Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE MONDAY, JANUARY 31st, 1916. THE REAL CONSTANTINE.

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 January 1916, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE MONDAY, JANUARY 31st, 1916. THE REAL CONSTANTINE.

Constantixk, King of Greece, is alternately friendly and defiant. One day he protests ids eagerness to maintain a benevolent neutrality favoring the Entente; the* next he is toning American press interviewers how bitterly he resents the encroachments on ids kingdom. Everyone recognises how difficult is the position of a monarch standing between the Teuton and the Teufel, but, as . lias been pointed out again and again, King Constantine has only himself to thank for the invidious circumstances with which lit* finds himself surrounded. He has scarcely been playing the game. Double dealing has been (ho main characteristic of his policy, as revealed by the fact that whilst professing in help the Allies he has permitted the Austro-Germans to establish submarine bases on Ids coasts and a! {he island of Corfu to set up a complete staff organisation. The Allies landed at (Salonika at the invitation of his Government, and there is more than a suspicion that unless a firm stand had been taken and prompt defensive measures established, including the blowing up of bridges, which forms a part of Constantine’s grievance, (be Anglo-French troops would have found themselves in a horrible trap, with always the possibility of the Greek army pouncing upon them to out off their retreat.' Dr. E. ,T. Dillon, the wellknown publicist and student of Near Eastern affairs, has emphatically ( warned us not to trust, (he Greeks and , has given some insight into (lie char- ■ acter of the King of (he Hellenes, f “Unconscious," he write,*,, ‘‘(he Greek I monarch feels, thinks, and acts as a J warrior whose admiration for the -j champion war lord iff (he world is boundless and as a leader who must, at all costs, prevent his nation from 0 jcommitting itself to an alliance with * dhe losing side. And, thanks to the , marvellous organ Ration o* Germany,

tn winch urn Allies have nothing (o oppose, Constantine,, hia general stall',, a large percentage of tire deputies, aiid an influential minority of the nation are firmly convinced that the Entente Powers are bound to be defeated. From a. Power with these convictions and also a va.st national interest, one cannot reasonably expect a heroic move for that which it considers a lost cause. The Greeks, being a mercantile rather than a military people, are immensely proud of the military successes won by their great captain Constantine, whom a section of the press ranks above all. An Athens jonrndl says : ‘We should not forget that the King is the first strategist of the world. Ho has freemen tiy criticised the battle directed by Russian and German generals, and ho has oven examined the Kaiser’s plans and discovered numerous mistakes there, displaying acumen worthy of admiration.’ One can understand Pie fiery enthusiasm of a commercial people for the world's unrivalled strategist.. Yenizelos’ statesmanship they i raise, and are pleased that when lie quilted office, Greece was twice as big as when lie first assumed Id's Ministerial duties four years before. Put Greece's unmatched war lord is the national ideal to be apotheosized, whereas Yenizelos is estimated as a statesman to he honored by the entire nation after death.” Dr. Dillon states most definitely that a league of mnm arehs, pro-arranged by 5 the Kaiser, was completed in principle before the war broke out, and the original conception was more comprehensive than the final achievement. This falling off between intention and realisation was due in great part, not to resistance on the part of monarchs tempted, bub solely to the veto of certain of their influential subjects. With promptitude and thoroughness, Germany forestalled the unsuspecting Entente Towers, formed a syndicate of kings, and began by obtaining assurances that- none would harm, while some would help Ict. Constantine, he asserts, was one of the syndicate. The assurance of benevolent neutrality lavished by his Premier, M. Skouloudis, are less solemn and loss binding than the formal treaty obligations assumed by Greece towards .Serbia. They are less solid than the promises made by M. Yenizelos, who was hacked by (he King, Cabinet, Parliament, and the nation at llie time and since systematically disavowed. How could the Entente States accept assurances, however solemn, from any Minister or Cabinet appointed by the King, for the special purpose of carrying out Germany's designs against themselves 'I The refusal of leave of ah-/ se.iice to Yenizelist deputies liable for military service clearly showed the King’s determination, at all costs, to create a Cermanopliile Parliament, hostile to the Entente Powers. Dr. Dillon concludes an article in the contemporary Review with this summary of the position : —“The eagerness of King Constantine and his round table to join their ‘victorious friends’ the Germans and work together with them is moderated only by fear of the Allies, who have command of the sea. It Great Britain and France blocked, the ports of Greece; the population would die. of famine before the Kaiser could succour them. One and all, then, the King’s friends are smitten with (he political mania of KuKur and the personal mania of greatness. One i may write and think pleasant things ■ of Constantine, his officers Dousmanlu j ami Mertaxas, the ox-Ministers Theotokis, Gonnaris, Stroit, etc., but when makimv nolitieal calculations we must

reckon nil those gentlemen among on potential enemies, and give them ful credit for an overwhelming desire t< help on the Teutons to the fullest ex tent of which they are capable when ever they think they can do so with out exposing their persons to punish ment or their plans to frustration, 1 Dr. Dillon complains that all hi: warnings of Germany's warlike intentions were pooh-poohed by the Brißs) statesmen before the war, and that his warning as to the true charade] of King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, King Constantine, and John Bratiano, tin Prime Minister of Boumania, have been similarly pooh-poohed since the war began, and with disastrous, results.