ANOTHER RUSSIAN IRON IN THE FIRE.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 593, 13 May 1876, Page 3

ANOTHER RUSSIAN IRON IN THE FIRE.

Mr Butler Johnston, M.P, in the following letter in the Pall Mall Gazette , indicates danger to the peace of Europe from Russian intrigue in Roumania : I have, in a previous letter, described the lamentable condition to which the policy of Prince Charles of Hohenzollern has reduced the little state of Roumania, But the exact posit ion which that Prince holds in the country is too interesting, and indeed, at the present moment, too vital a subject not to require all the light which is possible to be thrown upon it. Now the secret of the disiegard to national interests exhibited by the Roumanian Prince, and the sacrifice of those interests to foreign political objects, is that Prince Charles is not meant to take root or establish himself permanently in the country. Prince Bismarck has, so to speak, effected a lodgement on a spot of immense political importance, but where (as he is the first to proclaim himself) Germany has no direct national interests whatever ; and in return for concessions here —that is to say, by disposing of his interest to the highest bidder—he is enabled to secure the most important advantages and purchase the most valuable support elsewhere. Prince Charles of Hohenzollern, the intimate friend of the Prince Imperial of Germany, must be considered as the obedient instrument of Prussian policy, and as perfectly prepared to quit his little principality the moment it becomes essential to Prussia to dispose of his interest there. If anyone is inclined to doubt the full extent to which this is the case, I must refer him to what occurred during the Franco-German war at the beginning of 1871. At that time Metz had not fallen, the army of the Loire was collecting its strength, and the issue of the struggle was still doubtful. It was essential to Prussia to secure the support of Russia. The covenanted price of that armed support was to be the denunciation of the whole of the penal clauses of the Treaty of Paris—not only the Black Sea clause, but the Bessara bian frontier clause as well. At this critical juncture Prince Charles, with whose connivance this arrangement had to be made, was undoubtedly prepared to quit the country whose territorial interest he had betrayed. He made his preparations accordingly. A letter appeared in the Allgemcine 7Ac tung, published by the Prince’s own directions, and addressed to his old tutor, Professor Aurbach, telling him that he had never been able to take root, nor did he ever expect to do so, in Roumania ; that his heart beat for the great Fatherland, in the ranks of whose army he still hoped to serve. The sensation among his innocent subjects may be conceived. Suddenly Metz fell, the army of the Loire melted away, and the final success of Germany was assured. The armed support of Russia being now no longer required, the covenanted price of that support was proportionately reduced, the Black Sea clause was alone denounced, and Prince Charles remained in his place—for another occasion. This other occasion seems to have now arisen, and, according to every indication upon which it is possible to ground a conclusion, Prince Charles has agreed to cede to Russia in the spring the Bessarabian strip of territory, with the two outlets of the Danube, added to Moldavia by the Treaty of Paris. This is the real kernel of the Eastern Question. The insurrection in Herzegovina, the “ guarantee of execution,” the financial collapse, the administrative and constitutional difficulties of Turkey, can only be viewed as so much glamour which is intended to cover and conceal the real moves on the chessboard of Europe. The p.an of the political campaign as drawn by Prince Charles and General Suwarrow during the famous three days that they were closeted together in the little fortress of Ibralla on the Danube is generally supposed to be as follows :—The Prince is to begin by conferring decorations and coining money—prerogatives forbidden by the Convention with the Porte ; and when the relations between him and his Suzerain shall be sufficiently strained, the tribute will bo withheld in the spring. This means (or is intended to mean) war with Turkey ; and the Russian army, already echeloned along the Bessarabian frontier to the number of 120,000 men, will, on the pretext of keeping order or what not, march in, and Prince Charles will march out. His preparations to do so are already made. He has given notice of an intended journey in the spring on account of his wife’s health, snd it is not supposed that lie ever intends to return. His little principality, or at anv rate part of it, the price of Russian support to Germany, will have been paid away. Bui support for what ? This is for France. Holland, and perhaps Austria to answer. 1 am only concerned just now with the East of Europe ; although, be it well observed, east and west are only geographical divisions of a common policy, and the one part of it cannot be even understood without mastering the other. The financial condition of Russia as revealed the other day to the Chamber of Commerce of Odessa, and the equally desperate financial condition of Northern Germany, may likely cnoughsupply a sufficient motive for desiring to strike a blow before disarmament beeames an absolute financial necessity. This is perhaps the only reasonable explanation of Prince Bismarck’s extraordinary attitude

towards France last summer, and it may equally afford the key of what is now brewing in the south-east of Europe. Public attention is rivetted on the Andrassy Note and the guerilla bands in Herzegovina, while the real game is on the Danube and perhaps on the Scheldt. In Roumauia, at any rate, to all appearances a real plot is hatching Everything there is abnormal ; the utter indifference of the Prince to the public opinion of the country ho has been called upon to rule-over, the feverish military preparations 'of his Government, the movements of troops, the marking out of cantonments in Moldavia for the spring (an invariable precursor of a Russian occupation), the accumulation of stores, the language held by General Suwarrow to the staff officers who accompanied him in his drive from Bouzao to Ritnnik, the warlike tone which was by them transmitted, as a mot d’ordre, to the whole Roumanian army—all these are merely corroborative pieces of evidence of the universal opinion entertained by every politician in Rioumania that their country has been made “le dindon de la farce.” Farce or tragedy, it is a very pretty plot, and as the English Government has, no doubt, through its agents, received full information on the subject, the country will have a right to ask what steps have been taken to maintain the public law of Europe, the faith of treaties, the balance of power, the interests of populations, and the commercial and political freedom of the world.