VENEZELOS.

Evening Star, Issue 15928, 7 October 1915, Page 6

VENEZELOS.

ANOTHER RESIGNATION. HIS PAST CAREER. THE MAN. THE HOUR. THE FINGER OF FATE. [By Cameos.] King Constantine of Greece, with that peculiar wisdom which the man who is gated with the abilities that would make 0 him a first-class farmer is apt to display when seated on a throne, has chosen the present moment, when the landing of the Allies is well under way, to inform M 1 1 cnezclos that he cannot follow the policy of Jus Cabinet through to the end. M. enez-elos lias taken the only course open to him—-he has resigned. What King Constantine really means can only be t t l los ® "' ith sufficient patience tu follow tho _ uortuous working of a confused, vacillating, and puzzled mind. But ins action, is likely to prove lather embarrassing to the Allies. Still, the landing has now been made, and the step that his been taken is not likely to be rctiaced. Rather will it be, necessary' for the Kmg, if his uneasy conscience will not allow him to follow tlixough to the end a straightforward course of poliev, to make way for someone else who cam Perhaps however, we can trust to the skill and judgment of M. Venezelos to smooth matters out again, and to keep the crown on t.ie head of a blundering monarch who is doing ins best to get rid of the encumbrance. CONFIDENCE IN VENEZELOS. VHg Greek Chamber has passed a vote of confidence in M. Venezelos and Iris Government- by 142 votes to 102. One would have preferred to see unanimity in the Greek Parliament, but a loyal majority of 40 in so small a number of deputies will be ample to ensure the canwing through of the Government policy. The vacillating doctrinaire i s always with us, and though M. A onozelos may be unable to instill into the puzzled intelligences of those who would, obstruct him any clear grasp of the strategical situation, vet his triumph and Justification will come after the war, and his reputation and the work that he does will lire for generations after the names of his puerile opponents are forgotten. *

M. Venezelos challenged his critics to show that he could have followed a different course. Of course, they had no alternative policy to offer, and contented themselves with the bleating suggestion that Greece would act imprudently if she provoked the hostility of the Central Powers the ideal policy for such master minds is to do nothing until one is kicked into action by disaster. Then would come tho opportunity for the full display of that blundering ineptitude when faced by unpleasant facts which is characteristic of -ho doctrinaire. Tho statesman or the diplomatist may win his way to triumph bv the exercise of many different qualities. He may be tactful and plausible, a smooth manipulator or words; or he may be a Joud-tongueo. bouncing bully, and vet be equally' successful. He may have the art ot making the worse appear the better reason in the eyes of the uncritical man in the street by means of a limitless flow of eloquent verbiage; or ho may carry the day bv sheer intellectual lucfditv. The method employed, however, matters little. Ineie is one indispensable quality which a statesman must have if he is to accomplish any great work, and without which all his other guts are futile and likely to briim his country .nothing but disaster—that is” the ability to make up his mind dearly as to what he wants, and then to go for it whhout vacillation. It is the possession of this quality to an outstanding degree that makes M. Venezelos so remarkable a contrast to his opponents, and that has enabled him to wm a, series of successes, where they' have nothing to show hut a senes of humiliating failures. ’Hie fact that upon this man. more than upon any other, depends the success of the Allies in the Balkans, and that upon their success m that quarter depends the whole future course of the war, will justify a brief sketch of his past career. A CHILD OF LIBERTY. M. Venezelos was born in the island of -enp (which forms just such another pendant to Greece as the Isle of M 7 ight forms to England) in 1864. It was a period when Greta was in the throes of one. of its periodical struggles for liberty and the father of young Venezelos, hein<an enthusiastic champion of Cretan Jibefrics, christened him “ Eleutherios,” which being interpreted means liberty. But ° n .the burden of such a name was insufficient to keen young Eleutherios down He was educated at the Universities of Athens ' and Lausanne, in Switzerland. He studied law and settled down as a practising lawyer in Crete at the age of 25. i Rut he was sbpir roused bv the inequities of Turkish rule, and employed his tamo in agitating against. Finally he took to the hills as an insurrectionary. He urst came into notice through holding with a party of friends, the fortress of -Maloxa, near Candia, against the warships of the Powers.

On the appointment of Prince George of Greece, the brother of King Constantine, as High Commissioner in Crete, venezelos was offered and accepted a seat in the Counoil appointed to assist him. His marked ability soon showed itself, but Prince George developed autocratic tendencies, which ill suited Venezelos, who himself was cursed with a. weakness for having his own way. So ho took to the hills again, raised another insurrection, deposed Prince George, and sent him homo again. For this littlo incident Venezelos has never been quite forgiven br the Grecian Royal Family, although it was he who subsequently established them firmly on the Throne of Greece. Thenceforward he was the uncrowned King of Crete, and displayed such marked ability as to attract the attention of the Greek nation. THE FINGER OF DESTINY.

