BALKANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1916, Page 5

BALKANS.

VOUCH AND CO. GRELCE AND THE ALLIES. A SENSATIONAL XARRATiVX CUXS TRAINED OX BRITISH CAMP. FLEET CLEARS FOR ACTION. On December !) last the Manchester Guardian, in company with the Daily Telegraph, published what must be'regarded as one of the most sensational stories of the year, a cable summary of which was published on December 10. The Guardian's special correspondent at Salonika, in an article bearing the date November '2O, stated that prices had been raised extortionntely against the lJrilish, they were called upon to pay in advance in gold for troop trains, that the Greek troops were actually sitting on the defensive positions round Salonika, behind barbed wire, their guns trained on the Allied camps. Submarine,, mines, stored as if ready to be launched, were discovered at the mouth of the Vardar River, the Karaburu Fort (mentioned in recent cables) at the entrance to the Upper Gulf of Salonika, had been secretly strengthened and heavy guns mounted. In fact, go acute had the position become, that one Sunday the British Fleet cleared for action. This sensational narrative was passed, by the censor at Home—ft fact of some significance.

The correspondent (Mr. G. J. Stevens) began as follows: To try to send you by the Greek telegraph service the facta which aroused the suspicions of th e Entente against Greece and influenced our military and naval authorities to consider the position of the Franco-British troops in Salonika and Macedonia as uneatisfactory and even precarious would be to submit my telegram to such mutilation and even to such perversion of its text as to render it, to say the least, incomprehensible. , The Greek censorship has no scruples about adding to or perverting the text of telegrams, and this has especially been the ease since the appointment at the head of the censorship service in Athens of an individual who until recently was in the pay and employ of Baron" Schenk, the German .propagandist. 1 have followed very closely for the last three years events and developments in this country, and without any boast on my part. 1 believe I can lay claim to exceptional knowledge of Greek affairs, and especially of all those events and developments that have taken place in Greece since the beginning of the European war—events which changed the attitude of this cuuntry from one entirely friendly at the beginning of the war into one almost openly hostile today. A large minority of the Greek people, by the means introduced by our enemies of bribery and corruption, have been cajoled, influenced, bought and v;on over to tho Germans, and as this minority includes the King, his entourage and the military officials, Greece must for the present at least be considered by us as unfriendly. To do otherwise and to persist in the belief that we can detach tho ruling oligarchy in this country from German influence would be to expose ourselves to the same disnppoinment as we met in Turkey and Bulgaria.

MONEY ■ SQUEEZING ON THE RAILWAY.

I will now show you, quoting irrefutable facts, how the situation developed to the present crisis. Since the first landing of troops in Salonika the local Greek authorities, civil and military, in that town took up an attitude of veiled hostility. The inhabitants and the. business community of the town, at the prospect of a How of British and French money, gave us an interesting welcome. No sooner had the first contingent landed than the prices of all commodities were promptly doubled and trebled. To this exploitation of our pockets we quietly submitted, but the example set by the people was,followed by the State in the exploitation of the need we were in to use the State-controlled railways.

The highest tariff is applied for the transportation of munitions, supplies, etc., augmented by a super-tax, exclusively applied to us, of 5 per cent. This is even the ease when supplies are shipped in special trains entirely hired by

us, which in ordinary circumstances would enjoy a substantial reduction. For each soldier transported the full passenger fare is exacted, augmented by a. 7 1 ,'; per cent, super-tax especially created to apply exclusively to us. Xo objection was raised to this exploitation of our needs, but these exactions were followed by a humiliating demand to pay in advance in gold the cost of each train before it left Salonika station. This was rather an affront to the solvency of I'.iiglain! and France. The State director of the railway, however, insisted on compliance, and to avoid further discussion and friction a compromise was reached by making a deposit in cash at the Greek National Bank.

The veiled hostility of the authorities towards us gradually developed info an open one. It we find a house to rent at double and treble its ordinary rent, the military authorities step in annulling the contract and claiming the use of the house in question for the needs of the State. The same is done for anv horse, cart or carriage that we hire. ' With' the visit of the Greek Crown Prince, who came here accompanied by the Ccinanophilo officers of the General Stall', officers of the garrison adopted an overbearing attitude, and I heard many of them hold conversation openly in the cafes discussing the approach of the Germans and the time when they will have to help them to sweep us out to the sea.

