He observed that it was supposed that the Ottoman Ministers objected to the term "armistice on the ground that the use of that word would imply a recognition of the Servians as regular belligerents, whereas in the eyes of the Porte they were simply insurgents. The word "truce," however, appeared to be regarded at Constantinople as comparatively unobjectionable. I remarked, in answer, that the Russian proposal was for an armistice or a truce. The Duc Decazes expressed his concurrence in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government that the armistice should be followed immediately by a Conference. As matters stood, a Conference seemed, he said, to him to be in fact almost the only chance left of avoiding a recourse to force. He spoke at some length of the inconvenience, and, indeed, danger, which would attend the occupation of Turkish territory by any of the Powers, or the entrance of the fleets into the Bosphorus ; and he appeared to be well pleased that Her Majesty's Government had not agreed to either of these measures. The Earl of Derby. I have, &c., LYONS. No. 540.-Sir H. Elliot to the Earl of Derby.-(Received October 8, (Telegraphic.) 5.30 P.M.) Therapia, October 8, 1876, 12:45 P.M. FROM a conversation that I have just had with the Minister for Foreign Affairs I have great expectation that the Porte will agree to an armistice. I hope, also, that the answer of the Porte may be still so far modified as to be an acceptation rather than a rejection of the conditions of peace proposed by your Lordship. Minister asked me whether, in the event of the conditions being accepted, a Conference would still be proposed. I said that it had been talked of on the supposition of their rejection by the Porte, but I could not say what the decision of the Powers might be in the event of the Porte accepting the conditions as the basis of peace. There is so much dread of a Conference that the hope of avoiding one by accepting the propositions has great influence on the Turkish Ministers. SIR, No. 541.-The Earl of Derby to Sir A. Buchanan.* Foreign Office, October 8, 1876. I GATHER from your Excellency's telegram of the 6th instant, Substance telegraphed. that Count Andrássy bas stated that he would not be disposed to assent to a Conference until he should be satisfied as to its composition and objects. I am not surprised to learn that he should have expressed this hesitation, which is not unnatural, but I should wish you to explain to him that it had never been contemplated by Her Majesty's Government that a Conference should assemble until a basis should have been arranged which should define the subjects to be considered and secure their being confined within certain limits. Her Majesty's Government expressed their opinion that, if the terms of peace should be refused by the Porte and an armistice accepted, a Conference should meet, because this appeared to them to be the best, if not the only, means of bringing about an agreement as to the course to be pursued, and because the meeting of the Powers in Conference would afford the best security that could be found against independent action on the part of any one Power without the consent of the others. It is also obvious that the meeting of a Conference—a course which would be in accordance with usage on previous occasions, when the concert of the Powers has been desired on Turkish affairs -would have the advantage of affording time for the excitement in Russia to subside, which is now one of the principal obstacles to a pacific solution of existing difficulties. Your Excellency will lay these considerations before Count Andrássy, and will explain to him that all that is asked of him at present is that he should not object to the principle of a Conference. If he accepts that principle Her Majesty's Government will gladly join with him in endeavouring to arrange a satisfactory basis upon which the deliberations shall be regulated. Concerted action on the part of the Powers is at the present moment of the most vital importance, as in the interests of peace it is essential that the Porte should not be encouraged to persist in an obdurate refusal of the terms of pacification and of the armistice by its supposing that the harmony of ideas which induced all the Powers to support the British proposals no longer exists. Her Majesty's Government earnestly hope, therefore, that Count Andrássy will not use any language at Constantinople which could be so construed as to encourage further resistance. Sir A. Buchanan. I am, &c., DERBY. No. 547.-Lord Odo Russell to the Earl of Derby.-(Rec. October 9.) MY LORD, Berlin, October 6, 1876. IN obedience to your Lordship's telegraphic instructions, I informed Herr von Bülow to-day of the answer your Lordship had [1875-76. LXVII.] T given to the Russian Government through Her Majesty's Ambas sador at St. Petersburgh respecting the Czar's proposal to the Guaranteeing Powers that further bloodshed should be immediately arrested by imposing an armistice or truce of six weeks on both parties so as to give the mediating Governments time to consider the means of definitively arranging the pending questions. Her Majesty's Government have decided, I said, to give their support to the proposal of an armistice of not less than a month, as the next step to be taken in the event of the rejection by Turkey of the proposed terms for a basis of peace, but that Her Majesty's Government were unable to concur in Prince Gortchakow's previous suggestion respecting an occupation and the entry of the united fleets into the Bosphorus. I also stated that Her Majesty's Government considered that the armistice should be followed immediately by a Conference, and that your Lordship had instructed Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople to intimate this to the Porte. Herr von Bülow, in reply, said that he would at once transmit your Lordship's communication to Prince Bismarck, who is at Varzin. I have, &c., The Earl of Derby. SIR, ODO RUSSELL. No. 552.