pment of commercial transactions."

And by Art. 3 of the Treaty of London:--

"The Black Sea remains open, as heretofore, to the mercantile
marine of all nations."

It is submitted that these provisions relate solely to commerce carried
on by vessels already within the Black Sea, and contain no covenant for
an unrestricted right of access to that sea.

As between Russia and Turkey individually, Treaties which are still in
force purport, no doubt, to give to the former a stronger claim to free
passage through the Straits for her mercantile marine than that which
can be supposed to be enjoyed by other Powers. By Art. 7, for instance,
of the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829, the Porte recognises and declares
the passage of the "Canal de Constantinople," and of the Strait of the
Dardanelles, to be entirely free and open to Russian merchant vessels;
and goes on to extend the same privilege to the merchant vessels of all
Powers at peace with Turkey. Art. 24 of the Treaty of San Stefano is
still more explicit, providing that "the Bosporus and Dardanelles shall
remain open in time of war as in time of peace to the merchant vessels
of neutral States arriving from or bound to Russian ports." The rest of
the article contains a promise by the Porte never henceforth to
establish a "fictitious blockade, at variance with the spirit of the
Declaration of Paris"; meaning thereby such a blockade of ports on the
Black Sea as had been enforced by Turkish ships of war stationed at the
entrance to the Bosporus.

It may well be doubted whether these articles, containing concessions
extorted from Turkey at the end of wars in which she had been defeated,
ought not, like so many other provisions of the Treaty of San Stefano,
to have been abrogated by the Treaty of Berlin. They are of such a
character that, in the struggle for existence, Turkey can hardly be
blamed for disregarding them. As was said long ago, "Ius commerciorum
aequum est, at hoc acquius, tuendae salutis." The imperious necessities
of self-preservation were recognised both by Lord Morley and by Lord
Lansdowne in the debate which took place on May 3, although Lord
Lansdowne intimated that

"the real question, which will have to be considered sooner
or later, is the extent to which a belligerent Power,
controlling narrow waters which form a great trade avenue for
the commerce of the world, is justified in entirely closing
such an avenue i