The Saint Paul globe., 1897-04-25
NV Elk Il . q. VI.
THEIR. SPLENDID FIGHT.

THEIR SPLENDID FIGHT.
For weeks Greece has had the SYM
pathy of the people of the whole civil
lied world. Already, in the week that
has elapsed since open hostility began,
she has won their surprised admiration.
1t was assumed at the outset, and it
was reasonable to suppose that the
conflict between Greece and Turkey
N-ould be Of exceedingly short duration.
The physical superiority was all on the
side Of the Turk, and the Greek had
mainly to rely upon the conviction Of
the poet, who declares that: Thrice is
he armed who hath his quarrel just" 1t
has been made to appear once more
that right may be not unequal COM
petitor of might. The opening advan-
tages of the campaign are all on the
side of Greece. The reliance of Turkey
was visible and impressive. She has a
powerful army of troops who have
demonstrated again and again their
fighting qualities, and who might be
supposed to be all the more formid-
able adVerSarieS in battle because of
the ferocity and cruelty bestowed upon
them by nature not crippled or
eliminated by civilization to which
they are SO largely strangers. She has
behind her the bondholding interests,
representing a large share of the ag-
gregated capital Of Europe. She has a
navy of unknown ability in warfare
but supposed to be the best that the
funds of the money lenders could buy
She has had the active aid and in
struction of her allies German officers
have been drilling her troops for no
one knows how long, and supplies Of
war have been obtained from Germany
In ample quantities, to say nothing Of
what assistance may have come from
the secret understanding that seems to
exist with Russia.
Against all this accumulation of mil
itary resources, Greece had nothing
but her scanty and poorly equipped
army and her little fleet. Yet at the
first shock of onset the Greeks have,
with few exceptions. carried the day by
their impetuous bravery, and, to a GER
tain extent. the utter weakness of a
low civilization so conspicuously DEM
onstrated in the war between China
and Japan has again been manifested
in the inability Of Turkey to make
headway against the rival whose in
SiSnifipaOca cba ScOrDod V0,, ooo,o+
have strong. aggressive government.
even for brutal purposes, where corrup-
tion has been eating out its heart. You
cannot make a conquering hero of the
man or the race whose ideals are low
and whose life aspires no higher than
the climax Of a debauched luxury. The
Turkish navy has been declared by its
officers unfit for service, and the ships
are now held at their anchorage while
the Greek vessels ravage the coast, on
the declaration that If they venture
cut they will inevitably go to the bot
tom. The Turkish soldiery, in spite of
their unouestioned bravery, have been
driven back at every point, and so seri-
Gus were their reverses and so demor-
allied their commanders that before
the war is week old the general-in-
chief is removed, and in his place Os-
man, the great general of the Russo
Turkish war, is ordered to the front.
This is startling confession of de-
feat at the outset and a measure of
the destruction which the Greek ad-
vance has already brought to their
enemies. Would to heaven that this
might go on unchanged until the last
vestige Of the Turkish nation has dis
appeared from Europe. It is a
strange, sad sight at the end Of this
century that all that is true, all that
is pure, all that is lovely, all that is
of good report all that looks toward
pushing this old world Of ours up to
drawer. nobler, higher things should be
enlisted, heart and soul, upon the side
of a cause that is held back from its
high consummation only by an infa-
nous league of allied governments,
turning deaf ears to the appeals of the
brave and the petitions of their own
subjects, while they declare that hb-
erty must perish. if need be. so that
the securities of the Turkish empire are
paid This is what the world witnesses
as the crowning infamy of the evil era
of commercialism that holds us all in
its debasing grasp. Set the people free
let the nations be allowed to move as
they would, to follow their best i'm
the establishment of a new empire,