The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1878.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5294, 14 March 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1878.

From latest advices the war clouds which .have so long hung, over Europe appear to have blown over, and there is now every l sign of. peace being established, although, niay be, not a permanent peace, for many farseeing men contend that as long as tho Turks are allowed to exist as a nation in Europe there will be a danger of war. Who is to control the navigation of the Black Sea is the question which has most concerned the nations of Europe; and particularly England. At the commencement of the war, Russia disclaimed all intention of taking possession of Constantinople, * and had her armies gained an easy victory over those of the Porte, Russia might have retired upon her laurels, after having exacted substantial guarantees for the better government of the Christians of Turkey. However, the Russian: armies met with very serious disasters both in Europe and-Asia, —suffered “overwhelming defeats” as the cable not unfrequently informed us,—and it was not without a considerable loss of prestige, and the 1 sacrifice of close on a hundred thousand of his best troops, that the Czar was in a position to dictate terms to the Porte. It was no mere promenade from the Danube to Adrianople, as had been anticipated, : but sheer hard fighting, during which, more than once, the legions of: the North had to give way before the despised Asiatic. The war might have been undertaken with moral aims, but repeated defeats and a true knowledge of the Bulgarians roused the Russian people to a sense of their own interests'! What nation under tho sun has ever sacrificed a hundred thousand men and a ; hundred million sterling for a philanthropic idea? History does not record an instance of such self-abnegation. Under the circumstances, it is not to be wondered at that Russia has exacted a material recompense for tho losses she has sustained, both in men and money. With' regard-to the demands of Russia for an .accession of territory in Asiatic Turkey, including Batoum and Kars, it tvill be seen from, the telegrams published within .the last few days that they have been acceded to. In the treaty which has been agreed to : between the two belligerents, the ’Russians afe to occupy Armenia till such time as a'war indemnity of a thousand miUion roubles are paid.., Of course, jthiß;‘meansa;ponnanent occupation, for there is. no probability of the Porte-being * able to raise the enorinoiis sum of £140,000,000. No European' Power is piuch-; interested in! the Russian occupation of Armenia. - An attempt has bean ihado bjr thb s philo-Turkish' Press in; England,to,induce the , people to believe that the route to India will be threatened

by Russia being in possession o£ the. upper valley of the Euphrates. On this ' ■point a leading London newspaper says:— “Thealarms which have been caused by the prospect oft ancextension of Russian' ■ territory are principally fanciful as fair as they regard India, although it is not impossible that the triumphs of the invading army may facilitate Russian intrigues in Afghanistan and the neighboring regions. JThe. trade which will .be. suppressed or intercepted by the unsocial and inhospitable policy of Eiussia is insignificant in amount, ’ : nor'is it exclusively in English hands. The strategic advantag'e' bf'hn bcd'upatibn of the upper valley of the ( Euphrates for operations in the further East is; uninteL • ligible to ordinary minds. An invasion of -India’ wouldbe .undertaken, - if ait alii by a much 1 more' practicable route ; and Alexandropol would- be as advantageous a starting-place for movements on ..the Persian, Gulf as Kars.” There is now little doubt, after the peaceful entry into Adrianople of-the Russian troops, that it was their intention to occupy Constantinople. " It -was; originally' believed that when Adrianople, had- fallen peacenegotiations would be entered into.. The threat of unfurling the Prophet’s flag if that city were captured has turned out to be all nonsense. Adrianople fell without a blow,'and, this emboldened the Russians to- push' on' to Constantinople. By the San ■ Francisco mail we are placed in tolerably,full,-possession of the circumstances which led to a stoppage of their victorious march. England,.had put her foot • down - strongly, and Lord Derby’s protest--against the occupation of Constantinople was tantamount to a declaration of war should Russia have persisted in her contemplated course, Austria, too, became seriously alarmed at the ; prospect of a Russian occupation of. Stamboul,. and an. Anglo-Austrian; alliance was freely talked of in Vienna. That combination would have been too much for the strength of Russia, and consequently Constantinople was not occupied by an enemy’s troops. - It is Austria; above all other Powers, -which is the most interested in maintaining that the Black Sea shall not become a Russian lake. For ■this object Prince GoRTCHAKOFF’has long manosuvrocl, but he has been defeated at every turn. It was first proposed; in the interest of Russia, that the passage of the Dardanelles should be rendered free to the war vessels of , all nations. This would allow of Russia having a fleet in the Black ,Sea. That idea was strongly opposed by certain politicians in England of pronounced Turkish sympathies; but then there was another party in Eng-land-who were wiser in their generation; and who strongly supported the course proposed by' Russia.;' On second considerations,- however, the’ crafty Russian statesmen saw danger in admitting the fleets of all nations into the Black Sea, for, in the event of a war.-with such a naval ’power as England, the Euxine would be swept of every vestige of the naval power of Russia. The Times correspondent at St. Peterburg gives a history of the changes which Russian opinion has undergone on this subject. After it was found that it would not serve Russian aims to throw .open the Black Sea to the fleets of every nation, it was- contended ’-that the sea belonged exclusively to Turkey and Russia. No other, country owned an inch of territory on its.-borders, and if the fleet of any other nation entered the Black.Seait could only be for hostile purposes. But this -would not work either, for it was said that under such axi arrangement “ any Power wishing to attack Russia would merely have to form an alliance with the Porte, and in that way might send its fleet into the Black Sea.” It was next advocated in the Russian Press that Russia should possess forts on the Bosphorus. .... It was, -no doubt, in pursuance of a preconceived idea to command the entrance of the Black Sea, that the Russian occupation of Stamboul was contemplated. However, Prince GobtCiiakoff was foiled by the firmness of England and the preparations of Austria.: It would be well if this question of the navigation. of . the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus and the control of the Black Sea was put a permanent and satisfactory footing, for it is a danger which menaces the peace of Europe.