Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-01-22
MANY PAPERS IN
TOWNSOF GREECE
Comparatively Small Cities support
Huge Number Of High Grade
Daily Publications.

Saloniki, Greece, Jan. /6.-tCor-
respondence of The Associated Prel;D |
The French and British troopers
stationed in Saloniki since the be-
ginning of the allied Balkan under
taking never cease to marvel at the |
number of newspapers able to live in
city of, normally, only about $780, |
900 inhabitants, of whom very large |
percentage cannot read or write. |
Though the second city of Greece
since it's conquest by the Greeks in |
the last Balkan war, Salonih has
never been and is not now in any real
sense a Greek city. Indeed, a scant
IS per cent of the population 10
Greek The city supports five Greek
daily newspapers, three morning and
two afternoon journals. Besides these,
probably the most widely read of all
is the unique daily, the Forward,
| which is printed in Hebrew characters
for the benefit of the overwhelming
Jewish population of the place-bur
Hebrew characters spelling out Span
ish, not Hebrew words!
| The newspapers of all Greece play
very important if not a dominant
part in the politics so much the lead
ing occupation of the Greeks. There
| is no such thing in Greece as polit-
| ically independent newspaper, in the
sense that a newspaper may be polit-
| ically Independent in the United
| States or in France. Every Greek
| daily is either for or against Venice
| los-that being the cardinal political
test. This is true, of course. of those
in Saloniki as well.
| The Light, morning, and The New
Truth, an evening journal, are the
Greek anti-Venizelos organs, though
the former in addition to being bit
terly opposed to the late premier is
also pronouncedly pro-German. The
Macedonia and the Greece, both morn.
| ing journals, are the Venizelos organs
in Saloniki, though the Anchor, an
evening journal, while more militarist
than anything else, also supports
Venizelos. The Spanish Hebrew even
ing paper, the Forward, is, as its
name implies, socialist in politics and
pro-German.
While a mixture of Spanish and
Italian is the current tongue spoken
by the great majority of the inhabi
tants of Saloniki, French is also
spoken widely, generally understood
therefore, four French dailies pub
lished in Saloniki-a morning and an
evening paper for each political point
of view. But in respect of the news
papers published in French, there is
more partisanship on the subject of
the European war. L'Opinion in the
morning and independent in the
evening are the word-bearers of the
entente powers and especially of the
French, though both are edited by
natives of Saloniki. On the other hand,
The Courier of Saloniki and The New
Country, both in French, are &C
cepted as almost official pro-German
organs. The former is socialist pa.
per closely affiliated with the German
socialist party. and the latter is IL
tually the mouthpiece of the Austrian
consulate at Saloniki.
One other French newspaper is
worthy of mention: the Journal of
the French warship Charlemagne,
which while not technically publish.
ed in Saloniki has its circulation
there. 1t is by far the newsiest sheet
to be had in Saloniki, for its prints
all the official communicates of the
various countries at war, as well as
a great deal Of information CLEANED
from the wireless service of the
French battleship. 1t is distributed
free of charge to all the allied armies
on land. and may be subscribed for
by private individuals at the rate of
so cents a month.
Since the arrival of the British
troops. an English newspaper has al
so been started and is said to be very
prosperous. 1t as called The Balkan
News, and is published under the aus
pices of the editors of the French
journals L'Opinion and LIndepend-
ent.