The result of the conference on Syria, though telegraphed to
Eng- land last week, seems still to be undecided. It is reported, however, that the Emperor yields to the majority of the Powers, and the corps d'armee will evacuate Syria on the 1st of May. Lord John Russell, moreover, in a speech on the 28th of February, placed the occupa- tion in a somewhat new light. It was proved, he said, that Turkish secret societies were- instigating the massacres, and had not the crimes committed in Syria been promptly punished, the massacres would have extended to Bagdad and Jerusalem. In that case some one of the European Powers would have interfered by force, and it was this danger which induced the Sultan to yield a reluctant consent to the French occupation. That occupation, also, was only French by the consent of the" remaining powers. The Emperor was willing to make it a joint occupation, but Lord John Russell declined, thinking the arrangement would lead only to jealousies and disputes, which, as the Maronites adhered to the French, and the Druses to the English, might become serious. It was true that French protection had enabled the llaronites to commit crimes, but they were individual crimes, and M. de Flahault had expressed his indignation that the French flag should be so abused. The Turkish troops who assisted in the massacres at Damascus were all convicts. The Pasha had drawn money from Constantinople for two years to pay troops, but raised none. Receiving an order to send his forces to the Danube, he swept all the galleys and gaols, and called these ragamuffins soldiers, and they were on their way when recalled to put down the disturbances, hi which they naturally assisted. As to the Russian project of a conference to consider the position of the Christians in Roumelia, it had been given up, and the Porte simply requested to consider the grave charges brought by M. de Labanoff, and, if pos- sible, disprove them. The general state of affairs in Constantinople appears to be most disastrous. The employes, civil and military, are unpaid, and disturbances are momentarily expected. All business is suspended until the settlement of the Mires affair, and it is said, if the bills on him are dishonoured, all Galata must stop payment.
