The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-05-13
By HENRY WOOD.

BY HENRY WOOD.
Copyright, 1915, by United Press
Copyright in Great Brittany
Athens, Greece, May -"Greece
can only abandon her neutrality in
the event that the interest of Hell
lenism as a whole may at some fu-
ture moments demand it, The in
terests Of Hellenism as a whole have
been the one and only policy OF
Greece to the present moment. This
policy she will continue to the end"
Outlines Attitude.
In these words, spoken in quick,
energetic English, King Constantine
of Greece outlined the attitude of his
country regarding the great war. He
had received me in his study in his
palace which he occupied while
Crown Prince and which he now re-
tains by preference. This palace is
smaller than the main royal palace
and has a more homelike character
and atmosphere. There he lives sur
rounded by the queen, sister of the
Kaiser, and their six children-three
princes and three princesses- per-
haps the most domestic life that any
European monarch enjoys. His
majesty wore the uniform of a Greek
general and his entire manner and
conversation was essentially that of
military man.
At all times he displayed the
qnickness Of thought and action,
which won him a wonderful reputa-
ton during the Balkan war as the
greatest of all modern military strata
gists.
Resulted in Resignation.
I'm the recent decision of the
CROWN" he continued, "that Greece
could not accept the invitation of the
allies to enter the war at the time,
which resulted in the resignation Of
my prime minister, l had only that
honest difference of opinion to which
every man is entitled. With Greece
situated between two contending
blocks of powers I have but one
policy, desire for the future, and
that was to act for the best interests
of Hellenism. The moment was not
opportune for Greece to abandon her
neutrality, nor would her interests
have been best served by so doing at
that time. Should Premier Veni-
zeles later be returned to power, we
will work together tremendously as
before for common realization Of
Greece's national ASPIRATIONS
What might be those aspira
tons, your majesty?" I asked
"They are merely the desires for
people by reason of their long his
torical past, believe they are en-
titled" was the reply. 1T ever has
been the mission of Greece to carry
civilization to the entire world. AS
Greece expands now and in her flu
ture capacity that mission will be
increased"
Educated Here.
In passing from the subject of
Greece's war attitude, the king spoke
of the Greek immigration to the Unit
ed States, saying: "Your capacity
for absorption of the races is mar
velous. Already 100000 of our
Greeks have found ample opportunity
for education and development in the
United States. The best evidence Of
this fact is that hardly day passes
but that some of my former subjects
write me, not in there native Greek
as you would imagine, but in Eng
lish. While becoming good Ameri-
can citizens they have not forgotten
their love for the motherland. Dur
ing the Balkan war everybody who
could possibly do so returned to take
up arms for the mOtherland. Those
who could not do so lent their import
ant moral support. Greece has also
developed the same capacity for alb
sorption and has made rapid progress
in the new provinces which came
back to us as the result of the above
war. There is now hardly a single
man in them who does not speak
y Greek"
Praises Battleships.
The king spoke with the utmost en-
thusiasm about the battleships Mis-
sissippi and Idaho, which Greece pur-
chased from the United States at a
critical moment and which at thai
time became an important instrument
CONTINUED on last page).