The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-03-25
HAWAII 2
q COHHEsTONDENTs DISCOVER.
hes rs GREECE.
A Small Country Where Everyone is Boo
Politics and Every Politician Wants
office

A newspaper correspondent iu Greece,
William b. Curtis of the Chicago Rec
ord-Hcrald has given a description of
conditions there which local reader
says would serve very WE'LL at the
start If applied to- Hawaii Curtis
says.
Politics is the curse of Greece. The
country is small, its financial and other
interests are so limited and its inilu-
ence i'm the affairs of nations is SO i'm
significant that one would suppose the
people would devote themselves to the
development of their resources and the
encouragement Of their industries in
stead of wasting their time i'm useless
discussions and quarrels. But l have
always noticed that the smaller the
country the hotter the political con-
tests. Down i'm Central America, for
example, where the population is less
| than i'm Greece, political agitation is
| even more bitter and a larger number
| of people give their exclusive time to
| politics.
81 have been trying to discover the
political issues i'm Greece. but have Civ
! en- up i'm despair They seem to be nu-
merOus, but not well defined. The local
! complications are too intricate To be
untangled by a stranger, but then you
| find that the ambition to hold Office is
! the ruling motive, as it is almost every
| where else. There are very few offices
! in Greece and many men who desire
| to fiji them. Hence the outs are OPP
posed to the ms and attempt to Justify
! their demands for authority by pro-
claiming political principals and prom
| Using administrative reforms.
! king George is a wise, liberal and
popular ruler. He has a turbulent po-
! pulatiOn to deal with, but is discreet.
! iudiCious, generous, and never mixes
in political affairs. He always selects
his ministers from the party which has
a majority i'm the parliament and is
usually able to handle them without
difficulty. He holds the confidence of
the parliament and the people Every
body trusts him as a safe man. The
IOnly criticism 1 have heard is that he
is altogether too lenient with viOlatOrs
of the law, and perhaps it would be to
the advantage of the country if the
criminal courts were more severe i'm
their penalties and the pardoning pow
er were not so freely exercised.
Visitors to Greece are always amaz-
ed at the criminal statistics, particu-
larly at the number of murders, and
can scarcely believe them to be aCCur-
ate because the number seems to be Sc
much i'm excess of that of any other
country in Europe. Ordinary crimes
| dishonesty and the vices that prevail
i'm other cOuntries-are not general, but
murders occur almost daily, and the
frequent attempts at murder and the
number of mysterious deaths are
shocking i'm the stage of civilization tC
which Greece has attained. HomiCides
in the province in which Athens is To-
Gated average annually almost one tC
1000 of the population. 1t is not with
out significance that the province OF
Attica should be the scene of many
homicides for it is the center of learn
ing and the headquarters of the ma
tional police. The causes lie mostly il
politics.
"The Indifference of the government
down to the present day has encOurag'
ed murder. Capital punishment is sell
dom inflicted and the verdict of cOur
is generally acquittal. Those who hap
pen to be convicted are soon pardonec
through political influence.
politics is the influential factor il
this problem. When a man is arrested
for murder his friends and family ma
turally use every effort to secure hi!
acQuittal, and appeal to their represen'
tatiVes i'm the chamber of deputies ant
other officials of the government WhJ
are supposed to have pull with the
! courts and skill i'm reaching juries. II
the defendants are convicted and sem
to prison their confinement must be
made as short and as easy as posi-
BILE. Hence members of the Greek par
Lament are kept quite as busy looking
after constituents who have commit
ted homicides as the members Of oul
Congress are in getting an increase
of pensions for old soldiers.
prison life is not odiOus and seldom
uncomfortable. Persons who hav,
served a tLrm for murder bear NJ
stigma. On the contrary, as every
man in Greece is likely to suffer {
similar experience sooner or later, the
contrary is the case.
athens has more than her share o.
newspapers, dailies, weeklies and thOs,
of occasional publication, which are no
intended for news purposes, but to eX
press the opinions of the different own
ers or editors upon public affairs Ever
these are not sufficient, and the pOliti
clans and the editors visit the cafe!
every evening, and often in the after
noon, for the purpose of announcing
their views to whomsOever it may con
Germ. Coffee-houses have taken tn
place of the ancient forums, and on,
of the largest in Athens is called Pub
lie Opinion COffee-house." Instead o.
Co aaH,r- Il.