattling of the sabre :is merely to warn peace disturbers in Belgrade and St. Petersburg.,.' , ' : The Bulgarians' readiness to offer more l acceptable terms is due to the fact that have been .one. hundred thousand casualties out of a fighting force of three hundred thousand. Youths of sixteen years are now being called to the colours. SERVIA'S DEMANDS. SEABOARD INSISTED ON. AUSTRIAN HOSTILITY. "•'■ (Rec. November 26, 0.25 a.m.) Belgrade, November 25. . The. Prime Minister, M. Pasics, states that it is essential that Servia shall have a free passage to'tlie'Adriatic.-'He claims' the territory between a line drawn ftpm the port •in the south/ and another running from Alersio on the Adriatic coast to , Jakova on the north, •• This would give Servia a seaboard of between 30 and 10 miles. AUSTRIA WILL FIGHT IF NEED BE. 1 (Rec. November 25, 10.45 p.m.) ,- Borne, November 25. Austria has informed Italy that she adheres' to the agreement of 1907, pledging her not to attempt to expand in Albania, and . supporting the 'sta.tus quo, or the grant of. Albanian autonomy. Austria has resolved to fight rather than give way on the matter. TRIPLE ALLIANCE STANDS CLOSE. (Rec. November 26, 0.25 a.m.) Vienna, November 25. The Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Throne, has returned from Berlin. The "Reichspost". announces that the result of the visit is that the Triple ! Alliance is closer than ever. . A communique contains indications that the restraining influence of the German Chancellor, Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, has weakened in favour of a strong support of Austria under the aegis of. Herr von Kiderlen-Waechter. It,is reported in Vienna that the Kaiser told the .Archduke Ferdinand that Germany does not want war, but will t-.n----reservedly • support it if Austria is attacked. '■ _/ CENSORSHIP IN AUSTRIA. Vienna,' November 24. Though! the mobilisation reports are authoritatively contradicted, the newspapers aro being strictly censored respecting news as to the movement of troops. ' . RUSSIA LUKEWARM. ' London, November '24. Reuter's Berlin correspondent denies the reported differences between Austria and Rumania. He states that Servia is aware that Russia will not go to extremes to help her. ' A EUROPEAN CONCERT. London, November 23. In the course of a speech at Nottingham yesterday, the Prime Minister, Mr. Asquith, said he was .glad to be able to repeat that the Powers were ..firmly cooperating with a view of circumscribing the field of possible conflict in Eastern Europe. He added that there might be certain questions which, in the best interest of peaoe and /ultimate stability, would possibly be reserved to be dealt with when the time' came for a general and definite, settlement. ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATORS. (Rec. November 25, 11.5 p.m.) Budapest, November 25. Anti-war Socialist processions resulted in a sanguinary encounter between the police and the demonstrators. Many were wounded, and fourteen are not expected to recover. Thirty arrests have been made. TURKS REGAINING HEART. LARGE REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVING.

