The Washington herald., 1912-10-23
Not Altogether q "Holy War"

1
Although The Herald has devoted
consid rable space to the Balkan situa-
ton to oblige the many readers who
ask for information, We shall once
more try to cover the question as
thoroughly as the small space OF the
editorial columns will permit
1. The cause of the present war
between the Balkan States and Greece
on one side, and the Ottoman Empire
on the other, have been discussed often
and are well known The leading
grievance against the Sublime Porte"
IS that it countenances systematic mas
sacres of its subjects of the Christian
faith This is true enough. for we all
remember the Armenian outrages, the
heart-rending descriptions of Miss
Stone, the missionary. and that the
Christian powers merely looked on
q OF course the treaty of Berlin
bears upon the subject, nothing else
does so pre-eminently, but it does not
confer upon the Balkan States the
right TO declare war upon Turkey. for
the simple reason that while the
Sublime Porte no doubt has violated
its promises of reform in its dependen-
cies populated by Christians, the sigma
tory powers to that treaty also have
failed to comply with securing to Iur-
key the rights guaranteed to her by
that very treaty IN return tor the re-
forms promised. The Powers have
not asked or consented to the Balkan
mon enemy, but how could they pre-
,-a,s - h,- cepd,ru armed forces
into the four allied nations, and giving
the world the spectacle of seeing Chris
tian slaughter Christian for the sake
of Moslenls?
3. The Balkan States do not have
to declare their independence with or
without the consent of the signatory
Powers. because Montenegro has been
independent of Turkish suzeranity for
centuries, Bulgaria made itself inde
pendent when Prince Ferdinand of
Coburg, their ruler, proclaimed him
self Gar of Bulgaria some years ago.
Roumania, as we all know, has been
made independent years ago by conf
bining the Grand Duchies of NIoldavia
and Wallachia into a kingdom ruled
over by Hohenzollern Prince. In re-
spect to Servia, which is most exposed
to Turkish raids, that little country's
internal troubles up to recently have
kept her. while independent. from be-
coming much of factor in the near
Eastern question.
T. The signatory Powers to the
Berlin treaty were Great Britain, Ger
many, France, Russia, AustriaHun-
gary. The Sublime Porte. Montenegro
land the Balkan States by proxy.
Of the engagements entered into
with the great Powers in 1873, most
of which, by the way, remained dead
letter from that day to this, article 70
all along has been the bone of conten-
ton in the Treaty of Berlin. The stipu-
lations of that clause were the price
paid by the Sublime Porte for the re-
tention of its sovereignty over those
Balkan provinces that previously it had
ceded. The great European dailies
which now say that Turkey has shown
a contemplate neglect to comply with
her solemn engagement under that ar
ticle and that the Christian inhabitants
for thirty-four years have suffered by
that failure, these European dailies,
with all due respect to them, are talk
ing at random. For had the European
concert not been satisfied by its own
neglect to see that this clause of the
Treaty of Berlin. which guaranteed
to Turkey certain perogatives, were
enforced, would the Christian nations
have stood by quietly and allowed the
terrible Armenian massacres, over
which the world stood aghast?
We are the last nation to refuse our
sympathy to our Christian brethren
who have risen in arms to go to the
rescue of their kinsmen in Albania and
Macedonia. Nor shall we blame them
If they decline this time to lay down
their arms merely because the Sublime
Porte again promises" reforms.
II may seem strange to our readers
that We are not preaching fire and
sword and the holy war;" but "two
wrongs never made right" and only
by taking away from the Ottoman
government all possible excuse for not
instituting the reforms promised so
long. the Christian nations will have
the moral and legal right to interfere.
Were the circumstances different, they
should have done 20 long ago. Eng
land above all! 4
If the geHtlemen who have sent The
Herald this query will look at the edi-
tion of last Monday they will perceive
why in our estimation, the present
war will end as all uprisings between
the Balkan people and the Turks have
ended since the Treaty of Berlin. Let
us say, for arguments sake, that the
allied forces will be victorious and
drive the Turks back into Asia Minor.