-The Earl of Derby to Sir A. Buchanan. Foreign Office, October 9, 1876. THE Austrian Ambassador called upon me this afternoon by appointment on his return to his post, and read to me a telegram which he had received from Count Andrássy, giving the reasons of the Austrian Government for objecting to the plan of a Conference to meet on the conclusion of an armistice between Turkey and her opponents. Count Andrássy asks what would be the object of the deliberations of the Conference. The Powers are already agreed upon the basis of peace. The question to be discussed, therefore, is that of the means to be employed in order to bring the Porte to accept these conditions. And upon this question another instantly arises. Is Turkey to be represented at the Conference? If she is so represented, she must appear on an equality with the rest, and upon that footing she is not likely to concede to the representations of a Conference, in which there are sure to be differences of opinion, that which she has refused to the united demand of Europe. If, on the contrary, she is excluded from the Conference, she will draw from this a legitimate argument for denying its competency, and we are once more in presence of the problem of employing measures of coercion. We must also consider, says Count Andrássy, the difficult posi tion in which the Emperor Alexander will be placed in case the Porte refuses to submit to the decisions of a Conference. The Emperor Alexander is desirous of peace, but we know also that he is being urged in a contrary direction. The Austrian Government state, however, that they do not wish to thwart the action of England, and are only anxious to have a thorough understanding upon the whole question. They wish, therefore, to know 1. Whether the Porte is to take part in the Conference. 2. Where the Conference is to meet. 3. If the Conference is to be composed of the Foreign Ministers of the respective countries or of Plenipotentiaries. 4. What is to be the programme of the Conference. It will depend upon the information derived from the answers to these questions whether they can waive the objections they now entertain to the idea. Until then they are of opinion that a Commission at Constantinople, such as had previously been suggested, would be a preferable plan, and would more profitably employ the time allowed by the armistice. As Count Beust did not ask for an immediate reply to the above queries, I told his Excellency that I must reserve my opinion on the first point, namely, whether or no the Porte should be represented in the Conference. It would be necessary to ascertain the views of other Powers, which were still unknown to me. As to the second question, I must equally reserve a final expression of opinion; but, personally, I was inclined to think that Constantinople would be on various accounts the most convenient place of meeting. As to the third, I considered that the personal attendance of the various Foreign Ministers at a Conference whose sittings might last some time would be in many respects unadvisable. As to the fourth, I agreed in the view which I understood to be that of Count Andrássy, that a Conference without a basis was not likely to lead to good results, and I thought that a programme, more or less definite, ought to be agreed upon before it met; but the terms of such programme would require care in framing, and I could only say that it should be submitted to the Powers in due I am, &c., course. Sir A. Buchanan. MY LORD, No. 579.-The Earl of Derby to Lord A. Loftus. DERBY, Foreign Office, October 10, 1876. THE Russian Ambassador told me this afternoon, but as his personal opinion merely, that he thought it not unlikely that his Government would insist on the exclusion of any Turkish Repre sentative from the Conference now proposed. In taking this view his Government would probably be influenced by the following considerations 1. It would be undesirable that the Representative of the Porte should be witness to any differences that may exist between the Powers, until these have been settled and the result of the agreement can be submitted to the Porte as a proposal from the united Powers. 2. If it should be necessary for the Conference to obtain evidence or information from delegates or others competent to speak as to the state of the disturbed Provinces and the requirements of the population, these would not be able to speak freely in the presence of the Representative of their own Government. 3. If the Porte is represented in a Conference at Constantinople, the Turkish Plenipotentiary will, by diplomatic rule, be entitled to preside over the meeting, which would be inconvenient, and would. place the other Plenipotentiaries in a false position. This would be an objection to the Conference being held at Constantinople, which would otherwise seem to be the most convenient place of meeting. Count Schouvaloff suggested as one method of avoiding these difficulties, that the first sittings of the Conference should be held by the Representatives of the Six Powers merely, and that the Turkish Government should be invited to send à Representative to take part in the discussion as soon as a definitive plan had been agreed upon, at all events in its broader features, which could be submitted to the consideration of the Porte. His Excellency having explained that the above suggestion was merely the expression of his personal opinion, and that he had not the authority of his Government in making it, I reserved my opinion, merely saying that his Excellency's views should have the fullest consideration on the part of Her Majesty's Government. I am, &c., Lord A. Loftus. DERBY. No. 603.-Mr. Malet to the Earl of Derby.-(Received October 13.) SIGNOR MELEGARI informed me to-day that the Russian Ambassador had called upon him this morning, and had informed him, by order of his Government, that the question now arose as to whether, in the event of the Porte consenting to an armistice, she should be allowed to have a Representative in the Conference which was to follow, and the Ambassador announced that the Russian Government objected to the presence of a Turkish Representative. Signor Melegari had said that he could give no reply at present to the communication made by the Russian Ambassador; that he |