A PESSIMISTIC PASHA. (Rec. November 25, 11.25 p.m.) Constantinople, November 25. Skirmishing is continuous at Chntalja. The Turks have lost 700 men in a week, mostly from shrapnel wounds. The torpedoing of tho warship Hamidieh has proved a severe handicap to the army, as the fire of the other warships is ineffective in stopping the Bulgarian advance along the coast. Tho Messudieh is replacing the Hamidieh. Ten thousand reservists are preparing a second position between .Chatalja and

Stamboul. The Turks have been reinforced at Gallipoli, in anticipation of an attack on the Dardanelles. The correspondents report largo arrivals | of troops at Chatalja from Syria. Many heavy fortress guns have also -been sent from the Dardanelles. The respite sinco the battle of Lule Burgas has enabled the troops to recover their morale. Faud Pasha has presented a pessimistic report to the Government upon the state of the army at Chatalja, stating that their resistance is likely to be shortlived. If the Bulgarians' force the Chatalja lines the fate of the capital is sealed. PILES OF STORES ACCUMULATED. Constantinople, November 24. Their success has heartened the Turks. The men are singing in the trenches. Great piles of bread, meat, and ammunition have been accumulated. Despite the cholera horrors, the Turks are not anxious to employ foreign doctors, who forced the commanders.of the wounded and sick camps to fill the beds. Trains carrying thousands of sick and wounded are arriving daily at Constantinople, though it is reported that sickness and mortality at the front are decreasing. WARSHIP TORPEDOED. BULGARIAN GUNBOATS' SUCCESS. TURKISH CRUISER DAMAGED. • (Rec. November 26, 0.25 a.m.) Constantinople, November 25. Four Bulgarian torpedo boats eluded the Turkish destroyers, blockading the Bulgarian port of Burgas and caught the .Turkish warship Hamidieh napping fifteen miles off Varna. They torpedoed her, and her forward bulkheads alone prevented ,her from sinking. The Hamidieh .has a displacement of 3800 tons, and carries a complement of 302 men. Her armament oomprises two 6-inch guns, eight 4.7-inch, two 3-pdr., and two 1-pdr., and three torpedo tubes. She was built at the Elswick works, and completed in 1904. Her speed on her trialsreached 22.2 knots,, '. — \ TURKISH GUNBOAT ABANDONED. Athens, November 24. A Greek torpedoer entered Airnlik harbour, on the west coast of Asia Minor. Tho commander of a Turkish gunboat carrying three , Krupps immediately op-, 'enbd the Kingston valves and abandoned his vessel. . Groek sailors boarded the gunboat, but were'unable to close the valves, and. torpedoed the vessel., , BULGARIAN VESSELS NOT SUNK. Sofia, November 23. It is untrue that the Bulgarian torpedoboats were 6unk by the Turkish cruiser Hamidieh, but they were damaged slightly.' ALLIES AT VARIANCE. GEAECO-BULGARIAN QUARREL, (Rec, November 25, 11.5 p.m.) Salonika, November 25. The Bulgarians en route to Salonika mercilessly ravaged the Turkish villages, and directly they entered Salonika pillaged systematically, regardless of, the Greek protests. The Consuls' protest was also resultless. The relations between the Greek and Bulgarian, troops are most strained. The Bulgarians state that they are resolved that their occupation shall be permanent. SERVIANS TAKE OKHRIDA, • SUICIDE OF.A TURKISH PASHA. (Rec. November 25, 10.45 p.m.) Belgrade, November 25. The Servians have captured Okhrida, SO miles north-west of Monastir. The official accounts of the Monastir fighting state that Zekki and Dwavid Pashas escaped disguised as privates. Fethi Pasha ordered • a Turkish offioer to shoot him, and the officer afterwards committed suicide. MASTER AND PUPILS. VON DER GOLTZ ON THE TURKISH ARMY. Berlin, November 24. Field-Marshal Von der Goltz, the German officer who was engaged some time ago in reorganising Turkey's army and defences, in an address before the Asiatic Society, said there had been no attempt to maintain a modern army in Turkey until 1908. The Turks had then set to work with much eagerness and industry, but without right understanding of the task. There had been a lack of'instructions. After thirty years of lethargy Turkey was building homogeneous corps of officers and men, but tho task would take years. The army defeated by the Balkans was only an army of recruits. RED CROSS AID. j ENGLISH LADY USES HER OWN ■ FUNDS. Constantinople, November 25. (Rec. November 25, 10.45 p.m.) Miss Alt, an old English lady, formerly one of Lady DufFerin's nurses, is working alone at San Stefan camp, using her own funds in nursing the stricken. Mr. Eockhill, the United States Ambassador, has offered American Red Cross funds to organise a camp. The cholera outbreak at Chatalja is rapidly decreasing. Pitiful spectacles are to be seen at four mosques in Stamboul, where' deserters crowd the railings like, caged creatures, and cordons of troops, armed with bayonets, are stationed round to prevent them from breaking out. SHORT OF SOLDIERS. RECRUITS SENT TO THE FRONT. (Rec. November 25, 10.45 p.m.) Sofia, November 25. After twenty-one days' training the 1912 recruits are going to Macedonia on garrison duty.

GREEK GUNS RECAPTURED. Belgrade, 'November 24. The guns captured ly the Servians at Monaslir included ten which the Greeks Ijad previously lost to Turkey.

