THE EX-KING OF GREECE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3145, 27 November 1922, Page 8

THE EX-KING OF GREECE.

•o lii mi earlier age of Greek eultt ->, King Coustauthie's career would hs s- been fit theme for tragedy, writes t s. Daily Chronicle. Rarely has a monat >r brought his country into deeper sha: t, and disaster. Rarely has Royal me; i- lomania come -so utterly to crash. is Still more rarely has a ruler been •s (ornately the idol of a nation and e opposite, its leader alternately in v tory and in abject defeat, or has tw it occupied the Throne and twice ah •'- cated.. Such vicissitudes of fortune y not seem to belong to these unroman a days. hj It its idle to depict this doubly unfc . v tunate monarch, unfortunate in his cl s racter and unfortunate in his trainir '- as a monster of perfidy and intrigi . v . For one thing, he simply has not t '[ intelligence torso grandiose a part. E ' role has been that of a dull, obstinat ■ s wilful nature, warped by prejudices ai n ' wedded to beliefs acquired by a mi *■ tary training in the Potsdam milita * and political school, who happened '' be in charge of a country's fortunes a time when these prejudices and 1 1 liefs were destined to do it a:nd hi J most harm. 1 Had there been no Great War. hi ' ho not been sent to Germany for 1 j training, had his whole upbringing n } been so exclusively militarist, it is qui likely that Constantine would have goi \ down to history as one of those sobc I upright, not very inspiring monarcl: perhaps somewhat of our Hanoverh 1 type, who on the whole have deserv< well of their country. Even at this distance of time it not possible to judge otherwise tin harshly of his behavior during the wa 1 Had he simply desired to keep his cou L , try neutral there would have been litt v to say against him. Even so that ne trality was a gross breach of an existii 1 pact with Serbia, and therefore a hj s trayal. |* Hut his willy prejudices were tc > much I'di - him. He really calculate 1 upon a German victory. It was incoi > eeivable to him that the groat militai instrument he had been taught to wo t ship could he so utterly smashed. Ar - documents show that his correspoin once with Potsdam went far beyond tl limits even of friendly neutrality. L > more subtle ruler than Constantii v- would have at least disguised his att tude more effectually. Constantine I partisanship was blatant and eve ( stupid. None the less if made him •i thorn in the side of the Allies, and t serious clanger. » A martinet of the Prussian schoo he, endangered the very existence < c his dynasty even while he was 'Crow Prince. In 1909 a military junta sei; .< cd the reins of government, coin polio his dismissal from the post of Con - mauder-in-Chief. and all but coinpe led the (tight and abdication of hj harmless father King George. b The Balkan Wars brought about i complete reversal of fortune. The sfi< cesses of the Greek army in Alacedoni > were attributed to his leadership. An i. it was during the outburst of nations i enthusiasm at the brilliant strategy (;i it was believed) that enabled th Crown Prince to occupy Salonica an I capture the fortress of S'aniua that th tragedy occurred which brought hii to the throne—the assassination of hi father by a. madman on March \£ ■ 1913. Other causes for his*popularity were First, the fact .that he was the firs native-born Greek sovereign; then hi devotion to the army and his knowi determination to win high rank lb: Greece as a military Power; finally hi; Hellenist megalomania, which, fortifiet by a. legend that the first native-bon King of Greece would win Constantinople back to Hellenism and the mosque of San Sophia back to Christendom seemed to open a vista of Empire am glory to the Greek people. Abdication was forced upon him -i • June, 1917, by the three ProtectinPowers of Greece— England. Prance and Russia—when his second son Prince Alexander, was put on the thro n< u\ his stead, his eldest son. Prince George, being expressly excluded fron the succession. Alexander's death les: than three years later almost eoincidei with an emphatic repudiation of ,\! Yenizelos at the polls. The opportunity was favorable' lor Constantino's parti sans. M. Veni/elos. it must be said 1 , ha-i governed harshly, tyranical'ly. Constan line returned at once from' exile n Switzerland and reascended the throiu that he had quittccT so shortly before. King Constantine was a soldier above everything. He had hardly a. trace ol statesmanship' in his composition, and no skill as an administrator. By hit military reputation alone he was doomed to stand or fall. When the bottom dropped clean out of that reputation, as it hats just done, his abdication was an absolute certainty. In the politically' undeveloped condition of Greece it was almost equally inevitable that the army, upon winch he principally relied, should be his executioner. History remits itself. A military junta has ordered him off the throne to-day. just as a militarv junta deposed him from the high opium and when he was Crown Prince 13 vears ago. There is no need for tears over Constantino's fate. It is the Greek nation t.iat deserves commiseration in its miseries. An unwise ruler never merits sympathy.

During the war an enormous number ol vessels containing valuable cargo were sunk, and I lie impression prevails that, except in the case of such tilings ms gold, the cargoes are likely to have been so badly damaged as to he not worth salvage. A British authority points out. however, that in the case ol steel goods and machinery, immersion for eighteen months or more leaves the articles in practically as good a state as when they came out of the factory. One ol' the most remarkable illustrations of this claim is afforded by a turbine steamer which had suffered so little during eighteen months under I he- sea that after Inning been raised she was actually able to proceed under her own steam when a little overhauling had been carried out. Perishable cargoes also seem to suffer little damage, as a. film-like covering is formed by the sea round them. A story of the Prince of Wales is told in a letter written by a Chester citizen, who is on holiday in Cornwall. When he had taken his seat for luncheon in a dining saloon in a train lie found he was sitting next to the Prince of Wales. "The Prince." he said, "chatted and laughed all through the luncheon just like a big boy full of fun. The head attendant told us the Prince had asked why the saloon Mas so empty, and was told he had been ordered to keep the dining saloon reserved. The Prince said. 'Not lit all, bring someone else in; I am just an ordinary passenger and like natural voiupany."