Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-10
SERIOUS SITUATION IN GREECE.

Greece for a month or moro has been
In the tolls of interior troubles Of q very
grave characters mill
Interior tary mutiny. a change OF
Trouh1s. ministry and a threatened
abdication Of the king.
The situation is not a cheerful ono for
country which excites the sympathies OF
the world for her glorious past. and such
heroes. mythical and real. as Agamem-
non, the Argonauts. Aristides and Alex
ander the Great. not to go beyond the
alpha OF the alphabet. Could Greece but
reproduce but one such as these-for she
has great need just now Of really great
man-she might hope to escape from the
tolls In which she is at present impris-
oned.
The glory Of Greece departed entirely
when the Turks established their power
on the ruins Of the Byzantine empire.
Greece. liberated after the destruction OF
the Turkish fleet at Navarin in 1927. by
the combined forces Of France, England
and Russia. obtained recognition of her
independence at the conference of London
In 1880, and was declared a kingdom I'M
and Russia
1t is recalled that Prince Leopold of
Saxe-Coburg declined the crown Of
Greece on the ground that the boundaries
proposed were insufficient. and especially
excluded the Island of Crete. The powers
then offered the crown to Prince Otto OF
Bavaria. who accepted and assembled the
throne January %. 1888. King Otto was
expelled from the kingdom after a reign
Of twenty-nine years, in October. 1862
This event was followed by the election
by the people of Greece. under the direc-
Georgios I. the reigning king.
1t is now but little more than three
fourths of a century since the liberation Of
Greece. and yet England, France. Russia
necessity of convoking q congress in or
der to maintain the present dynasty and
the definite solution Of other questions
which threaten to disturb the interior
peace Of Greece and the peace Of all Eu-
rope.
The interest Of the three protecting
powers In Greece will be borne in mind by
the fact that when the Greek national as
sembly Of May 49, 1863 voted King
Georgios a civil list Of 1,125. COO drachmai
France and Russia) added $4,000 each.
making the total income of the sovereign
Of Greece about f52,u per annum. or
$4,000 Aside from this the government
In 1903 the estimated population Of
Greece was about 100000. On June IA.
1881. under pressure Of
Ierr1tory the great powers, there
Add.d was added to Greece by
treaty with Turkey strips
Of territory consisting Of the greater part
Of Thessaly and a part Of Epirus. The
Greeks. however. are more numerous and
in order to properly enumerate them they
should be accounted for as follows:
Greece. about 2. 100000 Asia Minor. 1000
600; Crete. Cyprus. Samos and other Of
toman islands. $4,000; European Turkey.
100000. a total of about 100000. From
this number there must be deducted the
Greek immigrants to the United States. a
movement which might threaten the de-
population Of Greece but for the we'll
known fact that the Greek is an ardent
patriot and invariably returns to Greece
when he has amassed the money to do so.
A mutiny in the Greek army has
brought the Greek question to the fore
when all seemed fair sailing in that coun-
try and when Crete had been the rock
which doomed up threateningy.
On August % the garrison at Athens
mutinied and under command Of its off,
GERS left an established camp outside Of
the city. M. Rhallys. president of the
council Of minister's refused to receive g.
deputation of officers from the insurgent
camp on the ground that among the
officers composing the deputation there
were several who had already been pun
ished for rebellious conduct. NJ. Rhallys
thereupon resigned his PORTFOLIO and was
succeeded by NJ Mavromichalis
NJ. Mawomichalis on assuming power
declared that he was we'll aware Of the
responsibilities attached to the office
which he had accepted. but he had con-
fidence in the patriotism Of the people
and the chamber. Those who understood
the profound attachment Of the Greeks to
their country would know that the move
ment In the army was in no sense due to
any anti-dynastic feeling. NJ. Mavromi-
chaliS promised that interior reforms
should be continued in spirit of loyal
ty and respect for the rights of all and
the maintenance of order. The absence Of
any serious or violent incident proved to
the minister that patriotic sentiments
dominated, in the actors and the people,
all other considerations.
The action of the revolted officers was
inexcusable from every point Of view.
But 1t Should be stated
military not to excuse certainly.
comnlaInts but in palliation perhaps.
that the wrongs Of which
the army complained. among which were
gross favoritism and personal influence.
might be charged alike against the min
istry, the parliament and the king.
The Greek army might be said to have
been suspended in air by legislation. The
recruitment and organization laws of 1901.
which proposed the modernization Of the
forces, had partially suspended the life
Of the army during period Of five years
by the enactment Of the law Of July l.
1906. This law reduced the peace electives
for q limited time In order that such
economy might serve to 1eorganize the
new army and provide it with proper arms
obsolete. The government had taken no
was serious oversight. While the army
was waiting in idleness Its promised
transformation 1t became FESTIVE and mu-
tinous.
That the Greek army should have under
such circumstances imagined that 1t
might play a glorious part like that
achieved by the Turkish army under the
dictation of the Young Turks Is incom-
prehensible.
The Ottoman military revolution was
revolt against tyranny and the brutal alb
solutism Of the wicked Abdul-Hamid in
favor Of liberty and constitutionaltsm. In
Greece there were no such ahomnable