TURKISH PLOTTERS. Constantinople, November 24. Four ex-Ministers have been arrested on charges of plotting against tho Government. Every important member of the Committee of Union will soon be under lock and key. WILL THE WAR SPREAD? ■ ANXIETY IN EUROPE. Tho question of questions to-day (wrote Dr. E. J. Dillon in the London rolograph" of October 16) is whether tho Balkan war, which Europe proved powerless to prevent, will bo localised. Diplomatists and statesmeit are seriously preoccupied by it. Nobody doubts tho theoretical feasibility of the task; yet everybody gives utterance to tho gravest apprehensions when concrete factors are under examination. Tlio result hinges upon AustroRussian. relations. If those two empires are at one as to means and ends. Europe may look ahead with serenity. Otherwise the hostilities may spread. Both Governments are admittedly actuated by tho best intentions. In the policy pursued by Connt Berclitold and M. Sazonoff this pacific motive is manifestly paramount, and tho efforts made by the two statesmen, whose candour and good faith even their adversaries extol, to hinder the Balkan fire from becoming a pean conflagration command unstinted admiration. But the weak impression which these endeavours have produced upon the Exchanges mid pTess of Europe warrant the fear lest we may also have to deplore their impotence in tho final result. And that would be disastrous. ( The systematic way in which Russia s intentions are misinterpreted or twisted by a section of the Austrian press has its oounter-part in the tricks of mistrust and implication perpetrated by a number of St. Petersburg and Moscow journals, who anathematise M. Sazonoff and tho Foreign Oifico as domestic enemies. These currents may prove even more destructive than tlio wilfulness of the Balkan States, and are deprecated accordingly by diplomacy, which has set its heart on peace. Weakness of Diplomacy. I have to-day had interesting conversations with influential statesmen, whoso views may be paraphrased as follow:— _ • "The unavoidable causes of weakness in European diplomacy 1 aro few, and can be counteracted with ease by Austria and Russia if these 'two empires throw aside their mutual distrust. The respective Governments have confidence, in each others aims and motives, but the convulsive ' activity of the. extremists who favour war is undermining the influence of the responsible leaders. In Austria only the Government and some of its adherents still believe 'in Russia's good faith. The majority profess to hold that tho PanSlavists rule tlie ■ roast, and will shortly oust M; Sazonoff from office. In financial circles in Austria this view prevails. It may bo false, but so long as it obtains the" two empires must continue estranged and the peril of peace will remain. "On the other' hand, Russians who are patriots without being Chauvinists must feel irritated by tho duplicity ascribed to the Tsai's Ministers by the 'Ncue Freie Presse/ Thus the sources of this mistrust and the consequent estrangement of two empires are artificial and unnatural. Austria and Russia both need peace and can safeguard it. If in Austria people knew for certain that M. Sazonoff's position is stable, all would be plain sailing, but the belief is widespread and deeprooted that he will shortly be superseded by some fanatical Pan-Slavist. And no assurances to tho contrary carry weight here. The only oonceivable way in which the pnblic might be persuaded that .the Tsar s policy, as expounded by M. Sazonoff, will be persisted in is by some public recognition of his servioea by his Majesty himself. If the Russian Foreign Secretary were made the recipient of a high Order, br if tho thanks of the Emneror were vouchsafed him in an Imperial rescript, then all Europe would feel certain that Russia's policy .will undergo no change, and the : ahfrßtasian currents in Austria-Hungary would be stemmed. But short of some such unequivocal manifestation, nothing will disabuse influential inon or change their irrational belief that M. Sazonoff is about to receive a. successor and Russia about to unmask her secret plans in tie"Near East.. ' v' "If by any chance M. Sazonoff were set aside during the present crisis the consequences' would be calamitous. For this would be directly attributable to:the Nationalist press organ, 'Novoye Vrom.ya,' which would wield greater politieal power than the Foreign Office, and would be implicitly set in its place. ' Some unmistakable manifestation by the Tsar, therefore, of his will to maintain the present Minister at his post would confer, an inestim-able-boon on Europe by safeguarding peaoe."