SUBMARINE MIXES DISCOVERED. The Karaburnui Fort, at the entrance of the Bay of Salonika, has been secretly strengthened, defence works constructed, and heavy guns mounted. The presence of submarine mines was discovered, stored as if ready to bo launched, at the month of the Vardar river. Trenches and barbed wire defences were constructed on the heights above Salonika turned towards the direction of our camps. Even artillery is mounted on these heights W'th the muzzles of the guns turned in our. direction. Instead of concentrating the mobilised Greek army along their eastern frontier, from where the Bui ti-ian danger threatens, it has boeii concentrated around Salonika and aloiii' the routes that would be followed Uiould the and Serbian Uoops hive

to retreat from Ghevheli and Monastir. A Frenchman who passed an innocent remark, sitting at a. cafe with friends, about tho German appearance of certain officers accompanying tho Crown Prince, was faUely accused as having expressed himself irreverently about the Crown Prince himself, and was thrown into prison. A Greek division quartered at .Salonika, whosu commander gave utterance to his indignation at the thought of CI reek arms being directed | against the benefactors of Greece, was immediately deprived of his command, and two of the regiments composing the division were removed, one to Fiorina and the oilier to Kavalla. At the critical moment during the recent attacks by the Bulgarians, when reinforcements from Salonika were urgently needed to be sent to the front, the necessary train was refused on the excuse that the line was then occupied—a statement which was afterwards found to be utnruc. THE ALLIES 1 FIRST "DEMARCHE,'' All those facts gave food for thought, and with the intention of dissipating the suspicion they raised the French Minister in Athens asked M. Skouloudis, tlie Premier, what Greece intended to do if Hie troops of the Allies had to retreat from Serbia into Greek territory. The reply M. Skouloudis gave.was that, as to the French and British troops, they would be disarmed by tho Greek army, and as to the Serbian' troops they would be disarmed and interned.

It was a, disconcerting reply, and .when M. .Skouloudis saw the bad effect it produced he tried to palliate it by explaining that such would have been the duty of Greece as a neutral State, but that in reality he had no intention of doing so. This explanation was naturally not accepted as sincere, especially an the Athens press favorable to the Skouloudis Cabinet openly discussed the question, and asserted that it was the intention of the Government to enforce the disarmament of the Allies in case of a retreat.

It must also here be said that the reports concerning negotiations between Germany and Greece and of the preparation of a coup by the latter country on our troops in Macedonia is confirmed by the fact of the visit at Athens of Prince von Hohenlohe, about which complete secrecy has been kept.. Tiie Prince, accompanied by Colonel von Marmac'i, arrived here from Dedeagateh on the 33th ult., and immediately left in a Greak destroyer for Athens. NIGHT ATTACK FEARED.

On the lßtli inst. the British Legation in Athens, in a communication t;i the local Press, announced the decision of the four Entente Powers to apply coercive measures against Greek commerce until they received adequate guarantees from the Greek Government as to the safety of the army in Macedonia.

The situation in Salonika last Sunday had become so critical owing to certain military movements . made during the day by the Greeks that it was suspected' that the Greeks were preparing to attack us tliat same night. Our fleet in port cleared for, action; all steamerß along the quays and docks were ordered to leave; and a constant watch wo? kept up throughout the night from various points in the city. Fortunately nothing happened, either because the steps taken by tho fleet became known to the Greeks or because in reality no harm was intended. prince Andrew of Greece, in an interview with, a journalist of a neutral country, said that his brother the King would never agree to demobilise, because that would strengthen the party of 31. Venizelos, <and on no account will he tolerate a' return of M. Venizelos to power, preferring to go, as tho 'Prince add.*,!, to tho extent of abdicating. As to d possible bombardment of Athens, Prince Andrew told the journalist that so longas 80,000 soldiers In Macedonia, we hostages of the Greek army tin- Allies would never dare to fire a shot at any Greek to-....

The throat of Prince -Andrew is- believed in by many of our officers. T . however, dissent from this opinion, and feel more than confident that ;f it is necessary to resort to a regrsttabln bombardment of Athens it would cwise such an upheaval and revulsion of feeling that tile people would rise and sweep away all those on wium tho responsibility for such a Jatastropilie' would rest.