NEARLY AT WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1922, Page 5

NEARLY AT WAR.

PERIL IN THE NEAR EAST. SOME SECRET HISTORY, WORST CLOUD SINCE 1914. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Oct. 17, 10.30 pjn. Paris, Oct. 16. M. Bouillon (French High Commissioner in Turkey), speaking to 75 pressmen, representing a score of nations, detailed the inner history of the Mudania conference as a means of replying to Mr. Lloyd George’s attacks upon Turkey. He said the arrest of the Turkish march upon the Straits was not due to British reinforcements, but to the political sagacity of Mustapha Kemal, who wished to show Europe his desire for peace and his gratitude for the concessions obtained by the intercession of France, which had persuaded Britain to promise to restore Eastern Thrace to the Turks. The British meaBures of force only hindered the conclusion of the armistice for 48 hours. The situation at Mudania was the most grave since 1914. A victorious army was within 40 kilometres of its capital, yet it was asked to stop further advance for a while. Peace was menaced simply because the Turks were asked to abandon the railway station at Adrianople, on the ground that it was on the other side of the Maritia. It was a touching moment when General Harington extended his hand across the table to Ismet and said: “We came as enemies; we part as friends.” M. Bouillon added: “I can imagine General Harington’s distress when he read Mr. Lloyd George’s speech.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. BRITISH GENERAL’S POSITION. NO FRICTION WITH CABINET. EVACUATION OF THRACE. Received Oct. 17, 10.30 p.m. London, Oct. 16. Mr. M. Donohoe, the British correspondent at Constantinople, states General Harington, receiving newspaper men, emphatically denied the published rumors of friction and discord between himself and the British Cabinet in connection with the recent crisis. He said he was a soldier purely and simply, and regretted that his name had been unjustly coupled with political propaganda. No soldier in British history received a greater measure of support from his Government. He was given a free hand, and the Government unhesitatingly backed him throughout. General Harington stated the evacuation of Thrace would be a difficult task, not minimised by the unfounded reports of incendiary outrages by the Greeks, which tKe Kemalists announced, though the Allied commissioners on the spot proved that the Kemalist tales were untrue. The Greeks were behaving admirably thus far, implicitly obeying instructions for a peaceful evacuation. —Aus-N.2. Cable Assn.

FRENCH PRESS BITTER. BRITISH PREMIER CENSURED. Paris, October 15. The newspapers continue angry comments on Mr. Lloyd George’s speech. All deny that the maintenance of peace in the Near East was the result of British threats to the Turks. They contend that French diplomacy was solely responsible therefor. The Figaro declares that never was the truth more audaciously travestied, never has a Minister so greatly slandered an allied nation. The Matin save the testimony of General Harington to French co-opera-jtion is an precious as Mr. Lloyd George’s leclarations are valueless. ■Le Journal says: Our duty is to in. form Mr. Lloyd George that if he inters the Peace Conference in the Tame of mind he showed in Manchester he must bear the responsibility for Us inevitable conflicts. EVACUATION OF THRACE. Athens, October 16. General Nider, commanding the Greek <rmy in Thrace, telegraphed to the Sovernment and General Harington iomplaining that the French railway jompany is providing insufficient railway stock to permit the evacuation lei ng completed in the stipulated period. THE REFUGEE PROBLEM. Geneva. October 16. The vastness of the Near Eastern refugee problem is emphasised bv a telegram which Dr. Nansen sent from Constantinople to the Secretariat of the League of Nations, saying that three-quarters of a million refugees from Asia Minor are distributed throughout Greece, Thrace, and the Islands. They are mostly women and children without money, food shelter, or clothing. The Government relief organisations are doing their utmost to cope with urgent necessities, but the organisation of relief on a much vaster scale is essential to avert a catastrophe. Dr. Nansen appeals urgently for public funds.