Evening Post. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1922. THE CRISIS AND ITS RESULTS

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 90, 13 October 1922, Page 6

Evening Post. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1922. THE CRISIS AND ITS RESULTS

The Near East crisis is reported to have passed. But we have had the same story at least half a dozen times during the last three or four weeks, and there is no reason why the 'crisis should not recur at the Peace Conference on the Ist November or even before. A note of caution should therefore mingle with the elation which is naturally produced by the successful turning of a very awkward corner. , General Harington in particular deserves the thanks and congratulations of the Empire. He has combined patience and tact with courage and determination throughout the prolonged and baffling negotiations. How coolly he faced the breaking point and broke down the Turkish bluff i» the small hours of Monday morning is vividly described by the correspondent of the "Morning Post." General Harington had his fingers on the f»tal document which, would have let loose the dogs of war before Ismet Pasha was satisfied that- Britain had said her last peaceful word and come to reason. "Only the Chanak troops know," says General Harington; "how near it was to the first shot which would have precipitated the conflict." By their forbeai'ance and politeness under conditions of unprecedented difficulty, those wonderful diplomatists in the trenches had contributed their full share to the work of peace. The best proof that the immediate danger of war has. definitely passed is afforded by the fact that the Braemar Castle, with a thousand members of the Air Force on board for Mesopotamia, which was temporarily diverted to Constantinople, has now resumed her voyage. ' ■

The Turks are of course jubilant over a result which promises them so much of what they seemed to have lost for ever'when they laid down their arms four years ago, and encourages the hope of ultimately recovering much more. But there is a grain of comfort in what the "Morning Post's" correspondent reports of the change in the atmosphere at Mudania after the signing of "the protocol.

Now that the war cloud 1 hag melted, ho says, 'Turkish leaders are inclined to forget that earlier impression that Britain was the chief villain of the piece. They .now believe that Britain is prepared to regain the prestige of the Moslem world by doing for Turkey what she did for Egypt, without, however, exacting political control.

If this merely means that, having yielded so much, Britain is expected by the Turks to yield to peaceful pressure just as much nioro as they may choose to ask, there may still be a rupture at Scutari or at any time afterwards that may suit their convenience.' But the suggestion rather is that Britain's display of force has brought the Turks to a better temper, and that the Power which held the Asiatic shore of the Straits after being deserted by its Allies is not so exhausted or demoralised by the Great War as to have lost the strength required to maintain the position in the Near East or the will' to use it. If-any such element of reason as this has come 7 in to qualify the arrogance of Turkish Nationalism, the dramatic stand taken by the British Government a month ago has been amply justified iw4 goes faivla redeem fcijQ

grievous blunders which had made it necessary.

It would be useless to blink the fact that Britain has had a much graver danger to face during the last few weeks than the insolence of the Turks or the defection of France. Four years ago, Germany, after , all her failures in the field, was Still unbeaten, because her home front stood firm. Shortly afterwards, when that began, to crumble away, her case' became hopeless, and She had to hoist the white flag. During the: negotiations with the Turks, and despite acts of, provocation and aggression on their part which really were acts of war, Britain has been heavily handicapped by differences of opinion at home which have brought out such men as Mr. Asquith and Lord Grey as advocates of peace with the Turks at any price. Still more ominous was the attitude of the Labour Party, which, if it was fairly represented by the deputation that waited upon Mr. Lloyd George, was prepared "to organise opposition against any form of war." "Labour," said Mr. J. H. Thomas, "disagrees with the methods of giving effect to the policy [of the Government] rather than with the policy." Yet it is abundantly clear by this time that nothing but the armed forces of Britain kept Kemal from the Straits, and that the policy of which British Labour approves would have gone by the • board if the methods of which it disapproves had not been applied. How far Labour's threatened opposition would have gone has fortunately not been brought to the test.

Perilous as was the embarrassment created by these divisions at a crisis which was largely induced by his own mistakes, the success of Mr. Lloyd George's bold stroke seems not unlikely-to revive his .waning mana with the electors. It is at anjj rate clear that he himself is not prepared to accept the "Observer's" diagno*sis -of his position as desperate. That diagnosis was written when things were at their very worst, but Mr. Lloyd George" has since been favoured with his usual' luck. He has snatched a partial success from the very jaws of disaster, and the fact that he has averted war by showing -a bold front is well calculated to impress the,public. Though he is described by the "Observer" as tired after seventeen years of office, and he has occasionally spoken to the same effect himself, there is not the faintest trace of weariness in his present attitude. "The Prime Minister," says the "Daily Chronicle," "is in fighting mood." He will address a great meeting at Manchester to-morrow, and there is a rush for seats which is probably unprecedented since Mr. Gladstone was at ,the zenith of his powers forty years ago. As at the Dardanelles, Mr. Lloyd George finds his chief peril in the division of his home front. Labour and the "Wee Frees" have done him little harm, but the Conservative "Die-hards" may break the Coalition at any moment. But it would be rash to prophesy that' the "little Welshman" will not win through.