Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-25
FACING BOTH WAYS.
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES B.

SlI~ 11Iot u
a gallant record in France, took oc-
casion a few days ago to roast the
churches and peace organizations
who are clamoring for Uncle Sam
to go after the Turks and prevent
them from returning to Europe.
The general is quite right when
he says that means war, and the
very same people who now want
war against the bloody Turk have
been clamoring for reduced mill
tary and naval forces. The point
made by Gen. Harbord is a good
one. If we are going to cut our
army and navy down to a mere
police force for this country, and
we are in favor Of it, then we can
not go advertising in foreign coun-
tries, seeking to redress the wrongs
Of the weak against the strong by
the power of the sword. The Turks
will not be restrained by anything
but force. All history proves that.
Our army of $4,000 men would be
eaten up by Renal Pasha and his
big army of trained and well equip
ped soldiers if we tackled the job
of running the Turks out OF Eu-
rope alone. A small standing army
is the normal policy of the United
States. But it is SO because we
do not think any foreign nation
would dare to invade the United
States and we feel sur that we
will not want to invade any other
country. If these two PROPOSE
tions are not sound then our small
army policy is also unsound.
There is no doubt at all that the
United States wishes the Turks
kept out of Europe and the Chris
tan population of Turkey in Asia
protected against injustice, cruelty
and massacre at the hands OF the
Turks. There is also no doubt IN
our minds that the majority OF the
citizens of this country are not will
ing to wage war in far OFT lands
to secure this. Neither is any 9th
err country in Europe both able and
willing to do it.
While American relief for the
Smyrna sufferers is going forward
a severe arraignment of American
"inaction", so far IS the govern
meut is concerned, come from
Bishop lanes Cannon, of Virginia,
chairman of the commission on So
cial service of the Methodist Epls-
copal church, south, who recently
visited the scenes of horror III Asia
Minor. In a cable to Secretary OF
State Hughes he recalls that Amer
lean church bodies urged the state
department in July to take whatever
steps were necessary to protect
eastern Christians, and asserts that
"A prompt and definite American
demand, supported if necessary by
American naval units present, would
probably have prevented and Ger
tainly greatly minirnized the Smyr-
n Aires and massacres.
Il believe Almighty God will
hold the government responsible
for traction while thousands were
murdered and deported. =
will not our government realize
its opportunity and responsibility
as a great Christian nation, polite
ally d~isinterested, to demand that
burnings, outrages and massacres
cease, and thus effectively prevent
the probable repetition in Con
stantinople and Thrace of the 1915
Sarnsoun and Smyrna horrors?
believe the wide world would tire.
mendously approve.
Shall America have the con.
~dernnation of Meroz2 See Judges
v. twenty-third verse" (The verse
reads: Curse ye the land Of
Meroz, said the angel Of the Lord
curse ye the inhabitants thereof
because they came not to the helE
of the Lord. to help his most val
liant menu
This militant bishop does no
mince words. He is for fighting
the Turks, and thinks it possible
that cur nation will incur "the
curse of Meroz," because we Cam
not to the help Of the Lord, to hell
his most valiant men, in battle. B.
this we are led to assume that tn
good bishop identified the Greek
as the most valiant ncn OF TIL
Lord. His Identification is not sup
ported by any convincing evidence
20 far as we can see it, but if WI
are going into Asia to protect TIL
Armenians against the Turks an
the Red army of soviet Russia w
ought to have a million or two me-