First Stage Ended.

New York Times 100 years ago today, January 7, 1913:
    LONDON, Tuesday, Jan. 7.— The first stage of the peace negotiations, which is regarded by diplomats largely as one of pretense on Turkey's part in order to avoid the appearance of yielding to the demands of the allies without pressure from the powers, is now over. It is expected that the second stage will soon begin, with the powers acting behind the scenes and pulling strings which will compel Turkey to concede the bulk of the allies' demands.
    Without money, her army inadequate and demoralized, Turkey, her statesmen realize, is in no condition to resume hostilities with the slightest chance of success.
    At yesterday's sitting of the Peace Conference Turkey renounced in favor of the allies her rights in the Island of Crete and promised a further rectification of the Thracian frontier, but insisted upon the retention of Adrianople. The allies declared that this was not satisfactory and suspended the conference.
    That does not mean a rupture of the negotiations. The conference may be resumed either by a notification from Turkey that she has fresh proposals to submit or by the allies on the ground that they have communications to make to the Turks. It is generally expected that the work of the conference will be taken up again at the end of the week, when the festivities in connection with the Orthodox Christmas are ended.
    The allies yesterday held a short meeting before the official sitting. They discussed three possibilities with reference to the statement which Rechad Pasha had been asked to make respecting the Balkan States' ultimatum and agreed on the reply of the allies. First, if Rechad Pasha's statement were arrogant and provocative, then, notwithstanding the advice of the powers in favor of moderation, they would break off the negotiations; second, if Rechad were courteous, but the new concessions were unimportant, they would suspend the conference; third, if Rechad made important concessions, without absolutely conceding the allies' demands, they would adjourn the sitting until Friday, in order to allow time to consult their respective Governments.

The Conference.
    Expectation was intense when the Servian delegate, M. Novakovitch opened the session. Rechad Pasha, before reading his statement, made a brief speech. He said that Turkey was prepared to give further proof of her conciliatory spirit and desire to avert bloodshed, but he regretted that the allies seemed determined to concede nothing on their part and had turned a deaf ear to humanitarian considerations. He then read the following:

    If we refuse the cession of Adrianople, it is because its cession is impossible, for the security of Constantinople and the Dardanelles. Besides, I must add that we are here with the firm intention of establishing a lasting peace, with such conditions as will insure friendly relations and commercial facilities profitable to both parties.
    We are still ready to-day to discuss the frontier line between Turkey and Bulgaria, but this frontier must leave Adrianople in Ottoman territory. Wishing to give new proof of our spirit of conciliation, we consent to desist from our rights over Crete, on condition, naturally, that the allies do not claim the cession of any of the islands in the Aegean Sea.
    If, notwithstanding these enormous sacrifices, the allies reject all ideas of entering the road to concessions, wishing to break the negotiations, the whole responsibility for the consequences of this rupture will fall on them. In this eventuality, we declare all the concessions made until to-day null and void.

Allies' Delegates Displeased.
    The Balkan plenipotentiaries could not conceal their dissatisfaction with the statement, which, although containing small concessions, left the situation practically unchanged. Various delegates asked Rechad Pasha if he could not add something, even unofficially, to the statement which he had just made.
    The head of the Turkish delegation professed great surprise at having such questions addressed to him by the delegates of the allies, who, he said, were never satisfied, no matter how much Turkey yielded, while they themselves had not changed their terms one iota.
    Dr. Daneff remarked: "This was because from the beginning the allies asked only what they had fought for and what they expect after the successes attained."
    M. Novakovitch read the following statement:

    The propositions of their Excellencies, the Ottoman Delegates, do not correspond with the demands formulated by the Allies at the former sitting. The negotiations on the new proposed basis not being of such a nature as to lead to an understanding, the Allies see themselves obliged to suspend the sitting of the conference.

    M. Novakovitch delivered to Rechad Pasha a copy of their answer signed by all the heads of the Balkan delegations, and dissolved the sitting.
    Rechad Pasha rose immediately and protested energetically against this procedure, saying:
    "When M, Novakovitch sits in that chair he is not the President of the allies, but the President of the whole conference, which includes the Turkish delegation. Therefore, the simple decision of the allies is not sufficient to suspend the sitting, without the opinion of the Turkish delegation first being heard."
    M. Novakovitch answered: "It takes two to make a bargain. If one side declines to enter into a discussion, it is useless to continue the sitting."
    Rechad Pasha retorted warmly and maintained his protest. He said he considered that the President's action exceeded his prerogative, and, wishing further to emphasize his protest, notwithstanding the explanations which came from all quarters, Rechad, followed by the whole Turkish delegation, immediately left St. James's Palace.
    The other delegations remained for half an hour more to discuss the situation, especially the final incident. The official report of the meeting says:

    Having examined the new proposals of the Turkish delegates in reply to the declaration of the allies at the last sitting, the latter declared the work of the conference suspended.

    By suspending the sittings of the conference the delegates of the allies assert that they have left the next move to the Turks. Rechad Pasha, they say, has the alternative of presenting fresh proposals following closely the demands of the Balkan league, and thus resuming the conferences, or of adhering to the Turkish claim for the retention of Adrianople and definitely rupturing the negotiations.

Move by Powers Expected.
    The general hope now is that in the course of the three days' festivities of the Orthodox Christmas, which has in the Balkans all the poetical associations of ancient tradition, the olive branch will be offered in the shape of official or unofficial intervention by the powers.
    The Turkish delegation are very indignant over the attitude of the European powers toward the Ottoman Empire. They remark that when the Turks are defeated nothing is done to moderate their enemies' pretensions, but when the Turks are victorious they are always prevented by the powers from reaping the fruits of their efforts.