Evening star., 1921-07-03
THE STORY THE WEEK HAS TOLD

f4.536,oO0. The government therefore. has
granted a fiat subsidy of fl0.000.000. Dur
ing previous negotiations the owners offered to
forego profits until the industry should recover
its legs II this offer still holds good. 1t should
be possible (the subsidy helping) to carry the
Industry along for some months without a crash.
perhaps until the foreign markets are sufficiently
recovered that the costs of production may
be met without government help. But the pros
perity Of the realm demands that the coal In
dustry shall be not merely solvent but abundantly
prosperous. that, as Of yore, British indus
tries will get cheap coal and British ships shall
go fully freighted with coal. On cheap coal the
great edifce Of British industry and commerce
has been built. But 1t is difficult to see cheap
coal ahead without a thorough reorganization Of
the industry along the lines suggested by en-
liehtened mine owners like Sir George Elicott
and Lord Londonderry. One could wish that
when Mr.. Lloyd George talked in his large way
of the beauties of the new agreement. he had
conveyed a hint of such reorganization in pros
pect This may seem dull matter. but it Is
more important than the Upper Silesian prob
lem or the problem OF Austria that of
Turky.
X X X X
NEAR EAST.-The Greek government has
refused the offer of Great Britain France and
Italy to mediate its behalf with Mustapha
Kemal. A Greek grand offensive will start soon.
SO the Greeks say. a mighty effort. for all the
youth of Greece are with the colors.
A singular thing has happened. The Greeks
have evacuated the Ismd front, firing the city Of
Ismid on their departure leaving the road clear
to the Bosphorus for Mustapha Kemals men.
cept for such resistance the few allied troops
that front might offer. What is the idea? Some
say 1t Is trick that Constatine has been read
ing Homer and is emuating the willy Odysseus,
that the Greeks hope Mustapha Kemal cannot
resist the temptation to attack Constantnople. SO
running foul of the allies. and drawing If not the
French and Italians. at least the British into the
against him. On top of this report comes a
strange semi-suggeston from the Paris Temps
that the allies evacuate Constantinople and let
Kena have 1t, retiring their troops to the tip Of
the Gallipoli peninsula and making an allied Gil
braltar there. The idea. 1t seems. was mooted at
the London conference last winter and shocked
nobody. Not such bad idea, perhaps. to let
Renal have Constantinope at once. II it Is true
that Brusilov with great red army Is west OF
Sivas. marching furious'y. Better to let kemal
have Constantinople than Brusilov. That rumor
about Brusilov has aroused. SO one entertaining
dispatch says. the enthusiasm of Russians of
whatever political complexion all over the world.
II the bolshevik led by that renegade Czariss
Brusilov. should take Constantnople and realize
the ancient Russian dream. that might be for
given everything. 1t might be asked. what Brush
low would do should he find Kemal in possession
of the prize. But 1 must limit my speculations.
Suppose the allies undertake to defend the town
against kemal or Brusilov. or the devil himself
what chance of taking the town against the
mighty British feet in the roads? Well. II siege
guns were planted on the high hills of the 1smid
peninsula the warships would have to clear out
of the narrow Bosphorus. Warships have lit
tie chance against powerful land batteries any
way. proved during the great To be sure.
the Brusilov rumor has ancient and fsh-like
smell. but 1t provokes the most delightful
speculation? And who knows?
Now. while such things happening
brewing Cor not), as 1t may turn out. Kemal's
cmissary. Sammy Bey. is in Paris moving for
peace. Kemal. he says. wants peace very much 1t
must be. however. a PEACE securing to :he
tionalists everything demanded by the national
compact" fulfillment of which the ma nationaists
have sworn certain tribal tbs. among the things
demanded being complete territorial and economic