The Washington herald., 1922-10-06
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.

The Turkish victory supplies one
more striking example of the fall
lacies which underlay much of the
peacemaking at Versailles. Nothing
was more certain. from the outset,
than that in time the Turk would re-
cover his strength. unless provision
was made to keep him permanently
helpless. Moreover. to do this was a
very large contract
As It turned out the great powers
have dealt with the Turk and the
Bolshevist in the same fashion and
with the same result. AS to Turkey
the Paris conference conceived the
brilliant idea Of dividing his terri
tories between themselves and leav-
ing TO the Turk those regions which
were more diffcrlt to hold and less
profitable to administer.
In addition the Paris conference
considered dividing a portion OF
the more unattracive territories
between teh Americans. who were
to have mandate for Ar
menia and possibly for Constan-
tinople and the Greeks who were to
have Eastern Thrace outright and a
mandate for Smyrna. Britain was to
have MesopotG mia and Palestine.
France, Syria and Cilicia, Italy the
region between Cilicia and Smyrna.
Thought Turk BridIed.
In theory the Turk was thus
bridled. Greek, American. British,
Italian and French troops were to be
employed. the Turk to be thrust back
into the hinterland of Anatolia, barred
from Constantinople and the Straits
either by American troops occupying
the Constantinoule Mandate or by an
international force holding teh same
authority and backed by the COM
bined fleet Of the great powers.
But in practice it turned out that
the United States and Italy were ab-
solutely unwilling to use troops. de-
clined to take up their respective
mandates in Armenia and Adalia. As
for the British and the French, the
former while sending troops to
Mesopotamia. sought to use the
Greeks to restrain the Turks in the
West. while the latter, faced with
choice between war with the Turks
in Syria and a tacit recognition of
Turkish aspirations between Adrian
ople and the Syrian frontiers, chose
the latter course.
The treaty of Sevres was worth
less. unless ii were backed contin-
uously by force, and the great
powers were unwilling to furnish
the force. that is their publics were
too weary with war to care for new
adventures. AS a consequence each
power, while striving to hold what
had fallen to 1t. sought to avoid the
incidental burdens, the French and
Italians by making separate treaties
with the Turk. the British by using
the Greek army.
Now the whole Near Eastern sit
uation is in the melting pot. For
the moment attention is fixed upon
Constantinople and the European
land claimed by the Turk, but this
is in reality a minor consideration.
What is really important is the fu
ture and the immediate future of
all of the Moslem regions between
the Straits and the Persian Cult
and in fact the frontiers of India.
The mandates of Syria, Mesopo-
tamia and Palestine henceforth be-
come not assets but great liabilities.
they must be held by armies and
by successful fighting, 1t at all
Wilsonian Policy Unsound.
Americans must see that underly-
ing all else is the patent evidence
that the Paris and the Wilson con-
ception of a world directed by a
governing committee made up of the
three or four great powers is not
only unsound but futile. for the
simple reason that there is no possI-
bility that agreement can be main
tained between the members of the
governing committee. There are
mighty few questions on which the
Italian. the Frenchman and the
Briton can see eye to eye and these
are mainly unimportant.
Mr.. Wilson's notion was that the
war would end rivalries, that the
various nations, entering the league
of nations would leave their guns
at the door. AS II has turned out,
however there has been not
dimunition but an increase in rival
ries.
The bitterness between the French
and British today is far keener
than 1t ever was between the Ger
mans and the British before the
war. There are more points of
friction between France and Bri-
tain than there have been since the
fal lof Napoleon. The Italians
moreover, while they hate the
French and miss no chance to
block French policy. are just as
aaUar 20 preyapt Rritish domiua pca