Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-07
GREEK KING YIELDS
Compelled to Grant Demands
of the Military League.
THE PRINCES ARE HUMBLED
Army Officers Blame Constantine for
Defeat by Turkey.
ABLE MEN WILL COMMAND
Proposed to Put the Country in a
Better State of Defense-Dispute
Over Crete and Macedonia.
ABLE MEN WILL COMMAND
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

] T.
| Special Cores pondence OF The Star and the
/ Chicago Record Herald.
! ATHENS, Greece, May j, 1910.
| The Greeks have never become recon
| ciled to their defeat in the war with
| Turkey few years ago. Instead of sub
| siding with the passage of time the dis
satisfaction has increased. Crown Prince
| Constantine has been held responsible,
| for he was commandment chief of the
army. and his incompetence, indifference
| and vanity are believed to have been
| the cause of the disaster. He quarreled
! with nearly every officer OF high rank,
and the demon lization among the troops
was so great that the little kingdom
might have been annihiiated but for the
| intervention CT the powers.
Since the war nothing has been done to
| recover the military strength and pres
| tise. The army has remained in the same
| condition, the navy has been worse and
the national defenses are TOO feeble to
| afford any protection against an inva-
| sion
| At the same time the Greeks have been
| very aggressive in their attitude toward
Turkey, their hereditary enemy. and
| might have provoked another war at
any time within the last seven or eight
years over either the Macedonian or the
Cretan questions which are the causes of
! friction with Turkey.
Both Macedonia and Crete are Turkish
provinces but the larger portion of the
| population of both are CT the same race
and the same religion as the Greeks, and
| many of them are Of Greek descent In
| both countries they have suffered severe
| ~ from the oppression of the Turks.
They have been robbed, prosecuted and
| massacred. The treatment of the Greeks
i<e f-ratn ha ,f fhn n
ragged here a few years ago. Ninety per
| cent of the population of that island is
| engaged in agriculture and various other
| industries. The remaining 10 per cent are
Turkish officials and their followers, who
| fatten by robbing the Greeks. After the
war the great powers of Europe took
| Crete under their protection, and IT mas
| since been governed by a foreign com
missioner. Prince George. the second son
of the King of Greece, occupied the Office
for several years. The commercial and
industrial conditions in the tempestuous
little island are fairly satisfactory, but
as they are subject in any manner to
the Turks, and the absorbing political
passion Of Greece is the annexation OF
Crete to its own territory.
Unrest in Macedonia.
Macedonia is province of Turkey ly-
ing along the north shore of the Med1-
terranean adjoining Greece ana lying III
mediately south of Bulgaria. The port OF
Saloniki is the capital and it is won
derfully fertile and productive country.
1t was a part of Greece before the time
of Alexander the Great, who made 1t the
scat of his empire, but since the fifteenth
century the territory has been subject to
the great Turk and of late years the peo-
pie have suffered horrors because OF their
religion and their race. Macedonia is III
a state of constant ferment insured
tons occurred there every year until the
powers of Europe interviewed and COM
PEELED the late sultan to withdraw his
ba shi-ba zouks and intrust the govern
ment TO foreigners BelSians have had
charge of the finances: the police and
gendarmes have been in command OF
an Italian and the remaining RESPONSE
hilities have been intrusted to representa-
tiveS of other nations. Under these CIR
cumstances conditions have been very
much improved and there is no reason for
unrest in Macedonia except upon the
general objection OF Turkish authority
and the hatred Of the people for their
former oppressors
The feOpie of Greece have contributed
immense sums of money from time to
time 10 finance rebelions in Macedonia
and are not only willing to contribute
more but will make any sacrifice to
emancipate their relatives in Macedonia
from the tvrannies of the Turks.