Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14

was the first to insist, at AnkAra, that
new Turkey must renounce all claims
to influence outside her racial frontiers.
Determined 70 remain the master in
Turkey, he boldly abdicated all claims
outside 1t. From the very first months
of 1919, when was in Constantinople
as high commissioner. had proof that
he felt fromethe beginning that there
lay the only way to salvation for q really
independent Turkey.
Settlement Destroyed by Fascists.
The head of the powerful Moslem sect
OF the SenussiS. whose headquarters lay
In the southern part of the italian coll
ony of Cyrenaica, had escaped to Brusa,
in Asia Minor. Convinced as was, and
am, that only policy OF local autonomy
and peace would give prosperity to our
African colonies, entered upon patient
and lengthy parleys with the Senussi
chief, offering to reinstate him in his
possessions and to grant him q large
share of autonomy II he would Loyalty
and formally acknowledge the suzer-
ainty of Italy and would bind himself
to further our political and economic
interests in Bengal and Tripoli. The
conversations were successful and led 70
settlement which worked out to our
satisfaction until 1t was destroyed by
covered in Cyrenaica q field for cheap
and deceptive military success. Anxious
as was to secure for Italy the allie
glance of the SenusSis, and fearing lest
the Turks, whose defeat I knew to be
apparent only, would influence them in
the opposite direction, I gave some
hint of my negotiations to Mustapha
Renal and his friends. They sent me
the following answer: "The mainte-
nance of Turkish domination over the
Arabs has been one of the causes of our
decline. We do not want to hear any
more about them. Let them settle mat
tiers with you as they please and Is you
please"
The courage Of this answer confirmed
me in my belief in Turkish awakening.
And 1t goes to the credit Of KemAPs
craftsmanship that he has never
changed his mind on this question.
He had realized that imperial Turkey
was backward country between Europe
and Asia, and that, by becoming
purely Anatolian power, republican
Turkey might in her turn become q
factor for progress only II she looked
upon Central Asia as she does now.
These are the real political innovations
that Renal has had the courage TO
devise and TO carry out That II why
they are so little spoken Of, and the
world has eyes only for his minor and
doubtful games Of alphabetical and sar-
torial reforms.
It is worth while to bring out the
fact that II this dictator seems, alone
of his kind, to attain success, IL Ia be-
cause he has dared to do what no
dictatorship has ever done-to cut down,
or renounce, the noisy and rhetorical
legacieS which the empty prestige pol
icy Of the previous regime had be-
queathed to him.
There Is another thing that may be
said in Kemals favor, and in his favor
alone: BY keeping patriotism one Of
the sacred forces of the nation-and not
bringing 1t to the fever point and to the
verbal exaggerations one witnesses in
certain other European COUNTRYSIDE
NAL may be sure that there will not be
crisis of patriotism in Turkey. IN
fortunately, I am not 50 sure OF that
for the countries where the masses have
witnessed the blasphemous attempts to
identify a regime, q party, faction,
with the most sacred emblems Of the
nation. 4yet a
Live in Fear, Inspire Fear.
That Is why even the overthrow OF
relationships win not be the end Of cey-
tain evils they are bringing about. One
OF these evils has been the endanger-
Ing Of the preservation Of natural and
dutiful feelings OF patriotism; another
may be feared in q lowering Of moral
character. Where the rulers live in
fear there they inspire fear. When for
years the contact between rulers and
ruled has been mainly through spies
and eavesdropperS the consequences
may easily be foreSeen. The mental
prostration under dogmas, formulas,
men (exalted today by order, forgotten
tomorrow by order, as 1t happens all
the time In Russia and in italy, il in
the long run morally degrading. These
sorts Of psychological evils risk becom-
ing habits of thought so deep rooted as
to remain after the causes have gone.
The old Thucidides used to say, 1.-THE
strength of city is not ships or walls
but men,"
He who has travelled in the ancient
East has seen races poisoned incurabi
by long generations OF subsection to die
tatorial despots.
This Is the main reason why, even
granted that q dictatorship may 10 so
much good as to have "the trains run
on time" its effects win always be
lethal to q nation.
In spite of my interest IN things
American, I do not know whether
American citizens still remember Sam
uel Gompers. This much I know-that
few phases have seemed to me as rich
in deep whole-hearted sincerity among
the thousands acclaimed at the Paris
Peace Conference as the following one
the American labor leader said one day
at one of the sittings: Men do not
know how safe thing freedom Is"