Evening star., 1924-05-26
GREECE IS CALLED
EUROPE'S SENTINEL
Morgenthau Sees Hellenic Nation
as Belgium of Near East" {
Lauds It's Spirit.
RAIDS BY TURKS FoREsEEN
Strong Bulwark Needed to Discour-
age Mohammedan Aggression. 4
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WIFE

BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.
fhat republican Greece is the
sentinel OF civilization" in casters
Europe and designed to play the role
which Belgium enacted in the west
In 1914, is the opinion of Henry
Morgenthau, the league of nations
commissioner for Greek refugee set
tlement. The former American ann
bassador to Turkey has Just left
washington, after discussing at the
state department with Undersecre-
tary Grew and Allen w. Dulles. chief
OF the near eastern division, current
| events in Greece. Mr.. Morgenthau
advocates the closest possible political
and economic understanding between
| the United States and Greece.
Some day. he says, perhaps not
very far off, Turkeys money win
give out 1t is almost given out now
Then she will start on the rampage
again. She will resume the role OF
| a marauder. 1t is important for
| western civilization that Greece re-
| main a strong bulwark against that
new tide Of Mohamedan aggression,
Nothing will sustain her more Sc
| curely than the friendship of Amer
lea. and everything that would en-
tail"
Returned From Greece.
Mr.. Morgenthau has returned from
Greece laurel-crowned after his work
in repatriating the 1,250,O00 Greeks
driven from Turkey after their dew
astating defeat by Turkey a year and
half ago. His friends say Nor
genthau has done a bigger job than
Moses" He functioned as the special
commissioner of the Greek refugees
settlement commission of the league
of nations, and put in five months at
Athens organizing a vast philan-
thropic scheme. With the aid of
loan of a million pounds by the Bank
Of England, arranged through the
league and guaranteed by the Greek
government, the preliminaries of re-
patriation have been well inaugu-
rated Much larger sums will b.
necessary.
Mr Morgenthau estimates an aver
age cost of $3.50 a family of five per
sons, and thinks eventually $50. 900
or $40,000,000 may be necessary. He
has promised to confer with the
league authorities at Geneva on
September i and work out the terms
of an international repatriation loan.
Much of it will be placed privately in
the United States. There are enough
wealthy Greeks here, Mr.. Morgenthau
| thinks, to take up s5,000,000 at least.
On this question he will discourse in
New York this week before a meeting
of the American Greek committee,
which is giving testimonial dinner
in his honor.
"American Punch" Tried.
I'VE tried to put American punch
into the repatriation scheme" said
Mr. Morgenthau to this writer, al
though, barring one volunteer Amer
lean assistant and three Britishers
familiar with the local situation, all
the work was done by Greeks, and,
moreover, by Greek refugees II
made a great hit with the Greek peo-
pie to announce that no foreigners,
and particularly no American, would
| be on the repatriation pay roll.
renounced a league salary of s12,5o0'
| a year for my services. We haven't
| by any means ameliorated the lot of
| the Greeks summarily driven from
| Turkey. Probably 10000 of them
are utterly destitute and existing on
one meal a day furnished by charity.
"As far as possible, the refugees
have been located on land, and in
occupations for which they are fitted
| We have established rug-WeaVing IN
dustries, vineyards and fruit-raiSlng
| colonies in strategic neighborhoodS-
| in the country regions where deSlra-
| BILE and near the towns, ike Salonlkl,
| where that is the most feasible thing
Self-help was the rule 1 enforced
| from the start, wherever possible;
! But where a million people found
themselves poverty stricken in the
| full sense of the term, obviously
| work is not done by any means. 1t
| has just begun. But it is promising
| ly begun. If the league or some
| other outside agency equally as po-'
would have been staggered by one
| Of the most terrible human calamltles
| Of modern times"
Enthusiastic About League.
Mr.. Morgenthau, who was one of
! Woodrow wilson's most devoted sup
porters, returns to America, of course,
more enthusiastic than ever about the
| league of nations and about the eff
fcacy of American cooperation with
the world. within a few months,
he explains, 1.-The United States has
participated-unoffic but effec-
| tively-in four great major European
operations. Norman H. Davis, acting
| for the league, settled the Polish
Lithuanian crisis over Memel. Charles
G. Dawes and. his associates have
worked out the long-sought solution
of the reparations problem. A Boston
man is now at the head of the
finances and economic system of Hun
gary 1t was vouchsafed me to play
| huble role in the Greek refugee
problem. All this was done without
guns and without soldiers. None of
| our boys had to be sent overseas
to carry out league mandates. No
American blood was spilled. Nothing
was done but to supply the American
idea and American disinterestedness.
1t Is that for which war-shattered
Europe longs, and 1t Is that it seems
to me, which we are destined to con
tinue to supply"