Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-12

4
get along without Frances money
! and Cachin said, That is true, but you
cannot get along without frances
\ wheat"
| Allies Fleets in Control.
| The allies are not going to lombard
Greek ports or shell the Acropolis.
: They will not even blockade the ports.
But their feets-French. Italian and
English-will stop all ships taking
ioodstuffs to Greece. They have just
released seven grain ships from Amer
lea that were held up at Malta, and
0een stopped at points as far away as
gibraltar. The steamer on which we
came here from Naples was held up
at Messina for twenty-four hours until
nothlng in the hold more health-sus-
tanning Than hides and barbed wire, we
were allowed to proceed. Whatever
course Greece follows. her dependence
Upon others for food explains her act.
Today; November 20. there is not
| enough wheat in the country to feed
! the people for. some say three. the
most optimistic. ten days. Should she
ueelue 10 join Germany, she would
Inc french and Italian fleets are at
Malta. less than day distant, the Eng
I rs fleet is off the Gallipoli peninsula
rllteen hours steaming could bring it
10 Sa!oniki. Greece is especially vul-
nerable from the sea. She is all Islands.
coast towns and seaports The Ger
man navy could not help her. 1t will
not leave the kiel canal. The Austrian
G rs cannot snd leave Trieste. Should
uIeece aeclde against the allies, their
Sf1molned warships would pick up her
ISLANDS and blockade her ports. In a
week she would be starving. The rail-
! 10 rUau from Bulgaria to Saloniki. over
wheat from Rumania, would be closed
10 her. Even if the Germans and Bull
sarlans succeed in winning it to the
e eUast. they could get no food for Greece
snlps. ard the Gulf of SaIoniki is full
OF those of the allies.
Inc position of King Constantine is
, uesS ai1tcuit He is strongly pro-Ger-
thai d anu the reason for his sympathy
ma rs given here is the same as is
accepted In America. Every act of his
! - supposed to be inspired by his sym-
pathles, when, in several instances he
tho,as zen actuated solely by what he
thousht was best for his own neonia
!noeed, there are many who believe If
ne Terms upon which Greece might
I'm ION; the allies had been left to the
n,o',;a instead of to Venizelos, Greece
would now be with the entente,
Let One Man Handle Job.
AS long ago as when the two German
cruisers escaped from Messina and
were sold to Turkey, the diplomatic
representatives of the allies in the
Balkans were instructed to see that
turkey and Germany did not get to-
gether, and that. as a balance of pow
er IN case of such a union, the Bal
kan states were kept in line. In
stead of attending to this themselves
the diplomats placed this delicate job
In the hands of one man. At the
framing of the treaty of London of all
the representatives from the Balkans
the one who most deeply impressed
the other powers was NJ. Venizelos
And the task Of keeping the Balkans
neutral. or with the allies, was left to
him. He has a dream of a Balkan
band" union of all the Balkan
orlng that dream true he was willing
10 make concessions which King Con-
stantine. who considered only what
was good for Greece, thought most un-
only for the good of Greece, but he
was convinced it could come to her
only through the union. He was will
ing to give Kavalla to Bulgaria in
eGxenange for Asia Minor from the
Dardanelles to Smyrna. But the king
would not consent. As a buffer against
Turkey he considered Kavalla Of the
greatest strategic value and he had
the natural pride of soldier in hold
ing on to the land he himself had
aooed TO his country. But in his OBJ
position to Venizelos in this particu-
lar he was not given credit for act
ing In the interests of Greece, but of
piayins into the hands of Germany
which refusal the allies attributed to
his pro-German leanings, was to at
tack the Dardanel1es. In thu, wars of
asi1-isls the king showed he was an
aoIe general With his stat he had
carefully considered an attack upon
tne Dardanelles. He submitted this
plan to the allies and was willing to
aud them IL they brought to the as
aauIt 100000 men. They claim he failed
them He did fail them, bur not until
after they had failed him by bringing
thousands of men instead Of the tens
OF thousands he knew were needed.
Kings Judgment INDICATED.
The Dardanelles expedition was not
required 10 prove the courage Of the
French and British. Beyond furnish
ing fresh evidence of that, It, has been
a failure. And in refusing to sacri.
flee the lives of his subjects, the mill
tary Judgment Of Constantine has
been Vinddicated. He was willing to
attack Turkey through Kavalla and
Thrace. because by that route he pre-
scented an armed front to Bulgaria
But. as he pointed out, il he sent his
army to the Dardanelles he left Kayal-
la at the mercy of his enemy. This
inistrust Of Bulgaria also has been
justified.
But whether Constantine or Venice
los was the better friend of Greece is
now ancient history and important
only as subject for discussion. II
is condition that confronfs Greece
She cannot now choose whether she
will follow the advice of king or prime
minister. The allies are using an
argument that every goatherd can I'M
derstand. When man is hungry and
only one man can feed him he NAV
not become the ally of that man. but
he will not fight him.