“England. London, 22 (10) February.

Given the importance to be attached to the statements made by the Foreign Minister in Tuesday’s session of the House of Lords, we reproduce verbatim the following passage from his speech. Concerning the opposing assertion, which had also been made by the previous speaker, the Duke of Argyll, as repeatedly stated, that the Government had changed its policy, Lord Derby said: If he (the Duke) meant that these warlike events in Bulgaria, when they were fully discovered, had some influence on our judgment, he said what my human nature would deny, and what I am not in the least inclined to deny.

That they were confined to a certain district undoubtedly shows a degree of weakness and a lack of oversight in the central administration of Turkey, which exceeded all that could reasonably be expected; but if in the hermitage of… While we adopted a more active and pronounced system of intervention than we had followed before the Bulgarian atrocities, it may have influenced our politics to a certain degree, but this influence was only of a secondary nature.

The main point was that Serbia had entered the fight, that the Serbian army was composed almost entirely of Russian volunteers, and that consequently Russia was in fact, if not formally, on the battlefield. The danger threatened that public opinion in Russia would become so agitated that war with Turkey would eventually become inevitable. That was the danger which, in the interest of Europe, it was our duty to observe.

Regarding the actions of the English government after the conclusion of the conference, Lord Derby further stated: “We have presented to Serbia and Montenegro the necessity of making peace with Turkey without delay. The success of our efforts must become apparent in a few days. If peace is concluded, at least half of the conference’s objectives will have been achieved.”

Concerning the reforms, he had converted to Mid-Hat’s view that Turkey must be given time to demonstrate its goodwill through action. A deadline must be set, and only after this deadline has passed would the demand for guarantees be reasonable.”

Source

Revalsche Zeitung, 21 February 1877.