Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-01-17

than one counterpart in history.
Those who study the situation in
England in the early days of the
Crimean war will find just the same
process in course of development.
The Turk had been proverbial in
England for his cruelty and repres-
sion for hundreds of years. Never
theless. the lurid pictures drawn at
that time of the Russian invasion
and the dramatic glamor thrown over
the Turkish stand were sufficient to
restore the Turk to a position of good
favor with the British people, a po-
sition only seriouslv impaired by the
onset of the Bulgarian atrocities some
20 years later, so today the world
is asked and told to believe that
within a few short months the tradi-
tons of centuries have been oblitera-
tetd, and that the wearing of the
fez is at last the only thing which
differentiates the Mohammedan Turk
from the western European. whether
in outward appearance or inward
sentiment.
The whole movement is largely de-
pendent upon one very deplorable
fact, namely. the utter WEAKNESS OF
the world as a whole of the old and
just view Of the Ottoman. The ter
lies in the deadly effect of its mono
tony in public opinion, the world for
decades past, running into centur-
les, has been hearing of Turkish
massacres and Turkis' outrages per-
petrated on Armenians, Greeks and
other Christian peoples. Most OF
those living today have been brought
up in Armenian massacres. They
have heard of them from early child
hood and they are still hearing OF
them. There is nothing new, OF
course. in this process. One of the
jmost tragical features of the early
! days of the war, was the rapid blunt
ing of public sensitiveness to the hor-
rors of the great struggle. What
faced the world in August, 1914, left
the world impressive in the August
of the following year. From the stale
horror of all misery the world turns,
if almost unconsciously none the less
gratefully, to the possibility of any
other picture. The idea of the Turk
| Not so black as he is painted" ap-
pears strangely acceptable.
! Then to all this mu. be added the
| appeal of the dramatic, and of 1.-THE
ancient glamour" which in the days
of the Arabian Nights. down to the
,, present days, this particular type of
| oriental, even with his horrors has
always had for the West. The con-
cept therefore, so carefully fostered.
| in the early days of the Nationalist
movement and since Of the little
| band of irrepressible Turks fighting
it's way to freedom. against the forces
of the world and finally triumphant.
has deceived many not on their guard
against superficial judgment. They
have failed utterly to see that the
| victory of the Turk whether in the
| field or in the conference room has
not been due to his bravery or his
diplomatic ability, but to the dissen-
sions of those opposed to him. A
united Europe in 1923 could have
| solved the Turkish problem as 1t
could have been solved in 1918; but
European opinion has never been
united on the Turkish question, and
| the Turk today, as for decades past,
has played successfully on the fall
ings of the West. am has won. :,
The Turk is still the same Turk
that he has been all through the ages.
No race in history has changed so
little as the Ottoman Turks. A SOL
der. robber and murderer in the be-
ginning. he is a soldier. robber and
murderer still.
An opportunity to rid us of this,
cnce and for all, has been lost. But
the story is not ove~ Possibly the
,, day is still centuries hence. but the
time must come when civilization will
saw. "Enovgh." and really proceed to
| get rid of Turkish rule, cost what is
may. -
Jan. Is. 1924
! Wateryille. Me.