The Washington herald., 1922-09-27
European Diplomacy-Twkish Opportunity.

critics Of the Eastern races. Instability and
diSunion often have seemed to be organic racial
diseases On this thesis, European control of their
affairs often has been justified Without Occi-
dental leadership has been thought their 'exist-
ence would have been OF perpetual and al
ternating autocracies and anarchies Today the
world is watching with varying emotions as dra-
matte a turning OF the tables as has occurred in
history.
Discords OF the Continental powers have made
OF dismembered and beaten Turkey military
accorded to equas. Only by again establishing
unity and common interest may the allies hope
TO disgorge Turkey of her newly acquired spois
and retain part of the advantages gained at the
frghtful cost OF Gallipoli Even the eventual free
dom of the Dardaneles seems now an entangled
question.
Nhen Turkey PROSTATE in 1918 allied
statesmen We'd in noble utterances anent co-opera
ton in the great tasks OF civilization. Their gen.
erors plans for the regeneration OF mankind al
lowed no play for the meaner motives of national
ambition. Victory and power to be sub
served to the ends of the common good OF the
powers that made these promises. the two most
important in respect OF authority and of local in
tcrests Britain and France. No statesmen
louder in their professions than the states
OF these two countries But since that halcyon
period OF high-minded vow-takng, these two
powers have given the world a spectacle OF in
trgue and self-seekng unparalleled since the days
OF the army which started with one OF the CRU
Sades but never reached the Holy Land because
1t turned aside to plumber Europe At first their
courses OF action vcled after fashion But
in the last year this rivalry has been divested of
IL
clients. pushed their separate interests. sought in
every situation national advantage, dis
regarded the consequences to the unhappy peoples
OF Asia Minor. whom first this army and
then that army swept with pitiless power Now
these governments faced with consequence
that easily may involve the peace OF Europe.
This policy. OF the unscrupuous pursuit of
self-intercst. dangerous to the powers
embarking it than to any other nations 1t
would seem that common prudence should have
warned the responsible statesmen that special care
necessary in the political settlement of the
Middle Fast. Among all OF the Mohammedan
peoples the had provoked many passions and
stamped and unforgettable memories. In this
transformed world pregnant with lurking ieroci-
ties, awakening ambitions. half-shaped passions,
European statesmen smugly practiced the tricks
OF the out-worn school OF diplomacy which the
revealed utterly inadequate to meet modern
problems In Persia, in Mcsopotama. in encour-
agcm mt OF the deludcd Greeks. in indifference to
unhappy Armenia. Britain pursued policy at once
hcadiong and grasping. French ambitions pointed
the other way France pursued them with a sim
liar disregard OF consequences. Prudence and gem
croSity forgotten by both governments.
Their ministers must have known the risks they
running and that national enthusiasm
backed up their cynical policies. How many Eng
li>hmeu or how many Frenchmen were willing to
take great risks for the mercenary projects pur-
sued by their governments in Asia Minor? Neither
the French British ministries would have rsked
unpopularty by carrying out their professions in
the East But the old spirit OF intrigue seems to
have inhibited them from perceiving new condi-
tions.
Disaster was natural consequence OF such
a policy. When train OF events is set in motion
it ha, way Of moving faster than the mentalities
OF statesmen So the Turkish soldiery with its
tradition OF axness and neficiency. has moved too
last ior the Occidental governments, highly spe-
cializcd and nominally efficient Consequently,
France and Britain now have to ask themselves
at once whether there is any single common pur-
pose between them
When the allied foreign ministers drew the
outlines OF allied foreign settlement last March
at Paris. they included the freedom of the Straits
among the terms This objective was to be Sc
curcC by the creation OF demilitarized on the
A>iatic side OF the Dardanelles and Bosporus also
by the occupation OF the Gallipo Peninsula by an
allied force The navigation of the Straits was to
be regulated by international commission with
Turkish president. Great Britain still holds for
this objective and French opinion in general rec
ognizcs that the freedom of the Straits is neces-
Sary condition of settlement
IN this point the controlling European powers
may hope to find, at least, one plane of common
interest and derive from their necessity the public
spirit to maintain right This is the hope Only
subsequent Developments will tell whether Eu-
ropean statesmen have the vision to grasp that