Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-29

New York, june 24.-The quarrel
xhich has now broken out between
Franoe and Great Britain over the Turkish
sryannmcnt has been brewing Tor many
months. Ii is not in any sense diuerence
cnmnarable with the discussion over the
40, of the German indemnity or the
,rca, ,mcut of the conquered enemy; IT 10
nu,,lv and simply the consequence OF a
,;,alrv which is exactly the sort OF rivalry
vb,ch IN the Eighteenth Century DIVIDED
Eranoe and Britain in America and IN
India. il is quarrel growing out OF con-
flirting colonial aspirations:
But in a sense the quarrel Is not hniIu
o. France and Britain, the whoie worlo Is
sonccrncd and the United States is
mcas,Irablv responsible through President
Wilson for the acuteness Of the present
crisis IL is the refusal of the Armenian
mandate. which the President advo,
Gated M Paris, which has in turn produced
thc whole collapse of the Turkish solution.
To go back To the origin OF the present
dispute one must travel all the tortuous
hypaths of secret treaties from the mo
mcn, when the World War broke.
Farly in the struggle France and Great
Rri,ain agreed that Russia should have
not only Constantinople, but also
broad strip of territory extending from
Russian Armenia. Russia would thus not
only command the Straits which are the
issue of the Black Sea, but would nave
immadiate access TO the Mediterranean
Bv similar bargains France was assured
possession of Syria with hmteriano
stretching back TO the Euphrates ana the
T,gr,a and including both Mosul and
D,ahekr with the valuable oil and mineral
lands adiacent. Britain was to have
NIesopotania, a protectorate over Pales-
time. and Russia and Britain had already
divided Persia into spheres OF interest
pronised the Adalian Coast west OF the
Gulf Of Alexsndretta and Greece was from
time 20 time promised Smyrna ana its
hlnterland.
hut the collapse of Russia changed the
.ituation. So also did the rise OF an
arabian State, backed by the British
which proved a valuable aid to British
operations against the Turk, eliminating
IN the great victory of Samaria and the
destruction OF two Turkish armies about
the Plain of Armageddon. The Arablans
claimed for themselves all OF the syrian
lands and the British first made treaty
with the Arabs, recognizing their CLAIMS
and then with the French, the Sykes
Picot Treaty, endorsing an Anglo-frencn
division of the Arab territories.
~
Cured France insisted upon her treaty,
rights, the Arabs upon theirs: The United
States inclined to support the Arabs, on
the principle of self-determination but
the main factor was still the TURKISH
Who was 10 undertake the task OF dealing
with the great mass Of Anatolian TURKS
inhabiting and holding most Of the PENN
tula of ASIA Minor. 1t was no little task
because the Turks were capable Of putting
armies in the field and making de
termined resistance in country wholly
suitable for warfare of the sort all colonia
nations most fear.
The Paris solution was simple. The
United States was 10 take the greates'
burden, which was Armenia; the trencf
were 10 take part of Syria, the British
Mesopotamia and Palestine, the Italian:
Adalia and the Greeks Smyrna. The com
bined nations were TO supply the troops
necessary 10 conquer and subdue th'
Turks, each defending its own mandat'
region. Thus it will be seen the Unitee
States inherited the Russian sphere: A
to Constantinople, 1t was 10 be placed