The Washington herald., 1913-06-30
MONDAY. JUNE 30. 1913.
The Peace of Europe.

Though history was made in Lon
don when the treaty of peace between
Turkey and the Balkan allies was
signed. that fact hardly attracted as
much attention i'll the press as the
Hohenzollern Wedding at Berlin.
Therein lies the difference between
journalism and history.
There will. no doubt. be readjust-
ments OF territory among the states
that have risen from the ruins of the
Ottoman empire in Europe. and there
may be quarrcling-evcn fghting-in
the process. Still the crescent tops
Santa Sophia instead OF its rightful
cross, and. despite the war, who will
say how long it may stand there?
ConstantInople has had miraculous
history. 1t served the purpose of its
founder, as a bulwark of the Roman
empire for a thousand years after
Rome had fallen to the Goths, the
''barbarians." 1t actually held on;
sixty years ate: its fate was sealed
by the capture OF AdrianopIc and the
establishment of Turkish sovereignty
from the Aegean Sea to the Danube.
But although ConStantinople continues
to hold the key to the Dardaneles. so
as to keep up the equilibrium between
two great but jealous powers-Eng-
land and RUSSIA result that has
been prognosticated repeatedly by The
Washington Herald ever since war
was declared, Turkish rule in Europe
TO all intents and purposes seems
ended
This last reaction OF the Balkan
Christians against the Sublime Porte
has been nine days wonder in its
results, but already the wonder of it
has evaporated. Six months ago the
political wiseacres beheld the sky
filled with awful portents. A crisis
had arrived which the statesmen of
Europe had labored centuries to avert,
These alarming prophecies have
proved groundless, but undoubtedly
there had been real danger for the
European Concert, and it is well that
We should remember why they have
failed. Had there been a desire for
var among the neutral states prin-
arily interested. or had there been
ANYTHING less than an overmastering
effort for peace, the torch of al
European war would have been
lighted. the consequences of which we
would prefer not to try to calculate.
That today we are able to regard
this chapter OF history without con-
CEN is due to a practical conviction
among the great rulers of Europe
that their first duty was to prevent
war. and a determination to carry out
thi, principle at the sacrifice even of
cherished ambitions. The duty OF pre-
serving harmony among the powers
rested primarily upon England, France,
and Germany. France took no promi-
nent part in the business, but as re-
CARDS England and Germany, the an
ticipation has been fulfilled. The re-
suit IS that the relations of the Ger
man and the British governments are
more cordial at present than they have
been for years, though there never
has been, there never can be, any real
danger between the fatherland and
sons. the Anglo-Saxons, despite all the
iingoes that ever tried to embroil ma
lions
King George wants no war. and as
TO the Kaiser, ii is sufficient for us TO
be able to quote the words of Andrew
Carnegie in his congratulatory speech
At Emperor W'ilhelm's recent jubilee
Your majesty has been the greatest
factor OF universal peace that the
world has ever seem"