New-York tribune., 1897-08-26
The STATE OF GREECE.

The condition Of affairs in Southeastern Eu-
rope may he briefly described. Turkey is
greater military Power than she has been for
a generation. Greece Is more crushed and pros
trate than she has been since her independence
was won. And between the utter spOliation OF
the latter by the former stands only one bar
rier. the stubborn will Of England. This last
is the most obvioIs fact of all. Turkey demands
a large indemnity. and wants TO retain pos
session of Thessaly until 1t is paid. In that she
has the active or passive support Of all the
great Powers except one Greece is willing to
pay. but is utterly unable to do so until Thes-
saly is restored to her, and asks that the
latter be done at once. In that she is support
ed by Great Britain alone. Certainly her re-
quest Is reasonable. For, since she cannot pay
the indemnity without the aid Of Thcssaly. for
Thessaly to be withheld until she does pay
means for it to be withheld forever 1t Is as
though a workman's tools were seized by
creditor. 10 be held until the debt Is paid. With
ont the tools he cannot earn money to pay
the debt, and is thus doomed to hopeless in
solvcncv Never in the whole tangled East
ern question has any nation taken more right
eous stand than Great Britain is taking now,
and it is TO he hoped she will maintain it to the
end
As for the general state of Greece. it is most
pitiable Everybody is suffering. For Greece ls
that rara avis. a nation with few very rich and
few very poor-no "plutocrats" and no beggars
Wealth is distributed more evenly than In any
other nation. Or rather that was the case
Now nearly all are poor, and beggars are n'l-
merous The losses and dstresses Of disas-
trous war weigh heavily upon all There Is
scarcely household in all the land that is not
suffering If 1t be true that the war was
popular one forced by the people upon the Gov
ernment. then sorey are the people paying for
their folly Now-for the first time, too--beg-
gars are numerous in Athens and in every large
town and city. The thousands of refugees from
Crete are destitute, and the Government is I'M
able TO provide for them. so they are forced to
beg their bread from door TO door. There are
refugees from Thessaly, too, who cannot re-
turn TO their fertile farms until the Turkish oc-
cupaton Is ended. and still others from Epirus
and Macedonia who have been exiled by the
vindictive Turks The total roll shows scores
of thousands of involuntary mendicants, all OF
whom were year or two ago self-supportlng
and would be so again were Thessaly restored
TO its rightfu owner and autonomy granted 10
Crete.
This state Of affairs is not war. 1t is con-
sequence Of war. But it is, from an economical
point of view, worse than actual war. The
daily expense TO the Greek Government and
people is more exhaustng now than 1t was last
spring. when the armies We're fighting before
Larissa The disturbance Of industry and gem
eral decentralization Of the people are far greater.
The case would be bad enough were TheSsaly
restored and all the issues Of The war adjusted.
Ii would then take years for Greece To recover
from the blow She has sustained. But the pres
ont anomalous situation is vastly worse. 1t is
war in peace. 1t Is death in life. 1t is some
thing that. for the credit OF humanity and OF
European civilization, should be ended at the
earliest possible moment. If Greece is 10 be
sDoliated and her territory. partitioncd by her
Moslem conquerOr let 1t be known and done
forthwith. But against such cOnsummatlon
the voice of England is yet potent. and will. let
il he hoped. remain potent; and not only that,
but potent also for a more just and speedy set
Element of the war issues and restoration Of
n true and Dcneficent peace.