The Daily Mail of Friday publishes a telegram despatched from
Bucharest which declares that Russia is now urging on Turkey a revival of the famous Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi, a Treaty made in 1833, under which Turkey, bad it not been abrogated, would have passed under Russian protection, Turkey promising to allow Russian warships to use the Bosphorus and Dardanelles freely, but closing them to the ships of other nations. If the story should turn out to be accurate, which we think unlikely, we trust the British people will consider the question very carefully before they rush to the conclusion that British interests must be greatly damaged. That German and Austrian interests will suffer most seriously, and also French interests—owing to France's claims in the Levant--we do not deny ; but now that we hold Egypt we have no special interests at the Turkish end of the Mediterranean. As we cannot hope to make the Mediterranean a British lake, the more numerous the naval interests and Powers in the Mediterranean, the better for us. We may bold the balance, though we cannot enjoy a monopoly. It is worth noting that the correspondent of the Daily Mail attributes increased Russian activity in the Near East to the fact that the Anglo-Japanese Alliance has shut the door in the Far East. If this is true, it would be most foolish for us to lead any movement to check Russia in the Levant. Our object should be to provide a safety-valve for Russian activity, not still further to check her expansion, and so provoke an explosion in which India may be involved.
