The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-13
THE LAUSANNE CONFERENCE


 THE LAUSANNE CONFERENCE
 The approaching conference at Lausanne, on Near Eastern questions will have far reach ing importance. On its success or failure will depend, to large extent, the future course of events in Europe and Asia. The Turk him self is by no means the only factor The im- broglio in the Near East involves, directly or indirectly, every great power in Europe and the Balkan states, in addition to Turkey It is both political and economic. It is not so much a question as to whether or not the Turks shall control the Dardanelles and re- main in Europe, as it is to safeguard inter- tional trade, to keep the Black sea open to world commerce, and meet the legitimate as- pirations of Russia and the Balkans to have trade outlets. Governments are no longer chiefly concerned in getting more territory. Imperialism has been shot to pieces. But what practically every nation in the world is striv- ing for is trade expansion, the right to send ships through the seven seas without inter- ference. The Dardanelles and the Black sea are indispensable to world commerce and for that reason the regulation or control of these great trade arteries is vital.
 The allied governments must face the con- sequences of their mistakes in the Near East squarely and honestly. They must arrive at a working agreement in the interest of the weak and the strong nations and at the same time make allowances for the national desires of the Turks. The Turks are stronger than they have been for centuries. They are in position to be more troublesome than ever before, perhaps, and they will cause endless trouble unless they can be made to see the for will all iad powers for the preservation of peace, the pro- tection of international trade and the promo tion of better understanding among nations.
 The Turk has been reactonary and intoer- ant. It has been his policy for centuries to exterminate subject peoples, to make fetish of his religion and slay in the name of Allah. There isn't much racial antipathy as such against the Turks. As a people, they have ex- celent qualities, but their policy is all wrong. It harks back to the middle ages. Intolerance has been the curse of the Turks. It has alien- ated sympathy from them and made them pariah nation. AS case in point, it is re- ported that the editor of an anti-natonalist paper in Constantinople has been condemned to death simply because his published views did not agree with those of the nationalisrs. The allies have strongly protested and de- handed his release, but it is not known whether he has already been executed or not. That sort of thing makes enemies for the Turks and makes it difficult for Christian nations to reach an accord with them. The difficulty IS manifested in a larger way by religious per secution and the massacres which have stained the hands of the Turks with Christian blood.
 By aboishing the temporal power of the caiphate and putting the temporal power above the religious power, the Turkish na- tionalists have taken step in the right direc- tion. If, at last, something like democracy and modern ideas are developing among them and they show a tendency to abandon the policy of fire and the sword, in other words, intolerance, which has dominated them for more than 400 years, and has caused most of the friction between Turkey and Europe, it will mark the beginning of era in the relations between Europe and Asia. But they must also respect freedom of honest thought and expression of opinions
 It will be a truly great achievement if the Lausanne conference can reconcile the conflict ing interests which brought about the latest crisis in the Near East and have created dis cord for centuries. But no such agreement can be reached at the expense of any nation or group of nations. It must include them all on an equitable basis.