The herald., 1897-04-30
FRIDAY, APRIL 80, 1897.
ROYALTY AT ITS WORST

Tnat Greece Hdu the SsihPot-S
almost the whole civilized world in her
UNEQUAL contest with Turkey is evident
bevond question. The intensity of the
disappointment felt in all quarters and
of the disgust in some, at the unepeak-
able fiasco of the campaign, is the nat
ural result of the deep sympathy felt ana
openly expressed for the cause of the
little kingdom
Let US be careful to place the blame
of this disgraceful failure where 1t
rightly belongs. That English radicals
would fail to do this is not very strange,
but in America we should not hesitate
in this matter. In England, even among
the radicals, only such extremists as
Labochere are. bold enough to think.
much less to,say, a king or even crown
prince can do wrong. But we should see
clearly that ii was not cowardice on
the part of the army, but gross incom-
petence on the part of its commanders
which led to the shameful rout at
Larissa The oddsin mere numbers was
terribly against the Greeks, but that
had the army struggling for human
rights and liberty been properly provis
ioned and sikillfully led The Turkish
army was perfectly handled, thanks to
the highly educated and experienced
German officers in the background. The
commissary was supplied with ample
stores and was so arranged that the sup
plies were available at all hours, and no
Turk went into battle dispirited and
faint from hunger. Napoleon knew war
when he remarked, "An army fights on
its belly" Neither will an army fight
that has not implicit confidence in the
skill and wisdom of the commander.
Every man who has ever been in the
service knows that an army will march
straight into the belching jaws of a
battery in a forlorn hope under one
leader, but will run at the first charge
of the enemy if they depend for orders
on a man in whose judgment or bravery
they cannot trust. 1t is not well to laugh
at the abject terror of the Greeks as they
fled from Larissa in the night. What
avail arms or numbers If no man
knows what the man by his elbow is
going to do? A body of men who feel
confident that the one in authority has
his plans well matured; that all his
officers know what is to be DONE and that
If they are obedient to the commands
they receive there is an even chance of
victory will fight with spirit and will
die like heroes. But let the idea prevail
that the commander has no defined plan
of assault or defense, does not even know
when or how to retreat, and that the
inferior officers are in doubt of what
work is in hand, and panic is inevitable
How should it be otherwise?
We do not forget that the Greeks were
mostly raw recruits but for all that, ami
mated as they were by high purpose,
and fighting as they were for righteous
cause, we believe that if they had had
confidence in their leaders the campaign
would have been very different from
what it was.
Let us remember that the king Of
Greece is not Greek and has no more
right to sit on the throne of Grece than
he has to be president of the United
States. He is foreign stripping Of
royalty imposed on Greece by foreign
intermeddling. All along it has been
suspected that his heart was not in the
war, and that he only followed the pop
ular feeling in order 10 save his royal
dignity He is brother or cousin in
some degree of every crowned incompe-
tent and bungler in Europe, and the sole
wish of them, one and all, has been to get
Greece clicked" He has never discov-
cred any ability OF any sort beyond that
of being fairly amiable and bearing
with more or less becoming dignity the
garbs of honor he never earned nor won,
but which were made a present to him
for no better reason than that he was
a kings son.
And who is the Crown Prince Constan-
tine? He is his fathers son, and his
gnndfather's grandson. and he. too. has