Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-06

News has arrived from tile east that
the Turks have begun the systematic
destruction of the Greeks in Asia
Minor, in the same manner that they
destroyed the Armenians, and for the
same purpose. viz, so that at the
peace conference at the end Of the war
there will be no Greek question, so far
as the Turkish empire is concerned.
The inquiring American naturally will
ask, How many Greeks are there in
Asia Minor? Why are they there?
Why should they be destroyed"
Before the appearance of the Turk
in Asia Minor it was inhabited al
most wholly by a Greek-apeaking
population who formed the backbone
of the Byzantine empire, furnishing
it with its finest soldiers from among
the peasantry and its best administra-
tors from among the aristocracy. The
Turkish hordes settled in the interior,
destroying the splendid cities and
farm life there. preferrinS them
selves the life of pasture, which bet
ter suited their nomadic tastes. The
Turk, however, never became a sailor
or a trader. hence the seaports all
along the coast of Asia Minor re-
manned Greek, though many Turks
settled in them. Moreover. the Turk
tered Europe, at the beginning of the
fifteenth century, and that fact. COM
bineu with life on a low moral plane,
explains his steady decrease in num-
bers. The Greek, on the contrary,
especially in the nineteenth century.
has been steadily increasing. Today
there are not less than 100000
Greeks in Asia Minor. especially strong
on the western coast, but found also
spread along the northern and south
ern coasts.
Greeks Rated Most Progressive.
The Greeks are the most alert, eff
ficient and progressive race of the
mixed peoples of Asia Minor. Nearly
all the trade and commerce and what
ever manufacture there is are in their
hands, their only competition being
the Armenians: In Smyrna, the chief
city of Asia Minor, they number 49,
COO of the total population of 3d.
600. and control the industrial
and economic life of the city. But
it is not only in old cities like
SMYRNA that they show their abi bill,
of northwest Asia Minor is Avail,
newly built in the third decade of
the nineteenth century on the site
OF an old Greek town. 1t is a fine
example of a large. almost purely
Greek and practically selfgovern-
ing community, with more than $4,000
inha bitants. a yearly export bust
ness of 100000 francs and ship
ping of 5000 vessels. 1t has thor
oushly modern business institutions,
as we'll as a chamber of commerce
and agriculture and an agricultural
bank. A striking evidence of the
alert and progressive spirit OF the
Greeks is given in the way in which
the interior The cities that have
been connected by the railroads go
ing out from Constantinople and
Smyrna and the towns that have
sprung up beside them have become
centers of Greek influence. The
Greeks have settled in them in large
numbers and control not only the
economic life of the towns them
selves, but of the surrounding coun-
try.
An Erroneous Impression.
1t is a great mistake. however, to
assume. as many superficial observ-
ers have done. that the Greeks of Asia
Minor are only sailors and traders,
but are not bound to the soil; that
they form a purely city elements. and
that the country folk consist only of
Turks. The large Greek islands Of
the Asiatic coast, Mitylene, Rhodes,
Samos. and Chios. have dense popula-
grape and fruit raising and from silk
culture. Farming plays no large
part simply because of lack of arabic
land. Hence many peasants have
emiSrated to the mainland. where they
settled in the fruitful valleys of the
"2nder, the Hermos. and the San
carlos. In this way new and thickly
populated settlements have come into
existence in the midst of the more
scattered Turkish populations, and the