SHALL THE CRIMEA BE RUSSIAN?

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 337, 23 January 1856, Page 5

SHALL THE CRIMEA BE RUSSIAN?

The liiuw i< come when FraiiCe auti England uHi>( «{fieimitie whet her Uiey will wrist t'roni the u)t>!'er _>jrasp ot the .M:i-cinite despotism tiuu !air i<oiti.»u of tin* woiiii that was ongi-

ii.tHv .mnexi'ti In iis empire iV violence a»<i fiaud.and in which rule has iu-rn maintained l»v ilir> in.»t hideous tvraiU'V and wr>>n«;. 1 lie OnnuM mu>t never auaiti l>f Hi:s..ian —id trie is-iu- v! j>rt'S«iui tMMus he what it suay. lJ ihej evaluate lh.it u-niUny now a!! is accomplished, it is a in nit*r lov ilu' c«>itsitlrr.ili«'n ut uur ctMierals wlu'tiier liiey shall be pt'imitted to retire unmolested, <>r "hfthtT thr vcn^eani'v of outraged uaiu'tia is co pursue tiiem as Uiey tir,. Ii

they attempt, by retaining the remnant of their household, to prolong a few short months the period within which their accursed flag may fly upon the Crimean towers, he it so. We can Wail another winter patiemlv, ami then, without striking ;t blow the lust of these fortresses shall he ours. But let this he distinctly understood hy our generals—hy our statesmen —by Russia herself, the Crimea must he freed, once ai.d for ever from her dtimiuion. We have bought it, too dearly with the best blood of France and England, and it must never again be ceded to ths Czar. The wresting of the Crimea from Russia secures} at once the freedom of the Bhick Sea and the independence and the integrity of Turkey. It gains the object of the war—it disposes of the miserable follies of the four points—it extinguishes thai pitiable exhibition of human imbecility which has sickened us in the odious and puling prate of the controversy between counterpoise and limitation. Take the Crimea from Russia, and the policy of Catharine is reversed. We indulge in no distant speculation—we make no unreasonable demand, when we ask that the province which we. have conquered at such an expenditure of blood and treasure, shall never he restored to Russia, to be used ■ once more for the purpose of aggression. We do not ask too much for the people whose blood has been shed to win that province, when we cail upon the 'Government nf France and Engiaud at once to declaie that the Crimea is severed finally and irrevocably from the Russian territory. A declaration like this will gire us a plain, a clear, and an intelligent object in the war, if war is to last. It will give us an honest and intelliirible paint upon wssich to take our stand in negocintions, if diplomacy renews its attempt. The demand is, indeed, a very moderate one, which would not eo'ifii'P the exactions of the two allied nations to the eternal expulsion of the Russians from that Crimea which has been the stronghold of their aggression and the scene of their crimes and their chastisement. We use our victory at Sehastopoi aright ;.f we make our ■watchword now. " The Crimea never shall be Russian again."'— Morning Herald.