THE FORTIFICATION OF BATOUM.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2213, 14 September 1886, Page 2

THE FORTIFICATION OF BATOUM.

The following extract from an article in the Daily Telegraph will be read with especial interest at the present time:—e :—:—: — Russia hrvj formally notified that Batoum is no longer a, free port. She has thus cancelled by her mere will an important clause in the Treaty of Berlin, and given fresh proof, if any were needed, that, as Colonel Kaulbars s.iid twenty years ago, she reRaids " treaties as only made to be broken." She has chosen an opportune moment for the latest exhibition of bad faith — the moment when England is in the midst of att internal comuUion brought on by an attempt to weaken, if not destroy the unity of the Kingdom. The choice of the occ.iiion i» character i-tic of a Power which never change* its policy, and is ever on the I >ok-out for territorial asgrandisement. I 1I 1 was in the midst of the Franco-German wir that she denounced the stipulation in the treaty .if Is If 5, establishing the neutrality nl t v e Black Sea ; and we all know Ijmw td« ]y -he sained her jx>int, and with what facility t.ie 'internment of that day yXd-d Xh her'iuwen »us dictation. Mr Glad* -t rj a . n>ii : ■ :, wa« always adverse to the n^'ilra.iry clause, and being in power, itwa9 Cci-y fur him to gi.e effect to his own opinions. T!i»ii, during- the heat of th© struggle with the Iri>h con-piracy, Russia m.ide her da-h on Merv, and refused to be biiind by the line drawn in 1873 by Lord Granvilie to mark the boundary of Afghanistan. The incident of Penjdeh will be fre->h m everybody'-* mind. Nobody vvili foiget the brave speech made one Mond.iy evening, and the practical piirrendei to Rus-^ia, which was effected within a week. At that tune v\e were occupied in South Vfrica, and still more in Egypt and the Soudan, <tnd Russia, once more showed her aptitude in selecting the time and in operating upon the n inds of British statesmen. She h i-* ag lin furnished a fresh Hist nice of consuuiiii.ite adroitness by choosing the pi", md of a general election, an hniir of div ided counsels to push her foot tlnoiign the cl.uisf of a tir.ity signod and ratified only eight \e.irs ago. It is (>b\ii)\i"i, thetcfoie, that in :igi t t^it'-g, thus solemnly, to make Botnum a iioo c^mnierci.il port, she never intfiided to kcop her word. It was on the "honour" of a C?ar that we were told to rdv w lion General Kaufmann v.'is actively pi.^iaring to march on and dominate in Khiva. Hvci and over again we were told that theie wa-* no intention to lay Innds on Merv. The Englu-h Government were ainu-«ed and deceived by .istutelv- worded piiifes>ions, apparently frank, yet governed by mental reservation?. Rti^si.i did intend to appropriate Khiva •mil cany her fl ig to Merv at the very tune when she ga\e her word of honour and tier assurances to the contrary. So, \\« may be sure, she had not the least notion of carrying out the provision in the Berlin Treaty which constituted Batoum a free commnrci.il port, although a due observance of th.it stipulation was really the condition on which she was allowed to retain hpr conquest. Thu*, as we hate repeatedly said, during the Lu-t twenty years the promises and pledges of Russia and absolutely worthies*; they are a coiner"^ money put in circulation to gain a pu-sont advantage, and positions -which will yield ;t futuio profit. The cynical decl'iration regaiding Batoum is only one of a long hones.