The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-18
Turkey and Greece.

The conclusion Of peace between Turkey
and Greece comes none too soon for both
countries. For Greece the future never
looked darker. Her national independence
has passed away with the control OF her
finances, which are now in foreign and un-
friendly hands. She still remains a geo.
graphical entity, and the chief of the
political state is called q King, but to all
intents and purposes Greece has no more
title to the appellation of an independent
State thar one of the mediatized native
States of India or Egypt or Zanzibar. 1t
is bootless now to discuss where the re-
sponsibility for this disaster really lies.
What Is clear through the mist surround
ing the tragedy of the fall Of Greek
liberty, is the success Of the occult con.
spiracy against the freedom and independ-
encc of nationalities, working by financial
methods.
The peace Just concluded could as easily
have been made three months ago, and
the fields Of Thessaly that will now lie
untitled for another six months might
already be showing the promise of an early
harvest next year, while the thousands
Of sturdy Turkish peasants that are perish.
ms VI uiSSaoC IL IL Cdiupo Va
Greece and elsewhere might have been re-
stored to their Anatolian homes, where
they would have been contributing to In
stead of aiding in the depletion Of their
own resources. The rectifcation Of from
tier, for which the Sultan stood out with
his usual stubbornness, will under the cir
cumstances be Of as little gain to Tur-
key, as 1t will be a loss to Greece. The same
finger that traced the frontier of 1881 can
be without difficulty discerncd in the new
line of 1897. The solicitude displayed by
Austria for the few thousand Roumanian.
speaking shepherds in northern Thessaly
and Epirus scattered among the Greek in.
habitants of those countries has been again
manifested in the retrocession of two
Koutzo-Vlach villages, as we are told, north
of the Salamvria River to Turkey. The
result is practically to make the course of
the Salamvria below Larissa the northern
boundary Of Greece. or, in other words, to
leave Greecs without a military frontier
on that side, and open to the descent of an
army which next time will not be Turkish.
AS for Sultan ABDUL HAND IL, he has
yet to reap the harvest which his blind SUBJ
servience to foreign influence has prepared.
The sudden loyalty of Bulgaria will be no
compensation to him for the loss of strength
he has inflicted on Greece, and for the waste
of his own resources in doing it, and his
hurry to bring about the conclusion of peace
seems to denote his tardy perception of the
fact. Other dangers threaten him, too. The
financial condition Of the Ottoman EN-.
pire is going steadily from bad to worse,
and the grip of the Hnanciers, German
and others, on every available resource
of Turkey is becoming tighter every
day. AT the rate at which things are
progressing, the time when the Sultan will
be entered in the same category as the
Egyptian Khedive and the Greek King, is
not far Off, and. on the whole. it would ap.
pear to be the best thing that could happen
for the people of Turkey, whether Chris.
tians or Mussulmans. At the present mo.
ment the economic condition OF the latter
Is nearly as bad as hat of the former, with
the added evil hat they may be called
on at any moment to shed their blood in
defence of an unworthy ruler.