[Servia and Montenegro.] the Imperial Government, shall be reoccupied by the Imperial Army, as was the case formerly; and on this head the dispositions of the Protocol of 4th September, 1862, are to be strictly adhered to (No. 338). Militia to be Abolished. Maintenance of Order. 3. The Militia shall be abolished. The number of men necessary for the maintenance of order in the interior of the Principality shall not exceed 10,000, with two batteries of artillery. Emigrants from Limitrophe Provinces. 4. As was stipulated in the Firman of 1249* (No. 169), Servia shall be bound to send back home all emigrants from the limitrophe provinces, and, with the exception of the fortresses which exist in Servia ab antiquo, all fortifications subsequently erected shall be completely rased. 5. Should Servia not be in a position to pay the indemnity, the amount of which is to be duly settled, the tribute now paid by the Principality shall be increased by the interest of the sum representing the indemnity. Railway-Belgrade to Nisch. 6. The Ottoman Government shall have the right of constructing and of working, either by its agents or by an Ottoman Company at its option, the line of railroad which is to connect Belgrade with the railway terminus at Nisch. A careful consideration of the above conditions will lead to the conviction that the Imperial Government is exclusively animated with the wish to establish a work which shall last, and one which neither prejudices nor blind passions shall be able to destroy or endanger on the morrow of its inauguration. There is not one of these conditions which is not called for by the most elementary principles of prudence and justice, not one which does not meet requirements keenly felt, not one, lastly, which can modify the situation which the Treaties have created for the Principality. *December, 1833. [Servia and Montenegro.] The restrictions affect only those concessions which the Sublime Porte had spontaneously and directly granted to the Principality; they do not touch the common work of the Sublime Porte and the Powers, and hence they in nowise compromise the great interests, for the protection of which that work was designed. The clause relating to the armed force and the Servian artillery, while it will enable the administration to preserve order in the interior, will save the country from onerous sacrifices. Servia having no enemy to fear, the increase of her military forces and of her artillery can only have an hostile purpose as regards the Imperial Government. As regards the clause relating to the reoccupation of the fortresses, to which clause the Sublime Porte more especially calls the attention of the Powers, this is only the reassertion of an incontestable right; and the possession of the said fortresses by the Ottoman troops, is looked upon by public opinion, if not as the sole guarantee, at least as one of the most important and valuable which could be furnished in the interests of peace. These considerations naturally present themselves, and the Imperial Government is conscious of not having gone beyond the object it proposed to itself. Nevertheless, anxious to avoid all suspicion of concealed designs, and to give at the same time an evident proof of its faith in the work of mediation of the Powers, who were unanimous in deprecating Servia's aggression, and are convinced of the necessity for peace, the Imperial Government, having thus explained what in its opinion is the just and necessary consequence of the respective positions taken up by the two parties in the legal point of view, declares that it leaves and refers the six conditions enumerated above entirely to the enlightened judgment and equitable appreciation of the six Mediating Powers; it entrusts to them the care of pondering the reasons which have dictated the six conditions as a means of preventing the return of similar misfortunes, and relies upon their feelings of exalted equity and wisdom. to. Montenegro. As regards Montenegro, the status quo ante will be adhered As soon as the Mediating Powers shall have communicated [Servia and Montenegro.] to the Sublime Porte their opinion upon the aforesaid conditions, orders will be given within twenty-four hours for the suspension of hostilities, friendly relations will be resumed, and the two Principalities, benefiting by the moderation of the Suzerain Power, of which Europe will have been witness, will be restored to their normal condition. Sublime Porte, 14th September, 1876. [Efforts to preserve Peace.] No. 467.-DESPATCH from the Earl of Derby to Lord [Referred to in Russian Despatch of November 19, 1876 My Lord, Foreign Office, 30th October, 1876. THE time has arrived when it may be useful that I should place on consecutive record the various efforts which Her Majesty's Government have made for the preservation of peace in Eastern Europe, so that the position taken up by them during the recent negotiations may be accurately defined. Her Majesty's Government, having reason to believe that the good offices of the Powers would be acceptable to Servia and Montenegro, informed Mr. White, Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General at Belgrade, on the 14th of August, that, though they would not propose mediation unless it were asked for, he might suggest to Prince Milan that an application from him to the Powers for their good offices would be favourably received by England. On the 24th of August, a telegraphic despatch was received from Mr. White reporting that Prince Milan, in the presence of his Foreign Minister, had asked the Representatives of the Six Powers to transmit to their Governments his application for reestablishing peace between the Porte and Servia, and for a prompt cessation of hostilities with that view. His Highness added that it would be desirable to include Montenegro in the pacification. Her Majesty's Government expressed their satisfaction at receiving this announcement, and lost no time in communicating it to the other Powers. They also instructed Sir H. Elliot to point out to the Porte the extreme importance of not losing this opportunity of restoring peace; since, if hostilities continued, the interference of some of the Powers seemed probable, and the consequences might be fatal to the Turkish Empire. Some delay arose before the Prince of Montenegro's formal [Efforts to preserve Peace.] adhesion to the Servian request for good offices was received, and the assent of the Powers could be procured. This having been done, in order to obviate any question as to the mode of proceeding (the Austrian Government having objected to a collective note), Her Majesty's Government took the initiative on the 1st of September, by instructing Sir H. Elliot to propose at once to the Turkish Government an Armistice of not less than a month's duration, with a view to the immediate discussion of terms of peace,-the Armistice to include all combatants. The other foreign Representatives at Constantinople supported Her Majesty's Ambassador in making these proposals. The Porte, however, objected to an Armistice, notwithstanding the strong representations which Sir H. Elliot was directed to address to them. On the 14th of September, the Turkish Memorandum in answer to the proposals of mediation was received (No. 466). It stated the conditions of peace expected by the Porte from Servia as follows:* "1. La personne investie de la dignité de Prince de Serbie devra venir dans la capitale pour rendre hommage à Sa Majesté. "2. Les quatre forteresses dont la garde seulement avait été confiée par le Firman de 1283, 10th April, 1867 (No. 404), au Prince de Serbie, et dont la possession ab antiquo était demeurée au Gouvernement Impérial, seront réoccupées par l'armée Impériale comme par le passé; et sur ce point on se conformera strictement aux dispositions du Protocole du 4 Septembre, 1862 (No. 338). 66 3. Les milices seront abolies. Le nombre des forces nécessaires pour maintenir l'ordre dans l'intérieur de la Principauté ne dépassera pas 10,000 hommes avec deux batteries d'artillerie. "4. Ainsi qu'il est stipulé dans le Firman de 1249, Décembre, 1833 (No. 169), la Serbie sera tenne de renvoyer dans leurs foyers les habitants des provinces limitrophes qui y émigreraient, et, excepté les forteresses qui existent en Serbie ab antiquo, toutes fortifications postérieurement établies devront être complètement démolies. 5. Si la Serbie ne se trouve pas à même d'acquitter l'indemnité dont le montant sera déterminé, le tribut actuel de la * For Translation, see No. 466, page 2484. |