About that time Greet politics "were a perfect quagmire of confusion, and the whole of the public services in a state of thorough di s organ i sat ion. The countiy was cursed with tile American system of political appointments to all public offices higher than that of an. elementary school teacher, except those of Judges of the Supreme Court and university professors. Naturally, the holders of public offices stood in constant dread of losing their posts through the fall of the Ministry from which they had received them, and they devoted to political intrigue the time which should have been spent in honest work in their departments. The army had been routed again and again by the Turks in the war of 1897, not through lack of fighting spirit among the Greeks, but through sheer disorganisation and lack of proper training and equipment. The result was a terrible blow to tho national self-reliance. Tile Royal Family was thoroughly unpopular, and things were drifting from bad to worse. A series of short-lived Ministries, composed for the most part of the kind of inept, puzzled-brained talkers and doctrinaires who are opposing Venczelos now, did nothing to improve matters. Then a Military League was formed in the army for the purpose of setting things right. It speedily acquired dictatorial powers, hut its leaders, though animated by the best intentions, having got the power, did not know how to use it. Things got worse instead of better. King George was almost on the point of resigning his crown or of being forcibly deposed when the leaders of the Reform party were struck by a happy inspiration. With a common sense so unique and rare among politicians as to make on© think that it must have been , inspired by tho voice of the gods, ' they came to the conclusion that they were united Jo .wigld tfco jower Jhey cpq-l

trolled, and they determined to entrust the lead to the hando of the most capable man they could find. The finger of fate pointed to "Venezelos. His star had risen above the horizon at the most appropriate hour. He was a Greek, a reformer, and a man whose conspicuous ability was already proved. In 1909 he was invited by the Reform party to go to Greece and lead them. He accepted the invitation. As so often happens in history, the hour had struck, and with the hour came the man. VENI, VIDI, VICE Fifteen months later Venezelos and his supporters were returned to power with a large majority. He accepted the leadership of tho Chamber with the dual portfolios of War and Marine. Possessed of a thorough knowledge of both military and naval matters, his unique administrative abilities were soon displayed. A French military mission was called in to assist in reorganising the army, while British officers guided the reorganisation of the navy. The two subsequent wars showed how thoroughly the work had been done. In this, as in his political reforms, Venezelos showed a thorough grasp of the principles of sound organisation. The next General Election produced an overwhelming majority for the Reform party, no less than 150 seats out of 181 being carried; while the remaining 51 seats were divided among no fewer than five political parties. M 7 ith such an overwhelming majority behind him, Venezelos was able to proceed to a thorough reform of the Constitution and of politics generally. Only a few of bis more notable achievements can bo mentioned here. He created a Council of State entrusted, with tho double duty of acting as a consultative body and of drafting Bills for presentation to the Chamber; lie created a special legal tribunal for verifying the mandates of deputies, this having previously been done by the biased Chamber itself; lie reduced the number of deputies to a. reasonable proportion with the size of the electorate; he enlarged the functions of the Supreme Court in dealing with administrative abuses; best of all, he abolished the system of political appointments and rendered nomination to public offices dependent on competitive examination.

In short, he gave to Greece a sound political organisation. He found her politics a sink of corruption and restored them to health. He gave her an army and a navy, and with these he fought two successful wars. He found a large proportion of the Greek race still under a foreign yoke, and ho gave them liberty. This is the man upon whom the future of the Balkans mainly depends. Among a mob of small-brained intriguers, and of eloquent but purposeless doctrinaires, ho stands pre-eminent as the one man who can see what the situation demands and take tho necessary steps to carry it through. If he exhibits in the future the same clear-sighted decision which has characterised his actions in the past, we need have little fear of what the outcome will be. A GENERAL SUMMARY.

Apart from the resignation of M. Venezelos, there, are few items of real importance among the stream of gossip and conjecture which is flowing in. It appeal’s that some of the allied forces at Salonika, who have, been received with enthusiasm by the inhabitants, are French white troops. Unit Franco is employing white soldiers is a proof of the importance attached to the expedition, and of the fact that it has long been foreseen and preparcel. Lord Kitchener is said by a member of the Labor Congress to have declared that, given enough men, he will guarantee victory on his jjersonal reputation. He is justified in doing so. Now that the German offensive against Russia has been defeated, even the blunders of such men as King Constantme can scarcely deprive us of the final victory.

The Russians now claim to he supplied with abundance of ammunition, and, as was to he expected, they are taking the offensive all along the line. They°]iave occupied some German') trenches near Friedrichstadt. on the Dima, have captured some villages in the lake region to the oast of Vilna, and some more villages south of the Pripet. The great German offensive has faded into the modest claim that Ilindenburg “easilyj’cpulsed the Russian attacks.” Probably troops have been withdrawn for the Balkans, so the Russian offensive is doubly important. From the west front there is nothing beyond the usual list of small events, with a heavy bombardment all along the line. It is admitted that the Allies’ attack is ended. Jh:s confirms the view which has been taken here of that offensive all along. It was never intended as a. grand offensive fn break up the enemy’s line and drive them back to the' Rhine, ft consisted merely of local attacks, de(u grind to compel the enemy to reinforce their line from the east. 'The Germans are indulging in jeers at its expense; hut it is a wry-mouthed kind of mirth —a fact which is explained by a glance at the state of their offensive in the oast.