NEWS OF THE WEEK.
TWO rumours of grave importance were in circulation on Friday. One, vouched for by the Standard, was that the Continental. Powers, alarmed by the situation in Eastern Europe, had agreed to assemble in a Conference which would decide on the arrangements to be adopted in Ronmelia and Macedonia. As the danger is undoubtedly great, this rumour is probably true, and the scope of the Conference may prove to be very wide. The other rumour, circulated in the Times, must be false. It is affirmed that Lord Salisbury has proposed to Italy and the other Powers to adopt measures for restoring the status quo in Turkey. That would imply the use of force without a Conference, or, at any rate, pending its assemblage. We cannot believe that Lord Salisbury, without consulting . his colleagues, without even returning to England, has proposed to -employ British strength in reimposing the Turkish yoke on an emancipated Christian Province. If he has, he has utterly mistaken the tone of British feeling, and will rouse an opposition before which he must recede. It is not Russia this time who is egging on Bulgaria, but Russia who has been set at defiance. If any such step has been taken, meetings should be called throughout the country to demand the reassembling of Parliament, and the prompt dismissal of the Tory Ministry. The British people are not going to waste themselves in a war, or even in an effort on behalf of the right of Asiatics to mis- govern Europeans.
