The Washington herald., 1922-10-04

w stands upon the deck Of the ship that
carries him away to his second exile. Does the
od-fashioned, autocratc gentleman ibred in the
trade o. kingshp, reflect on the ancient glories
and present state Of the land upon which his
laundering has brought renewed disaster? As the
marine motors chug and the hills Athens fade
in the blue distance is his soul filled with lyric
melancholy? We fear otherwise For Constan-
tine is not the sort of man to be moved by the
great organ thunders of history, by contrasts be
tween Smyrna and Marathon, by legends of Their
mOpylae. by all the colorful glory of the Greece
that was and all the tragedy OF the Greece that is.
Probably. on the other hand the mind OF Con-
stantine is filled with impotent wonder that such
things beiall king, that the fortunes OF
man born to the purple can be so changed by the
fortunes of mere people. We have read many
accounts of Constantine written by American OBJ
servers and nearly all agree that he has less OF the
American point of view than any other sovereign
in Europe. He seems helpless!y devoted to the
faith that king can do wrong. Probably he
is not seriously aroused by the fact that Turks
have killed of his subjects; but is wrought
up a much greater extent by the reflection that
Mustapha Kemal and his leutenants showed such
poor taste to disturb the tranquility OF King
OF Greece. 1t is the fault and the misfortune of
the Greek people that they recalled Constantine.
We regret that they showed the poor judgment Of
regain any part Of her ancient glory, should be-
come republic at once and kick al the trappings
of royalty off the decks OF the ship OF state. They
are worthless baggage.
We'have the utmost sympathy with the people
of Greece. Their compatrots in the United States
among the most valued and most patriotic
citizens, who have displayed remarkable ability
to absorb Americanism If the natives of the
fstherland are of the same type as their repre-
sentatives in Washington they most assuredly face
brilliant future the present storm has
blown But the Greek character requires a
republic in which to develop 1t is suffocated in
the atmosphere of monarchy. King George the
Second. who sits in his fathers on the
throne at Athens, may be estimable young man
with the best intentions possible But he repre-
sents worn-out institution. The best that he can
accomplish will be little indeed compared with that
which might be done by able leader chosen by
the people of Greece themselves
Because OF Constantine, Greece never has been
accorded the full amount OF world sympathy which
is her due. With the king again in exile we ven
ture to predict noticeable change in public senti-
ment both in the United States and in the lib
Grated regions of Europe. Greece wanted deco
ration to around her neck and she stuck
a ribbon through millstone and marched off to
war. Now that she has thrown the millstone
away she should be able to fight better.
The Greek army, it is reported, was de-
moralized Who wonder Those poor SOL
diers, after years of reflection, have reached the
conclusion that they fighting just for the sake
of king throne They lost the inspiration
OF Greek history.
Hellenic soldiers should be the easiest in the
world to inspire with high morale. The propa-
gandists OF Greece have a background ncompar-
ably finer than that of any other nation There is
such wealth of tradition, of poetry, of song OF
art, OF glory in the pages OF Greek history, an
cient and modern.
When orator tries to inspire patriotic fervor
in American audience he is likely to punctuate
his remarks with references to Bunker Hill and
Saratoga, to the Liberty Bell and the Boston Tea
Party, to Antietam and Gettysburg, etc He can
drive his hearers wild with enthusiasm bv such
illusions. But he has only a couple of centuries
at the most, upon which to draw. Precious herit-
ages indeed, to the average American are the
memories Of the glorious deeds of our wars How
much more precious must be the hcroism and ac-
complishment OF over 1000 years the average
native OF Greece-the heritage of Homer and OF
Sophocles, and of Plato, and of Alexander the
Great.
The going OF Constantine may be step to-
wards the restoration of the spirit of the times