МАКЕДОНСКОТО РАЗРЕШЕНИЕ
Во долниот дел од статијата се вели дека доколку Турците повторно би ги изиграле договорените реформи за заштита на христијанското население, тоа во Македонија ќе доведе до автономија иста онаква каква што добиле другите балкански држави кои се извлекле од Османлиското Царство.
„…
THE MACEDONIAN SETTLEMENT.
It is not reasonable to suppose that I
the settlement which Turkey has ac-
cepted of reforms in Macedonia is a
finality. Experience teaches that no ‘
Christian population subjected to Turk-
ish misrule can ever be brought into a
satisfactory condition until they have
been emancipated from that misrule
altogether. That is the lesson of all the
procedures had In Southeastern Europe
. since the Berlin Conference, and long
before, since, in fact, the outbreak of the
Crimean war. That shadow of sove-
reignty which is called “ suzerainty* ”
and which “ saves the face ” of. the
Turk is all that he can safely be trusted
to retain.
The reforms Which it now appears that
the Sultan, rather contrary to expecta-
tion, has agreed to accept, look even
ridiculously mild. At best they consti-
tute the ” irreducible minimum ” of what
the Powers are not merely entitled but
bound to demand. Some account of
them was given In Sunday’s Times.
Slight as they seem, however, they must
be very unacceptable at Constantinople.
The requirement that the control of the
gendarmerie shall be taken frorti the
Turk’ and intrusted , to subjects pf the
1
neutral nations, to Belgians and Dutch-
men and Swiss, is no doubt deeply re-
sented at the headquarters of the Turk-
ish Army, while the requirement that
the local needs of the Macedonian com- j
munities shall be met before any part
of their revenue is sent to Constantinople
must be viewed with equal disgust by
the officials of the Turkish Treasury.
If we can neither command these
Christians nor rob them, now may the
unspeakable Turk say, what is the use
of them at all? Sure enough, a Chris-
tian community in this happy situation*
is of no value to the Ottoman Empire.
If the terms of the reform are strictly
enforced, the Turk will save his face.
But he will save nothing else. Accord-
ing to his nature, he will try to defeat
the object of the reforms by disregard-
ing the terms as far as he can, which is
as far as he dares. But there is a limit
to his probable venturesomeness in this
direction. If he manages to nullify the
consent he has been bullied into giving,
the next step will be the extension to
Macedonia of the same autonomy now’
enjoyed by the other Balkan States that
have been carved out of the Ottoman
Empire. In that case, not even the face
of the Turk will be saved. He will have
lost the shadow of sovereignty as well
as the substance.
Published: February 25, 1903
Copyright © The New York Times …“
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