Omaha daily bee., 1897-05-15
THE THinTy-pAy WAR.


Chicago Tribune; 1t s nonsense to assert
that Turkey is preparing 70 resist the powers
The concert Of Europe has been maintain ed
to all appearances for the sole purpose of
| helping the sultan do whatever and whom
ever he wanted to do. What could be the
basis for resistance in a condition OF such
Infamous harmOny7
Philadelphia Inquirer. What will amaze
the world as to the Turk Is the extravaganza
of his claims and the arrogant spirit in which
he puts them forward. From a sneaking and
cowardly wretch, living IN hourly dread Of
assassination, he has, by the action OF the
powers been transformed into a braggart and
a bully. The public sentiment of Europe
would cry out against the granting Of his
amazing demands.
Indianapolis Journal: 1t is time for the
Christian world to realize that, degraded as
the Turkish government Is, It's people have
as much patriotism as others. aud that
Mosems are fully as enthusiastic under the
flag Of the Crescent as Christians are under
the sign OF the cross. Greece has learned
this to her grief and humiliation. and she has
learned the further lesson that in modern
warfare the weight of battaions and the
organization equipment and leadership OF
troops are what decide battles.
Springfield Republican, One of the most
interesting phases of the affair Is now
entered upon. What terms will Turkey
agree to? In the negotiations will the
powers be able to maintain their unity? A
cession of territory should be out of the
question, for the sutans dominions in Eu-
rope have never been enlarged since the
Turks were hurled back from the gates of
Vienna. The porte may finally be satisfied
with a money indemnity, which Greece is
in no condition to pay, but the published de-
mands are excessive. The ceGter of interest
is now transferred from the battlefeds of
rhessaly to the closets of diplomacy where
the Ottoman Turk is even more accomplished
than in storming redoubts ana meeting death
unfiinchngly at the cannon's mouth.
Kansas City journal: The tender regard of
the sultan of Turkey for the poor Greeks is
truly touching. His sympathies for King
GerCge, who, he believes, was compelled by
the revolutionary party to make war upon
the Moslems, is the very essence of Christian
charity, hardly to be expected from
MOhammedan sovereign. His announcement
that he will not be eXactng in his terms of
peace is so characteristic of the sick man at
Constantinople that it takes the edge from
the bitter disappointment of defeat All
these expressions of generosity are in such
perfect accord with the sultan's tranquility
during the recent massacres in Armenia and
butcheres in Epirus that no one can doubt
their sincerity. To be sure, the sultan could
not be otherwise than reasonable in his de-
mands, with the powers acting as medators
but little thing like that should not be
allowed to mar the beautiful picture of i'm
perial magnanimity. The great and suscept-
BILE world is only awaiting the time when the
good sultan may be fitly canonized.
New York Sun: BY the Mohammedan law
the sultan, as khalif, has neither the right
nor the power to surrender foot of territory
except it is wrested from him by force of
arms Those parts of Thessaly and Epirus
ccied to Greece in 1881 were given up under
diplomatic pressure only, and the sultan's
submission 10 it on that occasion has been
one Of the several causes of his unpopularity
with the old Turk party ever since. The
cession was likewise made against the wish
of more than one of the powers that recon-
manded it; and now that the opportunity is
given the sultan to rehabilitate himself in
the eyes Of his own subjects it is just posi- |
Bile that he may tempOriZe long enough be- |
fore replying to the communication by the |
powers Of their being authorized by Greece |
to mediate, to give his troops in Thessaly the !
time requisite to enable them to push the |
Greeks once more behind the frontier of |
1881. He would in this way obtain the salts |
faction he wants and absolve himself in the |
eyes of his own people for his breach of the |
sacred law.