The Hastings Standard Published Daily. FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 1896. EUROPEAN POLITICS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 130, 25 September 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 1896. EUROPEAN POLITICS.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance. And the good that we can do.

There is a sanguinary hue about European politics, and recent cables respecting the everlasting Eastern question are ominous in the extreme. The mud-colored Sultan appears to take a savage delight in butchering the Armenians, and while Great Britain is ready and willing to step in and put a stop to the wholesale massacte of defenceless people, the Russian bear blocks the way. The late Prince Lobanoff, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, in August of last year practically laid down the policy of the Great Powers in any intervention in Turkish affairs. That policy was united action ; at the same time every art of the diplomat was used to prevent any possibility of concerted action. The Russiao Minister at the same time that he declared for united fiction on the part of the Great Powers, took infinite pains to link Russia and Turkey together, and with success. The first intimation of this bond was conveyed in certain presents that were sent by the Sultan to the Czar and the decoration of the Russian Ambassador in Constantinople. Of course

efforts were made with partial success to conceal the friendly relations between the two powers, and this state of things might have continued had it not been for the unexpected death of Prince Lobanoff. Since his removal from the sphere of mischief, the game has progressed too rapidly for Russia, and we know now that Turkey is being advised and helped by Russia. The Muscovite thus becomes morally responsible for the butchery of the Armenians.

What will be the ultimate result of the game it is difficult to tell. The feeling in England is in the direction of conceding several points to Russia. It is now held that to allow Russia to secure Constantinople will not menace British interests, provided the trade rights of Great Britain are not disturbed. The value of British trade with Turkey is very large, quite as large as the export trade with the whole of Russia. If the Muscovites were allowed to hold Constantinople she will hold the finest and best protected] harbor in "the Mediterranean ; and her possession nf it would inflict a blow to British trade, unless of course the terms of occupation were extremely liberal. Besides the trade with Turkey there is the trade with the Danubian provinces, which must pass through the Bospliorus and which will require to be protected. Even if we allow that so far as Great Britain is concerned Russian aggression in Turkey is of no moment, there is Austria-Hungary to be pacified, and and Italy may also resent the matter. It is a tough problem, and not likely to be settled in a hurry, nor yet does it seem likely to be settled without a copious flow of blood. Russia and France may be expected to work together, but a war between those two Towers on the one side and Great Britain and the Triple Alliance on the other will be very disastrous, to France particularly, which holds a very large portion of the Russian foreign debt. It remains to be seen what effect the Tsar's visit to England will have. It would, however, be too much to expect that he will order a reversal of Russian policy to please English statesmen, and the action of the Russian Minister of Marine in calling upon Turkey to strengthen the defences of the Dardanelles and placing the Russian Black Sea fleet at the call of the Russian Ambassador would seem that the game is to be played to a finish.