The New York herald., 1922-02-19
Troubled Lands

l. AAOtsOlNO AIlluS
NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS AND
CONDITIONS. BY Stephen Pana-
reton. The Macmillan Company.
RUSSIA IN THE FAR EAST. gy
Leo PasvcisiSy. The Macmillan Com
pany.
CHiNA'S PLACE IN THE SUN. Ev
Stanley High. The Macmillan Com
pany.
InH whatever route one jour-
n neys from the eastern shore
OF the Adriatic to the Pacific
the roads. lead through troubled
lands. full Of turmoil and uncer-
tainty. 1T is vast continent of i'm
pending change. and what may come
ont Of it no one can safely foreteIl.
We have been taught to think that
the East is static. immovable; but
here 1t is. in obvious motion. though
whittier IL is going Is not clear. 1t
Is not until one reaches China that
anything can be found that is gem
timely hopeful or promising as a
ground for belief in a better future.
And in spite Of Mr.. Highs op-
unisni these three studies make a
depressing picture.
Mr. Panaretoff has been for many
years the Bulgarian Minister TO the
United States. His book. despite its
comprehensive title. is chiefly an at
tempt TO state the case for the Bull
garians as plausibly as may be. Ii
consists Of seven lectures delivered
last summer at Williams College.
under the auspices of the Institute
OF Politics. 1t is. in spite of its spe-
ciai pleading. n useful book. flucntly
and readabiy written and fun of
data not otherwise readily attain
able. He provides an historical
sketch Of the Balkan Slavs. of their
Church organization and literature,
their political progress and relations
to non-Slavic European powers and
to Turkey, and he pauses. signifi-
cantiy. Ia treat of education in the
Near East since the Turkish con-
quest of the fifteenth century. AS
to that it somewhat resembles the
account OF snakes In ireland; there
has been practically no popular edu-
cation until within the last half cen
tury. Things are better now and
the percentage OF illitcracy in Bull
garia. he asserts, is very small. A
good deal depends. however, upon
Just what one means by illiteracy.
The one most significant fact that
emerScs from Mr. Panaretoff's an
alysis Of conditions is that no one
OF the Balkan nations is at all will
ing to trust any other. They may
be willing TO unite. temporarily. for
attack upon some one people. but
when the joint purpose is served
they win at once quarrel among
themselves. Out of this he never
theless ventures to hope for a stable
Balkan confederation. He points
out that while every one recognizes
the need OF such q federation. II
means something different TO each
one OF the units. For the Greeks" 4"
saws he. il meant the rcsuscitation
OF the byzantine Empire with Con-
stantinCpie as its capital and n
Greek heGemony. But the Slays re-
fuse 10 be Hellenized. Mr.. Panarc-
tCff docs not think that the pro-
jectcd solutions of the Peace Con-
fcrencc-or anything that has hap
poned siuce-have done anything
toward settling the Balkan turmoil.
There seems. indeed, no solution in
sight. SO long as the recognition of
each states national aspirations
implies taking something away from
a neiGhboring State which also has
similar aspirations"
Mr.. Pasvelslty's book is largely a
study of the progress of Bolshevisrn
in Asia and a warning as TO it's
possible consequences. IF the
Soviets now transfer their activities
to the Far E.as. it is because. in
the FIRST place. they have very def
mite and pressing aims in that par;
of the world. and in the second place
because they arc rather disappointed
with their v.org In the Central ord