The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-04-30
The Concert Explained.

nv SOs'SS'e e~f'oiHOus
Sir William Harcourt made a stirring
speech before the Eighty club on April Is.
in which he undertook to condense into
the vernacular the contents Of many blue
books on the Eastern troubles:
picture to myself what really took place
IN the concert Of Europe on the subject of
Armenia. can quite understand that Lord
Salisbury said. This is very dreadful, it Is
very horrible; do you not think we ought
to do something for the Armenians?" Then
ne was met by the Powers, or some Of them
Who said, ''Oh, dear no! Pray do not men,
ton II. It would be very inconvenient, and
besides that. If we did anything for the Ar
menians We should be sure TO quarrel and
we should knock one another on the head.
and If you are troublesome in the matter
We viii knock you on the head" That real
ly is the substance Of what occurred. and
tnen the prime minister of Great Britain
says, "Oh. dear me. what pity. I had no
IDEA that you would look at II from that
point Of view. 1 am very sorry I spoke;
but .et US say no more about it," That.
think, Is very fair and accurate descrip-
ton of the conference OF Europe as is dealt
with the question Of Armenia, and then. a.
the end. the prime minister of England, no.
being perfectly satisfied. said. II am sorry
we can not do anything. as you do not wish
It, but perhaps our ambassadors might
have little talk at Constantinorle" And
the conference said, "Oh. there IS no harm
N the world; nothing will come OF it,
That is really what happened about Ar
menia. ard you may call that the settle
ment of the Armenian question by the con
cert of Europe Well, then they tried their
q nf ~
for the last seventy years. think. who has
ever spoken or written upon Crete and
Greece has always said that the wise. the
proper and the necessary thing was the
annexation Of Crete TO Greece. We know
that that wise man, Leopold, king Of the
Belgians, refused to be king of Greece be-
cause the British government refused to
add Crete to the Greek kingdom. The in
surgents asked for annexation. I do not
understand that Lord Salisbury was OPP
posed to the principle of annexation, but
he goes TO the Powers. and they say, ION,
annexation! No, that is quite out of the
question; it can not be heard of. We might
some of us be wanting Crete for ourselves.
and therefore annexation is out of the ques-
tion." And then the next thing they said
was, well Of course. Greece can't annex
Crete; but how would 1t be if We were to
blockade Crete?" The prime minister was
little astonished at that, and said, mo.
1 don't think I should like to blockade Crete
just now" and then the Powers were very
accommodating, and for a time they said
well, we won't blockade Crete just at
present"
Lord Salisbury had a lucid interval OF
courage and firmness. and he succeeded for
time, but he was so alarmed at his sue
cess on this occasion, and had compromised
his position so in the conference of Europe.
that his courage oozed out at his fingers
ends, and he said: "My friends, am now
quite ready, and we will go and blockade
Crete" And that is about the present state
of things and he and the British feet are
the leading actors in the blockade of Crete.
1 asked last night, Why are you blockading
Crete? In whose interest are you blockad
ing Crete? The blockade is not necessary
to protect the Mohammedans. That you
do with your blockading and your troops
Why are you blockading Crete, and who
are you blockading and what are you block
aiding for? Mr.. Balfour said that these
were very complicated questions. which he
would not try to answer. We are as far as
ever off knowing why they are blockading
Crete at this moment. And then let me
go on with my precis about the conference
of Europe. The prime minister of England
says: do you not think it would be
good thing to remove these Turkish SOL
oiers?' and then they say: 'Well. yes, 1t
would be a good thing to remove the Turk
ish soldiers, because then, perhaps, the
Greeks in Crete might be leav;ng"-which
they do not seem at present altogether TO
90. Then the other Powers in the confer
ence say: Yes. that is all very well, but
what will the Turks say? And the Turk is
such good fellow, and we have just taken
all his property away, and we must con-
slider has feelings. And PERTAINS the Turks
will not like it. and so We will not say
anything more about removing the Turkish
soldiers at this moment
The next thing is the appointment Of
Christian governor. That is proposed. as
we understand. by the prime minister. AS
far as we are told, every one is agreed TO
IT: but the remarkable thing Is, it is not
done. and no one knows why It Is not done,
and L really cannot tell you. because at this
moment my information as TO the proceed
ing of the conference is cut short. l have
tried to reveal to you all that know about
it; and. on the whole, it does not seem TO
me TO be a very efficient legislature. Well.
,
tragical they would be infinitely comical.
These parties who meet together to pre-
serve peace are allowing things every day
to drift inevitably towards war. If this
conference had had what should call any
common sense, this question would have
been settled long ago; il would have been
settled upon the only basis upon which II
could be properly settled-the annexation
OF Crete to Greece. There are people who
are dissatisfied with the present state of
things, but they say. ''Oh, what mess It
is. but what can we do? Here are these
Powers they won't do what we wish, so
they fold their arms. they twirl their
thumbs. 1t is such pity. We are so help
less What would you have US do?" That
is the language OF the old woman; It is not
the language OF the statesman. The gov
eminent says, "Oh. dear. yes, it is great
pity, we know II is a great pity" and, Ike
the schoolboy in a scrape. they say, "Oh,
Il is all the other boy" Yes, but in
concert there are always other boys, and
Il is extremely easy TO lay the fault upon
the other boy. II is time, / think, that
another tone and another line OF action
were taken-that we had craftsmanship of
a kind TO which IN earlier days England
was accustomed when she took the frs.
part In the councils OF Europe i am,
confess. ashamed OF this fin de steele for
eign policy. look back TO the older am
the better times OF greater men,
New Filings for Sandwiches
Al a defcatessel handlung there can