THE HERZEGOVINA.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 430, 29 October 1875, Page 3

THE HERZEGOVINA.

The London correspondent of the Argus, writing on September 3rd, says : Turkey appears to be on the verge of a serious war. The insurrection in the Herzegovina has assumed formidable proportions, and the neighbouring populations are infected by its spirit. New and difficult questions are starting up for the consideration of the European powers, and while troops are moving towards the disturbed districts, diplomacy is still more busy. Our information is still imperfect, but every day makes clearer the general outlook. According to our latest intelligence, the Turks have this week succeeded in raising the blockade of Trebinge, which the insurgents had made a centre of hostile operations, and have inflicted a severe blow on their scattered forces. If the Turkish commander should be promptly reinforced, and these first successes maintained, the movement may be quelled before it has had time to organise into more than a guerilla war. But the indications are as yet all the other way. The news, which reaches us in contradictory fragments, is highly colored by the hopes and fears of contending parties. Meanwhile the Ambassadors at Constantinople have counselled a suspension of hostilities, in order to afford an opportunity of ascertaining the grievances oi the insurgents, and Commissioners representing the different European Powers have been despatched with that view to the scene of action. There is no doubt, however, that the insurrection owes its origin to misgovernment, and the cruel exactions of the Turkish tax collectors. The whole population of the Herzegovina does not exceed a quarter of a million of inhabitants, of whom half are Greek Christians, an ignorant peasantry, kept in uneasy subjection by their Mohammedan rulers. A proclamation, said to be published by the Governor of Bosnia at the first outbreak, decreed that every believer in Mohammed had the right to arrest or bring before him any one suspected, and commanded that 11 no asylum be given to any insurgent, and that whoever sheltered one, as well as he who is sheltered, be put to death by the sword.” This document was disavowed from Constantinople as soon as it was published, and declared to be a forgery, but it too probably represented the rough and ready methods by which the insurrection would have been suppressed had the power been equal to the will. The Turkish Government on the first pres-

sure sent troops round by the Adriatic, which were disembarked at Klek, and permitted by Austria to advance into the mountainous region of the Herzegovina, across the Dalmatian roads, from the nearest point of the coast, a short distance only. There have been numerous small engagements, with fluctuating results, in wtiich now the Turks appear to have gained" the upperhand, but the real danger lies outside in the sympathy of the Montenegrins, Servians, and other Slavonic peoples. The Christiana of both Eastern and Bosnia have responded to the appeal, and are up in arms. While the area of the excitement daily extends, volunteers from all the region round are flocking into the Herzegovina. Many thousands of Bosnians, on the other hand, have taken refuge in Austrian territory. Servia finds it almost impossible to resist the pressure of the hour. The war party is said to be the stronger in the new House of Representatives, and the Ministry now taking office represent “Young Servia,” and the more ambitious Slavonic aspirations, but the creation of a n rj w Slavonic principality would bring anxieties to Austria, which accordingly his strongly urged upon the Porte the necessity of energetic and immediate action. So far all the powers appear to be acting in harmony. A movement that united all the Slavonic race would endanger more than Turkey, but Turkey stands convicted before the world of imbecility and corruption, and the time is gone by when she can hope to be sustained as part of the European community, unless she promptly opens her doors to European reforms. Our own Government has taken steps to bring this whole question under review. At Constantinople, the ambassadors of the six great powers of Europe united in recommending the despatch of an Imperial commission to the Herzegovina, with power to redress grievances; but Sir Henry Elliott had also his own special mission, and sought a formal interview with the Sultan, in which (he misgovernment which produces all this notorious weakness, the extravagance and extortion which excite rebellion, were the prime subjects of conversation. It was a serious remonstrance on the part of the British Government against the practices which threaten bankruptcy and political (collapse. The Times hears that the Sultan expressed his regret that certain of the opinions which found utterance in the House of Commons were hostile to Turkey and his Government; but he was happy to think that such views were not shared by the British Government, which he knew to be actuated by a friendly spirit. This, the Times observes, is scarcely a just representation of what has been said and written here. There has been no hostility to Turkey, or to the Sultan’s Government, in the sense that Greeks or Sclavs are hostile, or even in the sense that Russians are hostile. Disappointment, irritation, and disgust have been spoken in the House of Commons and elsewhere, but not what can be justly called hostility. The Sultan dwelt upon the great resources of the country, and gave his sanction to the bold assumption of his financiers, that there is only a temporary deficiency in the budget. The British ambassador admitted the existence of great resources in the country, but took the opportunity of pointing out that in the financial position of Turkey, the immediate danger and greatest difficulty of the empire exists from the state of the finances. The ambassador might justly turn to the hatte which was read at the Porte on the Ist of the present month. This document presented the passing phase of the (Sultan’s mind with respect to the construction of railways. The line to Bagdad was to be made under the Sultan’s own patronage and supervision. Sir Henry Elliot drew from the Sultan an assurance that the construction of a railway in Asiatic Turkey should not interfere with the construction of the European line. The Sultan has since changed his Grand Vizier, but Mahmoud Pasha, who now comes to the Porte, is a’ Turk of the old absolute order. Our attitude towards these complications is one of suspense. Nobody apprehends that we shall be drawn into war. General Garibaldi has expressed sympathy with the insurgents. Lord Russell has also rashly promised a subscription of £SO against Turkish misrule, and a committee has been formed in England to watch and aid the cause of the down-trodden Christians. The issue of the movement will net be decided by help of this kind.