The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-09-11

Gu Dy TOVerry, oorToW ana FerSe-
cution as They Struggle Into
Strange Lands to Live.
Torn from the farms which they
have cultivated for centuries, from the
towns and villages in which their fam
lilies have lived for generations, a mil
lion and half Greeks and Turks in
eastern Europe have been forced into
the greatest migration in modern his
| tory.
Wander Ainlessly.
Ragged, hungry. frightened with
! little idea of where to go, hundreds
of thousands of refugees choke the
rough roads of Asia Minor and the
lower Balkans. Rascally soldiers in
fest the highways and bandits are a
! constant menace. Scores fall by the
wayside, leaving their miserable pos
sessions to be plundered by other suf-
ferers.
Turkey and Greece are exchanging
t h cir minority populations, their
sources of intrigue, dissatisfaction and
revolution. The exchange was approx
ed by treaty signed at the Lausanne
peace conference; an idea born in the
brain of Dr. Fridtjof Nansen the Nor
wegian leader in Russian famine re-
lief, who won the Nobel peace prize
this year.
Never Saw Native Land
Half a million Turks in Greece,
who never saw their native lands and
who have become Christians, must
move to Turkey, there either to deny
their religion or to face the wrath of
Moslem leaders. A million Greeks in
Turkey, ignorant of the language and
customs of the country of their an
cestors, must return to Greece, to be
prosecuted for their Mohammedan
faith.
But Turkey and Greece must suffer,
too. The Turks never have been good
business men. The Greeks and Ar.
menians, people who now must leave
the country, furnished Turkey with
capital and men who knew how 10 use
capital. Turkish merchants already
have protested against the exchange.
Greece, with its weak government,
already is handling a million famine
sufferers. How many more will add
to the burden as a result of the mi
grafton cannot be estimated.
The Spanish empire, when at the
height of its world power, expelled
its Jews and Moslem Moors, who did
most of the business and filled most
of the professions in Spain. From
these explosions historians date the
fall Of the empire.
Misery on all Sides.
Now a new exchange has begun in
the Near East Murders, the seizure
of women, the killing of children
these are the results Young and
strong men, married or without fam
lilies, have been taken from the march
ing throngs and held captives. The
women and children go onto begin
life among strangers.
In Greece tented cities" have been
built for the refugees. Men, women
and children, suffering from lack of
proper food or from no food at all,
are huddled together in these cities"
until the government finds place to
send them. Then they join the march
OF misery.
The American Red Cross has
equipped rude hospitals near the larg-
er cities through which the refugees
pass, and in these scores of sick and
hopeless travellers are received. Hun
dreds of children, too, made orphans
by the world war or by the hardships
of the march, are taken in the hospit
ais and kept there under the care of
American nurses.
Fleeing Ten Months.
Hundreds upon hundreds of fatni-
lies, with all their earthly possessions
in their arms-few have vehicles to
Tighten their burdens-have been wan
dering from place to place ever since
the world war closed The migration
began in earnest ten months ago.
however, and the number of homeless
sufferers is increasing daily at an
alarming rate
The roads of the Near East are
none too good at the best, SO travel
over them is painfully slow. Scores of
exiles fall by the road from exhaus-
ton and die from hunger and disease
before they are able to reach the in
frequent "oases" in their barren lives.
Almost Like Animals.
Listless of eye and tagging of limb,
almost like animals, the countless
Thousands continue their weary march
to nowhere. Sights of suffering, sor-
row, privation mean nothing to them.
They too, are going through the fire.
Their minds and energies are too far
spent to give heed to what is happen
ing about them.
Families are separated because the
mothers and fathers are so weary
that they have no thoughts of the lit
tie ones.
No End in Sight
When will the migration cease?
Thousands of persons have asked
this question, but no answer has been
given.
Il does not seem possible that the
populations can be exchanged without
a great deal of delay and suffering
Refugees-tired, hungry, discouraged
from monotony of horrors-will
clog the highways of the Near East
for many months, for many years to