The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1888-05-31
GREECE AS SHE NOW Is.
MINISTER GENNADIUS TELLS OF HIS
COUNTRY'S PROGRESS.
He Takes n Sanguine View, IL Prond of
Her Language, Laws and Eduction-
nj Advantages and Doesn't
Think an q Per Cent.
Income Tax Any
Eraat Matter


nj Advantages and Doesn't
Think an Per Cent.
Income Tax Any
Great Matter.
The modern Greeks are thrifty peo-
pie. They understand how to make
money and how to invest it to the
best advantage. We have six public
banks with capital, all told, of ST.
100000, besides many private bank
ers. There are no paupers in the
country and no pOOrhOuses. 1t would
he disgrace for Greek to be MAIN
tanned by charity, and hardly any one
will accept aims in our country. The
Greeks of to- day have the same quail
tiles as those of ancient times. They
have great self-respect and are proud,
but not i'll theatrical way. This
spirit prevails even among the poor
est class.
4 don't know as to how our public
speakers would compare with Demos
themes, but we have many bright
Greek orators, and i'll our Chamber of
Deputies are delivered many fine ora
tions. Greece offers even better
chances for young man to rise than
America. All positions are now open
to the young Greeks, and there are no
property qualifications for election to
the Chamber. Though we have an
aristOcracy of great families we have
no titled nobility, and the royal fam
lily rules in connection with the Legis-
lative Assembly. We have now $50
Deputies in the chamber. There were
about $50 in the session of 1SS5-1SS6,
but through the efforts ofMr. TricOup-
is the number was reduced. Mr.. Tri-
cOupis is the Premier of Greece, and
he is one of the most remarkable
!, statesman of modern times. If he
were in a great country like Germany,
England or Russia he would hold such
a position as Bismarck now holds.
He has done wonders for Greece, and
it is by his special wish that am sent
to America to better Grecian trade re-
lations with the United States. Mr..
Tricoupis is the son of very illustri-
Gus man of the Grecian revolution.
; He was Secretary to the Grecian Le-
cation at London, where his father
was Minister, and it was his OratOric-
nj powers that first gave him prom
inence in the Grecian Chamber. He
is well known throughout Europe, and
! he is thoroughly trusted by the Greeks.
He is also the Minister of Finance.
His politial move in reducing the
number of deputies from $50 to $50 was
quite as remarkable as would be the
persuading the $50 members in your
House of Representatives to reduce
their number to 175.
THE LANGUAGE STILL CLASSIC.
The Greeks of to-day, among the
Weather classes, are well educated,
and education is perfectly free in all
Greece. The schools are open to all
nations, and we have university at
Athens which had, during the winter
term of 1SS5-1SS6, one hundred pro
fessOrs and more than two thousand
six hundred students. There are
schools all over the Greek Kingdom,
: and it will interest Americans to know
that the old Greek classics are taught
there in the primary schools. Keno
phOn, Homer and Thucydides you will
find in almost every mans house, and
the Greeks of to-day know by heart
the best Greek literature of the past.
They quote from it in their cOnversa-
ton and i'll their speeches, and in re-
ality the modern Greek language is
practically the same as it was two
or three thousand years ago. We pro-
nOunce it in substantially the same
manner, and there is more difference
between the Greek of Homer and the
Greek of XenOphon than there is be-
tween the Greek of XenOphon and the
Greek of 1888. OF course, changes
and new words have crept in with the
change of conditions and times, but
the Greek of the ancients and the
modern Greek differ no more than
does the English of Chaucer and Spen-
ser from the English of Tennyson and
Byron. We have newspapers pub
lished in modern Greek using the same
alphabet that is used by your college
boys to-day, and we have novels and
poems issued from our publishing
houses i'll these same letters aud Ian
guage. Byron is translated into
Greek, and in fact you may read
Shakespeare and most of the other
great authors in the tongue of Homer
Athens had, in 1884, $1,000 people,
1t is beautiful city, with almost en-
tirely new houses. 1t has many fine
buildings, and the Kings palace and
cathedral would do honor to any of the
capitals of Europe. Our government
departments are massive structures,
and the Academy is a superb edifice
of marble which cost over million of
dollars. In Athens and in the large
cities, the European dress is, as rule,
used, and the old Greek costumes are
to be found only in the interior. This
is so, however, throughout the Orient,
and yOuwill find even the Turks wear
ing pantalOOns and frock coats.
There are no better sailors along the
Mediterranean than the Greeks, and the
whole trade of the Levant is in the
hands of our people. The chief occu-
patton, after agriculture, is the mer-
chant marine. Little Greece is the
seventh naval power in the world, in
; regard to its merchant navy, and it's
sailing ships are being rapidly replaced
by steamers. We have some of the
fastest ships in the world, and our ex-
tensive coast line leads to the shipping
industry. We export some of the best
olive oil that is found anywhere, and
the Greek silk has always ranked as
among the best. We have now 1927
miles ofrailroad already open to traffic,
and railroads to length of 435 miles
are now being built. We have 1000
| f.In h i