An extremely pessimistic article upon the Balkan danger appears in
Thursday's Times from its correspondent in the Balkan Peninsula. The writer says that since the eve of the war in 1877 the outlook has never been so gloomy and dis- quieting. The danger is not to be attributed to external pressure—for Greece, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Servia are all maintaining a resolutely pacific policy—but to the imminence of internal rebellion, especially in Macedonia and Albania. The article proceeds to discuss the causes of discontent in these provinces, and assigns the blame to the " Ottomanist " policy and incompetent administration which has marked the ascendancy of the Committee of Union and Progress. The Times correspondent emphasizes finally the importance of the Italian war being brought to a close before the " melting of the snows " inaugurates the campaigning season in the Balkans. "In order to avert the threatened catastrophe, which may entail incalculable consequences, the Powers should exert themselves betimes." The principal obstacle to peace, he adds, is the existence of the Committee, which
aware that it could not survive the surrender of Tripoli, is fighting for dear life.
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