The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-05-19
INVESTIGATION
Of CONDITIONS
IN THE BALKANS
COMMISSION OF INQUIRY OF
THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT
FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE
SEEKS TO CLARITY PUBLIC
OPINION OF THAT COUNTRY.
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS.


exhaustive investigation into the. con-
ditiOns IN the Balkans during and fol-
lowing the wars of 1872 and 1918 with
a view to clarifying public opinion
which has been baffIed by conflicting
reports and befogged by unauthentic
detail were made public tonight by
the Balkan commission of inquiry of
the. Carnegie endowment for interna-
tional peace.
Pessimism based on the terrible
moral consequences Of "A war which
was q series Of unutterable atrocities,
chara cterizes the conclusions of the
commi ssion ~ to the possibilities of
immediate peace or stability among
the Balkan nations. The situation at
present in the final Judgment of the
commission. is hardly susceptible of 4
pacific solution. under present con-
ditions" reads the report the case
seems well nigh hopeless"
The report which contains seven
chapters and Il preface by Nicholas
Murray Butler. is the work Of the fol-
lowing members of the commission:
Dr.. Josef Redlich. professor Of pub
lie law in the University Of Vienna,
Austria; Baron d'EStournellCs de Con-
stant and NJ Justin COdart. lawyer
and member Of the chamber of deDu
ties of France: Or. WalJher Schuck-
ing. professor of law at the University
Of Narburg, Germany; Francis w.
Hirst, editor OF The Economist" and
Dr.. II. y. BrailsfOrd, journalist, of
Great Britain; Professor Paul MiliOu-
kov, member of the Russian Douma,
and DR.. Samuel r Dutton. professor in
teachers college. Columbia University,
Nv York. Copies Of the report may
be had upon application to the Car
nCgie Endorsements. Washington. d. &.
General distribution is 10 be made in a
few weeks
This formida BILE document carefully
considers every conceivable aspect of
the Balkan situation beginning with a
short history Of the Balkan people
and concluding with the moral and
social consequences of the war.
Found Conditions Wretched.
Stabbing through the gIamOr Of
warfare which attended the irium-
phant rehabilitation Of SerVian troops
and all the customary Qualifications
Of the VictOrs, the commission found
conditions Of GesOlation utter wretch
eduosS and social and immoral disin-
tegratiOn which defied full portrayal
even in its comprehensive report. This
moral and social chaos is the direct
result, according to the commission,
OF the unspe3kabl" practices of the
COntending forces. The recital Of these
barbarities which forms q principal
part of the report is the first detailed
and collective presentation of facts
which have so far been offered to the
world principally in the form of news
charges. The list Of horrors compiled
from the statements Of eye-wjtuesses
for whose reliability the commission
vouches, is at times more startling
than the unsupported rum0TS Which
were formerly received with incred-
Utility.
In this indictment brought by the
commission against all the cOntcndinS
forces, no one of the Balkan nations
is spared Atrocities committed upon
the nom COmbatant MOSlemS in Mace
donia. surpassed in many instances the
crimes committed by the race from
which the Christian nations We're sup
posed to have received their eduCa-
ton in the retinements Of cruelty. The
barbarous acts and inhuman reprisals
performed by BulgarianS. SeTVIanS and
Greeks against each other would be
incredible if they were not supported
by unquestionable evidence. From the
data supplied by the commission it IS
impossible to argue that one or the
nations was less violent than another
in its graltly warfare.
The commission gives three causes
of the war which followed the demand
of the allies for autonomy OF the Eu-
rOpean VilayetS. and re-dlElSiOn &C
cOrding to nationality. These were the
weakness and want Of foresight or
Turkey: the roWeTlessneSs of Europe
to impose on a constitutional Turkey
the reforms she had introduced into
an absolute Turkey; and the con-
seriousness Of increased strength
which alliance gave to the Balkan
states.
The occupation or Macedonia by
Greeks and SerVianS and the threat
ened decapitation OF the Bulgarian ma
ton fostered the germs of discord
the Balkan allies which had
not been Stif1ed by treaties. the terms
of which were in continual dispute.
Alleged Bulgarian violations Of trea-
ties and SerVian tranSg reSsionS fol-
lowed by mutual demands for con-
cessiCns and extensions OF frontier,
preCipitated a war between the allies
which for wantOn cruelty and whole
sale demolition is almost unparalleled.
The second chapter of the report
under the headinS of The War and
the Mont Ombatant Population IS
recital of these horrors. In a review
Of the acts committed by the Greeks
against the Macedonian Moslems the
had n its disposal docU-
mentS of undoubted Neracity which re-
ported frightful massaCreS and sys-
tematic prescription of NosIemS which
it found typical of the Greeks muir
derous practices.
our document" says the report
gives particulars. village by village, of
the NosIems who were killed ana
robbed. Our eHTe. lence shows thar
lists of this kind in the Balkans are
usually accurate. In the villages all
these excuses seem to have been the
work of local Greek bands. The most
active of these bands was led by
priest and a warlike grocer who was
a member of the Bishops Council. The
Turks indeed accused the Bishop OF
directing all these atrocities.
THE burning Of villages and the
exodus of the defeated population is