The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY DECEMBER 29, 1911. RUSSIA AND PERSIA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 14, 29 December 1911, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY DECEMBER 29, 1911. RUSSIA AND PERSIA.

When the last London mails left il

was stated in well-informed quarter: that • Russia’s quarrel with Persia which has developed into such a serious situation, arose out of a compare lively small matter. It appears that when the Persian Gpvei:nipent had de cidcd to take possession of the property of Prince Shua es-Saltaneh: brother of the ex-Shah, in view of hi: rebellions action and active suppor/ of the ex-Shah, they informed tin British and Russian Legations of thcii intentions, and intimated at the same time that whatever foreign claim: there might be against the property would be settled by the Persian. Government, which would hold itself responsible. To this the Russian Min ister replied that so long as Persia guaranteed satisfaction for Russia: claims ho would be satisfied. The Persian Government ordered Mr Shus ter, the Treasurer-General, to take the necessary stops to obtain possossio: of the property in question, and five gendarmes and one official wore sent to the town house of the Prince, will instructions not to interfere with any members of the family, and simply to take an inventory. At the same time Mr Shuster sent three gendarmes to take possession of some of the Prince’s property in the suburbs o' Teheran. At this juncture M. Petrol! and M. TrepolF, the secretaries of the Russian Consul General, arrived oj the scene with ten armed Cossacks ind ordered the Persian gendarmes L leave the town house. The gendarme; isked for time to communicate will their superior officers, but the Russia: Consular officials refused to'grant this :ud stated that if they did not leave it once they would he fired upon. The Persian gendarmes then left, and reported the affair to the TreasurerGeneral. Messrs Potroff and Trc poll, with a force, also went to tin suburban property referred to, and liter disarming the Persian gendarmes forcibly took them before the Russian Consul General. The latter assumed i peremptory tone, but returned the Persians their arms, and allowed them to leave. The 'Treasurer-General then informed the Russian ConsulGeneral that at eleven o’clock on the following morning ho intended to carry out tiie instructions of his Government, and at the appointed hour a number of gendarmes, accompanied by Mr Cairns, an American official in Jih -Minster’s department, were despatched to cany out the orders of tin l Government, lull, in view of the previous day’s experiences, the Russian Con-sul-General was first informed of his intentions. 'The Consul-General, however, refused the request that the Russians should not interfere with the orders of the Persian Government. The attitude of the Russian Consular officials formed the subject of a strong protest on the part of tlie Persian Government, which demanded the recall af the Consular officers concerned. These Notes were, however, returned by the Russian Minister, who in turn demanded an apology from flio Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs. No satisfactory settlement of flio matter was arrived at, and shortly afterwards

Persia appealed to Great Britain to intervene with Russia diplomatically. Meanwhile Russian troops occupied Persian territory, and open hostilities, as recorded in our cable messages, have occurred. The situation is not encouraging, though Russia professes to he merely acting justly and witidn her rights.