Evening journal., 1921-02-28
The Fall ofa Great Statesman
BY John Alexander Levands College.

Nowhere Is the collision OF varied
and discOrdant political forces more
strikingly illustrated than in the
turgid course OF Grecian politics.
The rather sorry figure made by
the Hellenic kingdom during the
critical stages OF the great war.
forms a disappointing epilogue to
the wonderful period Of national re-
generation which commenced in
1910, and reached it's elimination in
the victories OF the Balkan wars.
Greece had fallen into a discour-
aging state OF rolitical corruption,
and a national and military indifer-
ence before this revival. But in its
extremity. the nation shook off this
lethargy. and found a leader.
Eleutherios Venizelos is unques-
tionably one OF the ablest Euro
pean statesmen. Born in Crete in
1864, the period OF his manhood
had thus far been spent in the midst
OF the passionate struggle for liberia
ton OF his native island and its
union with the Hellenic kingdom. in
which his unquenchabie zeal and
unfailing judgment had made him
leader.
Relinquishing the premiership OF
Crete I'm 1910, he brought the ardent
spirit OF a crusader to the service OF
his brother Hellenes on the main
land. where the fervor OF the heroic
period has been colled by the three
generations that had passed since
the revolutionary struggle with the
Turks
BY his answering devotion to the
sacred aspiration OF libepting
Magma Grecia beyond the limits OF
the existing kingdom; by his inn
petuous enthusiasm tempered with
prudence. and by his deliberation
and consistency OF method. Venice
los lowered above the shifty pOliti-
clans OF the old regime. whose self
ish intrigues had made the political
life OF their country a hyword OF
contemptuous ridicule.
NenizelOs was a man OF dauntless
courage as well as OF magnetic per-
sonality. At the time OF his reeep-
zion in Athens. which was made the
occasion for a brilliant ovation. he
dared to insist. in defiance OF the
crowd. that the kingship should be
preserved. Chosen as a member OF
the Greek Chamber and summoned
to the premiership in 1910. Venize-
los turned his energy to the internal
rehabilitation or Greece as the in
dispensable preliminary for the
realization OF his greater hopes.
During ten years OF his leadership
he reorganized an inefficient state.
creating unity where there had been
sluggishness and timidity; led the
country to victory In three wars;
dethroned a king and crowned an
other. redeemed Greek territories
that had been In servitude TO the
Turk for centuries; put more vigor
into the nation. and more democracy
into the constitution, carried his
policies 10 triumph through the an
tagonism and pitfalls OF the peace
conference. and finally brought back
treaty which made the once-des-
pised kingdom one OF the foremost
of the lesser powers OF Europe.
In the dominating personality
OF Venizelos. one Is apt to lose
sight OF the remarkable complexities
OF his character. Seeking the ends
Of democracy by measures OF au-
tocratic severity; tempering ambi-
tion with altruism. and opposing to
/ an untwerving patriotism a hatred
Of Chauvinism no less deep-seated.
he stood before Europe as a states
man. who. swaying a fretful people
to his will by the sheer force Of per-