The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Tuesday, September 22, 1891. THE EUROPEAN SITUATION.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume V, Issue 661, 22 September 1891, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning.

Tuesday, September 22, 1891. THE EUROPEAN SITUATION.

Be jnst and fear not; Let all the ends thou aira’st at be thy country's, Thy God's, and truth’s.?

Matters have fairly settled down again after the recent scare over the landing of a British force at Lesbos (or Mitylene). Even with the confirmatory reports from the foreign Consuls, those who were in a position to judge of the significance of the alleged seizure were not likely to place credence on it. But there are at the present time so go many mysterious influences at work that there is little reason to wonder at the sensation created. It would have been the most daring stroke of modern times, and could hardly have failed to involve war. Had the Powers only been waiting for an open declaration of war the seizure of Lesbos by England would have been a splendid strategy, enabling the mouth of the Dardanelles i to be blocked up without any great 1

additional trouble. The incident will probably have a great significance in the future. Not taking into account the unscrupulous use made of it on the Bourse, the scheme has the appearance of an ingenious device of that great statesman Lord Salisbury, whose foreign policy must have the admiration of every loyal Britisher, of -whatever political views. The affair will serve to warn Russia that she cannot have all her own way with impunity, and be a reminder of what England may do in the event of treachery in regard to the Dardanelles, or any other matter in which there are interests at stake. Late messages gave information of eleven shipments of warlike stores passing through the Dardanelles for Russia, of the mustering of a strong Russian fleet in the Black Sea, of Russia having sufficient trunsports to land 30,000 troops on the shores of the Bosphorus in twenty-four hours, of the Russian Press clamoring for aggression on Constantinople, and of the Moscow Gazette stating that the Great Powers are bound to respect the decision of the Sultan in regard to the Dardanelles. The latter assertion had a special importance from the fact that the navigation of the passage had long since been settled by agreement among the nations. England has to an extent become identified with the Triple Alliance by an undertaking to aid Italy in the event of an attack being made upon the latter, in the Mediterranean, The Alliance, it was thought, would be sufficient to maintain the peace of Europe, but since the new combination has arisen between France and Russia, each of which may at any time become a firebrand, the Triple Alliance cannot be regarded as a definite safeguard against a European war, though in the event of an outbreak there would be little doubt as to what Powers would be ranged against each other. The Lesbos affair will probably serve as a warning which Russia and France will take to heart. Lord Salisbury has declared that Russia has no exclusive right to the navigation of the Dardanelles, and if aggression becomes unbearable, England’s pacific attitude in the past maybe suddenly changed to one that will awe the aggressors. As an indication that there are possibilities of the kind, the Lesbos affair will perhaps prove a valuable factor in diplomatic circles. The fact that it is easy of explanation removes any fear of present trouble, but it does not disguise the possibilities.