The Saint Paul globe., 1897-04-19
RIVER AT s A. NJ.
WAR HAS BEGUN,

The two peoples who have been
straining in the leash Of the powers
for weeks past have broken their bonds
at last War has been declared be-
tween Turkey and Greece, and heavy
fighting went forward yesterday. In
both nations the outbreak Of hostili-
ties was welcomed with the great
est enthusiasm, and both are determin-
ed to fight to the death 1t is a mat
ter of trif1ing import which people is
responsible for the actual overt act
that opens the combat. Each, in view
of the position Of the powers, throws
the blame upon the other; and each
has been waiting for an opportunity to
fly at the others throat 1t has been
obvious for days past that the event
could not be long deferred. With hos
tile forces watching each other at close
range, imbued with the intense feel
Ing that prevails on both sides. and
continuous skirmishing by forces pre-
tending to act without official author
ity, the real conflict could not be long
deferred. Now it has come, and all
pretense is thrown aside.
The combatants are too uneouaIly
matched to leave the result of the
struggle in great doubt, if they are
left to settle it without interference
Turkey is a government Of abomins-
tions and holds a race Of people that
civilization does not love. Yet some
of the very qualities charged against
the Turks make them soldiers to be
dreaded in battle. They fight with an
almost unmatched ferocity In the
Russo-Turkish war their bravery was
conspicuous, and the ablest generals
and the steadiest forces Of the great
empire found it difficult to withstand
their valor Used to blood, calloused
to the feelings that make men shrink
from conflict, and full of the fatalisnl
which is a fair substitute for courage
they are an enemy whom the best SOL
diers of modern times could not afford
to despise. Fighters as the Greeks,
too, are, the resources of the Ottoman
empire, backed by troops like these,
are too superior to leave room for
day unaided.
We say hope because the SYM
pathy Of the people is with Greece. It
is universally so in this country. 1t
is so in Great Britain. And even in
Germany and Russia we believe that
the alliance with Turkey and the SUP
port of her contention are matters
rather of imperial policy than Of pop
ular approval If the people Of the
civilized world could have their Way.
there would be no war; for the Turk
ish government would perish from the
earth before the setting of another
sun. They are restrained by the de-
crees of statecraft from the natural
expression Of their sympathy with
Greece. For this is, as it has been
called, a bondholders' war. 1t is the
holders of Turkish bonds who dictate
the policy of the great nations. But
for that. the Turkish problem would
have been solved long ago. 1t was for
the money lender of Europe that hun
dreds of thousands of Christians We're
sent to a horrible death in Armenia.
1t is for him that this battle is to be
fought, with his greed arrayed secretly
on the side of the Turk in Europe.
So this is the end Of the concert
Of the powers" of which we have
heard so much. They told the world
that they permitted the atrocities Of
the Turk to continue unchecked be-
cause they dared not risk an actual
conflict, with its jeopardy to the fragile
peace Of Europe. They told it, when
they turned the guns of so-calIed
Christian fleets upon other and better
Christians fighting for their liberty,
that it was a stern necessity in order
that the greater evil OF a general
European war might be prevented. It