THE MACEDONIAN PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 80, 30 December 1918, Page 6

THE MACEDONIAN PROBLEM

ENEMY DESIGNS : THE.RIGHTS OF THE BALKAN ALLIES

Commenting on the dangers still to bo guarded against in redrawing the map ot iiic JJalKaus, au American writer observes that "Macedonia for the Jlacedoniuiia" is a movement which, like tnat lor a plebiscite in Alsace-Lorraine, has its origin in Berlin, where endeavours aro made to construe President Wilson's pronouncements, to the eifi'ct that nations should bo free to choose their own ibrm of government, in furtherance of these two propagandas . ' "When it was realised by the Germans that they would not be permitted by the Entente to retain Alsace and Lorraine," he continues, "they put furth the contention that tho people of tho two provinces should be left free to determine their future destiny by uieuns of a plebiscite, hoping hereby to prevent their restoration to France, lii the same way Bulgaria, when-she finally became convinced that she wou\d not be permitted to retain Macedonia, started the cry of "Macedonia for the Macedonians," a cry which proves conclusively that'although King Boris has taken the place of Ferdinand on the throne of Sofia, has seceded from the Central Powers and has oifered to throw in his lot with the Entente, he still continues to receive inspiraion from his father at Coburg and directions from the Kaiser at Berlin

"'Macedonia for the Macedonians', means that if Bulgaria is required to sur- ■ render those portions of Macedonia which she acquired by force from Serbia, with the assistance of the Germans and Austrians, Greece would be naked to abandon all that portion of Macedonia awarded to her bv the terms of the Congress of London at the close of the first Balkan war and by the Congress of Bucharest on the termination of the second Balkan campaign That portion of Macedonia now in. the posp"ssion of Greece has as it? capital the rich and prosnorous seaiwrt of Salonika, where the rich Iberian .Tews settled centuries as;o on being ilriven out of Spain, and where they have ever since played the leading role in trade, ami finance.

''The principal competitors of these Salonika Jews in commerce and in banking are the Greeks, and the rivalry be-' tween them is very keen. The prospect of Greece being compelled to withdraw from Salonika and to permit if , to become the.. metropolis of an independent Macedonia is a very tempting one to the Jews of that city. "Bulgaria has many warm friends in America, especially among the supporters of the great Presbyterian Hoberl College at Constantinople, who have been encouraged to gather the totally erroneous impression tlwt all the leading statesmen of Bulgaria are graduates of the college concerned. This is not the case. There are \iot more than about six alumni of Robert College who play any sort of a role at Sofia. They have long since forgotten all the good"—and, above all. the civilisation—which they learned at their alma mater, and have become wholly contaminated by their semi-bar-barous and brutalised" environment in Bulgaria. '

"Uuljjiiria's friends here—thus acquired —have lwon led by. their sympathies to support the idea that sine/" she is not to be allowed to keep thosa portions: of Macedonia until recently in her'possession it would be preferable to have Macedonia constituted into an autonomous State with ,a republican form of government. They are encouraged and supported in this view by some of the American co-religionists of the Jews of Salonika. Both of these pro-Bulgnr elements seem blind to the presence of the Kaiser's hidden hand in the scheme. "With all profound respect for the statesmanship of President Wilson, who has proved himself to be tlft!<»re«t master miiid of the Entente Powers in the present war. it must be admitted jthat a good deal of ignorance prevails among the numbers of his administration regarding the so-called Eastern questionthat nightmare of European diplomacy during the best part of the.last hundred years. In their doubt and hesitation they look for advice to trustees and former professors of Robert College'and clergy of the Presbyterian Mission Hoards and to certain prominent Jews who, because of their touch with Constantinople, are assumed to possess a superior knowledge of the Balkan situation. These men are known to .sympathise with Bulgaria at the expense of other Powers of the Balkans. This is not intended as criticism of them, for doubtless they are honest in their views and prejudices. "From this it will be seen that, what between the export advisers of the Government who favour the Bulgarians and those who favour the Jews as against the Oreeks, rhe interests' of the latter are in danger of suffering at the hands of ( the American people. _"Thu. proposal for the transformation of Bulgarian, Greek, Serbian, and Turkish Macedonia into a separate, independent Macedonian State, with a republican fo'm of government, is being rendered additionally alluring to tho people of America by the. suggestion made and energetically advocated in certain quarters in New York and Washington to the effect that the new Macedonian republic and all tho other Powers of the Balkans should bo grouped together under the protectorate and control of the United States, in order to compel them to keep peace among one another, like so many unruly children in si nursery. Now a protectorate of this kindwbuld constitute a very grave infringement upon Hie sovereignty of, Serbia, and of Greece, and of Rumania. It

would be a sorry return for the magnificent heroism with which the, Serbians have fought against almost hopeless o'dds since the beginning of the war to deprive thorn of the sovereignty of their territory,' in the reconqutst of'which they and tl'iei Greeks have played n leading'rale, bnt in which the United Slates l:as had no part. It would be a sorry return, too, for the invaluable services rendered to tlie Entente by that great statesman, Venizeles, who risked everything to help our cause, making it Hint of Greece, which' since last .spring has had nearly 300,000 men lighting for us in the Balkans. "It would be a sorry, return too, for all the untold sufferings that Queen Marie and her gallant lieges'in Rumania hjivc endured for our sake. The entire scheme of an American protectorate is. preposterous and probably .would not be , sanctioned by France, to tlie victories of whose General d'Esperey and to whose guns the collapse of the Central Powers in the Balkans is so largely due. It probably would not'be approved by Great Britain, which.has for the last fifty years or more paid the greater portion' r,f the civil list of the rulers of Greece and financed her. government. Above'nil, it would not be submitted to by Greece herself, which sej?*' in tlie United States a great and good friend and an ally, but not a mnster to whose control she vould be subject as a more vassal. "Greece's civilisation is the oldest in the world. It is the mother of Western civilisation, culture, and art of the twentieth century , . Her people claim to belong to the Occidental rather than. to the Oriental group of nations, and do not relish the notion of being associated in tlio American mind with such Miiii-bnr-

barons races as Hip Bulgarians, the Albnniiins,. smkl the Montenegrins, net-ding the supervision mid control of the United States or any other nation."

Acknowledging a salute proved fatal at Sheerness to Commander Charles Walter Campbell Strickland, R.N. After responding to the seamen's salute at a level crossing, lie stepped on the rails without i\itic ing a train approaching. He jumped back, but was knocked down, and received injuries from which ho died.

Speaking at Birmingham on "the Machine Tool Industry and the British Empire," Mr. A. Judson, of Westminster, stated that during l!ll" the output of German machine tools was .£2,000,000," and (hat the British' output" was probably but a quarter of this amount. Writing to a London' newspaper, Mr. .hulsoii adds that "the British machine tool industry .stands a bad third as. compared with cither U.S.A. or Germany, and it is in the interest of the nation, not only from nn industrial point of view, but from the point of view of national safety, to make a- , dead-beat, at tho very least."