The Washington herald., 1913-12-28
Copyright, lsl3)


i ure. Although 1t may not have
80, .s nrolific of thrills as certain OF its
s,.edecessors, 1t will be notable IN ms,
torv for a large number OF eVents elu
r,,oyements which will take their place
on the records as having permanent iri'
portance- . =, the uni-
xersaI peace idea have not reiaAeo az
,heir laudabIe efforts, war Is not yet q
tht..L- then - tbe mast. There have been
ar,,,ed forces in action and the result
ant bloodshed in more than one quarter
cf the globe, and as final appear the W
resort TO arms is still DOMINANT iSS'0i
In national affairs. ,,.u,.
A. the present moment, the balkan
melting pot is quiescent, but tneES az
few signs to guarantee that II VIII ~
mail so. On the contrary theEe
Inerous indications which point 10 an
otbor violent ebullition. The opening OF
tho yaar found the Balkan allies in ap-
narsT7t control OF the field. Ihelr cum
mon enemy, the Turk, had been com,
neIled by the vigor and perslstehCe "
their assaults TO make oVertures IooN.
ing toward peace. a peace coi,i eHEe
was held in London. For more tnah man., siH
weeks the representatives Of the Balkan
aIIies and those of their Turkish oppoh-
snts tried TO come to some agreement
which would result in a treaty between
80 H,arrinp nations That they failed
10 accomplish this was due not So mucn
IN the unwilIingness of the allles anu
their enemy to dispose OF thelr e..
enccs as 10 the difficulty experienced py
the so-caIled great powers OF Europe IN
ona,;rg 10 an agreement as to the ma
tIro and extent ol tLieii
the spoils. a.
Rv January :, the Turks consented 10
Give III, everything demanded of them eN-
cent Adrianople and the Aegean lslahas'
Turkish pride insisted on the retehtioi
of Adrianople, which is more lnportaIlt
To the Turks than any other clty, eNSep'
Constantinople. On January 10, the Am
bassadors of the six great powers pre-
sentad a note to the Porte urging the
Turks to give up Adrianople and TO
leave the question of the cession OF the
Aegean Islands TO be settled by complnea
Europe. a..
This the Turks refused to do and the
fighting, which had never been discoh-
tinued, although an armlstlce was
uosed to be in force, was resumed Win
TedoubIed energy. On March 70. after
siege of more than five months, the Bull
CARS and Servians entered Adrlanople'
and that virtual. put an end to the war;
although the Montenegrins Kept on
pcunding away at Scutari, Whlch hdu
been holding out against them LOT slA
rrouinent among the allies during the
var and. in fact had begun the allied
march AGAINST Turkey. With Kingdom
rather smaller than the State OF Con-
pecticut and a population ABOUT equal
% that of Jersey City, King Nlcholas
was determined 10 add Scutarl 10 ms
possessions. but the powers would not
permit him to realize his ahOitioil' dHu
he Vas compelled to evacuate the place
The great war between the Balkan
allies and Turkey was brought virtually
TO an end by a provisional treaty OF
peace signed at St. James Palace, Lon
don. at the close of May.
The allies spent the early days OF June
in uuarreling violently over the DIVISION
of the spoiIs Servia broke OF relations
with Bulgaria, and before the close OF
June Bulgaria was fighting SerVia on the
Cne hand, and Greece on the other. Early
I'm July, the armies of Bulgaria were
forced back by those of Greece and
Servia, and the Bulgars. in order TO head
of an invasion by Roumania, were COM
PEELED to yield a strip of disputed terri
tory to the latter. Thus the second
Balkan war. which ended in the triumph
of Roumania, Servia and Greece over
Bulgaria, was concluded by the signing of
the treaty of Bucharest on August 10.
BY the terms of this treaty. the Turks
seem to have Jared better than their
allied enemies On July q, they were per-
mitted to reoccupy Adrianople, and the
diplomatic game of the great powers, in
which jealousy and mutual distrust play
such a prominent part. has strengthened
their position in Southeastern Europe.
But the victorious allies, who have failed
to realize their ultimate aims after so
great sacrifice and loss, are still a
menace to the peace of Europe.
In
Early in the year what has not inaptly
been termed the Mexican continuous per-
formance" began to assume a tragic
aspect. On February IS the world was
startled by the sudden and violent end
of the Madero regime in Mexico. The
army, with its commanders. went over
to Gen. Felix Diaz. nephew of the exiled
ex-President ana dictator; imprisoned
Madero, his family, and his advisers;
made Gen. Victoriano Huerta Provisional
President, and put Diaz in command of
all the troops of the republic.
The process of wiping out all signs of
President Madero's rule proceeded swift
Iy. The senate decided upon his exile
and prepared to ship him to Europe.
Congress elected Pedro Lascurain Pro-
visional President. Then the army took
the reins again, deposed Lascurain, and
declared for Huerta. Gustavo Madero.
brother OF the President. was shot by
order Of DiaZ. Charges were brought
against the President and his trial was
ordered before the cabinet.
On February q, Madero and Suarez,
former vice president, were shot while
being taken from the national palace to
the penitentiary. Huerta declared that
they were killed while attempting to
escape. The Madero supporters and MEM
bers of his family maintain that the de-
posed President was tortured by order
Of Huerta and that his body was taken
into the street to make 1t appear that
he had tried to escape from the country.
Then the Mexican congress recognized
Huerta as Provisional President and he
began to exercise energetic control over
the republic. At the capital the supremacy
Of the new government was soon es-
tablished, but in some of the states, no.
tably Sonora and Coahuila, Madero's fol-
lowers offered fierce resistance. American
and foreign business interests in Mexico
became loud in their demands for in
tervention by the United States. Huerta
promised to investigate the Madero
tragedy, and President Wilson made pub
lie declaration Of a hands or policy
pending the peaceful readjustment of
Mexican affairs. Henry Lane Wilson
the American Ambassador, expressed his
belief that the Huerta government was
innocent of the charge of killing Madero
and Suarez and recommended that our
State Department recognize the Huerta
administration. but his advice was not
taken.
On July Is Ambassador Wilson was in