The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-07-28


dreams of Italian colonization which
in the past had done SO much to
spread civilization in three continents.
His successors were homelier men. I
have still my doubts whether they
served Italy best by the less adven-
J turous and more domesticated policy
they pursued. But whatever decision,
! the time for action has passed away
and unless and until there Is another
break up in Turkey. the chance Italy
| lost since 1919 will not be recovered.
| Then there was the French check
| in Cilicia, and negotiations at An
| CORA with Mustapha Kemal, which
were both single-handed and under
| handed, for the allies were not even
informed Of what was going on. This
was a fatal step, for it broke up the
unity which alone would enable the
western powers to deal effectively
with the Turk This unity was never
fully recreated.
The last fatal change was the Greek
revolt against Venizelos. It IS often
| said he is the greatest statesman
thrown up by the race since Pericles.
In all he has undertaken he has never
failed his people. Disaster has always
come to them when they refuse to
| follow his guidance. When King Alex
ander was killed by a monkey, the
| Greeks were called upon to decide be-
tween Constantine and Venizelos.
J Their choice was ruinous to their
/ country, and no greater evil can be-
/ fall a nation than TO choose for its
ruler stubborn man with no com
mon sense
Greeks Rout Turks
| Before the advent of Constantine.
! Greece, with no aid and little counte-
nance from the powers. was able to
hold the forces Of Mustapha Renal
| easily at bay, and even drive him
back. In encounter after encounter
the Greek army, led by men chosen
for their military gifts, and sufficiently
well equipped. inflicted defeat after
defeat on the armies of Angora.
But with Constantine came a
change. In the Greek army courtiers
were substituted for soldiers in the
high command. French, British and
Italian public opinion, remembering
the treachery of Constantine during
| the Greeks, who had elevated him to
the throne in defiance of allied senti.
ment. Indifferent powers became hos
tile. Hostile powers became active.
Final catastrophe began with a heroic
but foolish march of the Greek army
| into the defiles of Asia Minor, followed
by the inevitable retreat.
| 1t was consummated when Constan-
tine, for dynastic reasons, appointed
to the command of troops in Asia
Minor a crazy general whose mental
condition had been under medical re-
view.
The Greeks fight valiantly when
well led, but, like the French, once
they know they are not we'll led. con-
fidence goes, and with confidence
courage Before the Kemalist attack
reached their lines, the Greek army
was beaten and in full retreat. With
the attack came panic; with panic, the
complete destruction Of what was once
fine army. With the disappearance
of that army went the last hope for
the salvation of Anatolia.
That the history of the East, and
been changed by the bite Of a monkey
is just another grimaoe Of the comic
spirit which bursts now and again
into the pages of every great tragedy.
Only Remains Saved
All that could be done afterwards
was to save the remnants of great
policy. Western civilization put up
its last fight against the return OF
savagery into Europe when, in Sep
TENDER and October Of last year, Brit
ish soldiers and sailors, deserted by
Allies and associates alike, saved Con-
stantinople from hideous carnage.
The pact Of Mudania was not Sevres.
but It certainly was better than Lau-
same. From Sevres to Mudania was
a retreat. From Mudania to Lausanne
Is a rout.
What next? Lausanne Is not a
terminus 1t Is only milestone. No
one claims this treaty is peace with
honor 1t is not even peace. If one
were dealing with a regenerated Turk
there might be hope But the burn
ing of Smyrna and the cold blooded
murders CT 130, 900 Greeks In the in
terror prove the Turk is still the
same.
To quote again from the correspond
emit of the Times at Lausanne. "all
such evidence as can be obtained here
confirms the belief the new Turk is
but the old, and the coming era of
enlightenment and brotherly love in
Turkey, for which it is the correct
thing officially to hope, will be, from
the foreigners point of view, at best
humiliating and at werst bloody
chaos"