The Holly chieftain., 1923-08-02


war peace pacts. Though the old re-
gime In Turkey was beaten in the
war the Turks now In control have
obtained virtually a vlctor's peace be-
cause they defeated the Greeks. They
recover eastern Thrace and retain
Constantinople, and the capitulations
by which foreigners in Turkey were
protected are done away with. The
grand national assembly at Angora is
recognized by Europe. But the treaty
Is not entirely one-slded. Turkey
surrenders to the British an oil man.
date In Mesopotamia, to the French
a tobacco mandate in Syria. to the
Italians the island OF Kastelorizo, and
to the world at large the freedom of
the straits. The boundaries between
Turkey and the kingdom Of Iraq, the
payment Of pre-war concessions and
other Important questions have been
left for settlement through diplomatic
negotiations.
One provision of the treaty already
has aroused denunciation by many,
including Marquis Curzon. This is for
the forcible exchange of the Christian
peoples in Anatolia for the Moslem
population OF Europe-a compulsory
migration by which hundreds Of thou
sands of people will have to leave
their ancestral homes. Lord Curzon
called this "a thoroughly bad and
vicious solution for which the world
will have to pay the penalty for one
hundred years to come; and one Of
the British delegates said It was '.the
most retrograde International act in
two hundred years" The Turks de-
manded this exchange as part of
their policy Of roofing out Christian
ity from Turkey. They will not per-
NIT the return to Anatolia of several
hundred thousands of Armenians, and
indeed the Armenians receive no con-
sideyation whatever In the treaty.
What was once the vast Ottoman en-
pire is now a comparatively small
state, but 1t is wholly independent and
presumably seif-sufficient. Ismet Pasha
has done great piece of work for
his country.
A T THIS writing Minister Grew
1A and Ismet are still trying to fix
up the Turkish treaty. Two
important points nre yet unsettled.
The first is the American demand that
Turkey shall guarantee In the treaty
to make private settlement with all
American citizens and American In
terests for damages suffered In Tur-
key during the war, or else to submit
the cases to arbitration. The second
Is the American demand that Amer
lean charitable and educational organ
izations shall have the right to i'm
port supplies free of duty. The Turks
also wish that all Turkish babies born
In America shall remain Turkish citi-
zens, which is not in accord with
American law.
TWO prominent American citizens
I returned from Europe last week
convinced that the United States WAS
fortunate not to be entangled in Euro
pean affairs any more directly than it
is, and believing that 1t should remain
out of the tangle. The first of them
to arrive was George NJ. Roberts, emf
nent Chicago banker. He said: There
is no use in our sitting up nights try
Ing to figure out solution to their
problems when they haven't any to
suggest themselves. Everywhere in
France and England put the direct
question to men prominent In their
national life, What do you want us
to do? How can we best help your
Each one had to confess that he did
not know.
with the nations Of Europe war
ring and bitter against each other,
there is nothing the United States can
do and any hope of stable trade is
dim. We are thousand times better
Off out of this tangle and am of the
opinion that we will remain out Of 1t.
OF course, we could keep on letting
Europe have money but bankers ex-
| pect d fair return for their invest
ments and there Is no fair return in
sight under present conditions"
Then came Senator Hiram johnson
OF California, who, Of course, needed
no convincing as to American partlcl-
patton In Europe's affairs. He was
given big banquet In New York and
there delivered himself of opinions
that were merely strengthened by his
trip abroad. He denounced the pro-
posal for American membership IA the
world court, and declared Americas
gold and man power and not her wis.
! dom were wanted by European ma
tlons In the settlement of European