TURKEY AND THE TERMS.

Grey River Argus, 12 November 1920, Page 2

TURKEY AND THE TERMS.

A cable stated ,the other day that the Allies had arranged to take turn ' about in ruling at Constantinople. They did aiot care, perhaps, to give any one ' of their number the Oriental metropolis altogether, and America, distant as she is, had refused their offer to let her look after it. Once the Allies -had planned to give it to Russia, but the Russia they wished to strengthen was Tsarist and not Soviet. Now, however, the news comes that the Sublime 'Porte has refused to ratify the Turkish Peace Treaty. The cutting up of Turkey has certainly been a most peculiar business. To judge from debates' in the French Parliament, the feeling is that England has carved all the best joints of the bird for herself, viz., Mesopotamia, Cyprus, Egypt, and first turn at Constantinople, where possession may be later invoked as ninepoints of the law. Britain has also gotten possession of Mosul, which France was to get at first, and it was ouly at tho last moment that France secured a small share of the oil from the valley of the Euphrates River. Great areas have also been handed to Greece, aud there are doubts as to her ability to retain possession of them. At present neither in Thrace nor Smyrna are the Greeks dominant, and the giving of these lands to Greece has-been perhaps the chief reason why . ' the Porte refuses to ratify the Treaty, because this arrangement 'has .aroused more resentment in Turkey and indeed throughout Moslem lands than any of the other annexations. There seems to be little doubt that the real Government of Turkey is in the hands of Mustapha Ivemal, whose headquarters are at Sivas. The Sultain and his Ministry, entirely under the thumbs of the Allies forces in Constantinople, might sign or not sign any number of 'binding" treaties but it is pointed out that so far as the Turks themselves are - concerned, these* are mere scraps of paper, of which they take not the slightest notice. It seems now that there remains no ehancc of a pcacoful settlement by consent. What the vari- . ous Allies have taken they will have \ to hold by force. This means heavy burdens on the tax-payers of England, r France and Greece. Ouc wonders whe- ' r ther the oil of Mosul will be worth the j £30,000,000 or so Britain will have to $ . spend on holding Mesopotamia in order \ to get it? A cable yesterday recorded J a protest by an M.P., Mr Williams, in 3 England against the spending of. £30,000,000 a year on the forces in f Mesopotamia. Another M.P. asks what r are the British doing with an army in ? North, Persia. At any rate, Greece's resources will be, strained to the utterr ' most to maintain a large army in t Smyrna and another in Thace. Her. ; leaders must be fully aware of tho'^>'. f fact that neither Turks, nor Bulgars' 1 will allow ,any opportunity to pass of { regaining possession of their lost'tcrt ritories. The first real rift which showed in the allied lute -would be the j signal of a rising in Thrace, which 3 would have Bulgarian and Turkish support. " Grecian finances arc not likely j to be able to stand the strain without ' help from England and France, and y no doubt Mr Williams sees the possi- " bility of bigger expenditure on miii- ' tary operations than ever in Asia wiicn , he calls for a curtailment of the present outlay. In on of the sinister secret treaties, which made < the conelusion of a Wilsonian peace impossible, Albania was practically handed a over to Italy. She could have it if ' she liked. At first she dfd like, and after the manner of France and England proceeded to take what' had been ' promised her. Saner' counsels^ however, g prevailed ,an.d when Giolitti became f Prime Minister he assured the Albanians that Italy had: not intention of q annexing their country. It is a great t pity this example 'of foregoing the pound of flesh were not followed by t the other Allies, avlio arc using their military victory over Germany to graD everything they .can.

The. Sports Committee at Westport, has decided to hold a sports gathering on. December 29th, at Cape Foulwind, and it only needs fine weather to ensure the success of the event.

The salaries of civil servants in Prussia have been raised, io.meet me increased cost of living. The amount

required to provide the increases i! 1,531,000,000 marks.

The first large shipment of horses from Denmark has been received in Russia. They went via Sweden. Russia in return is sending flax and flaxseed to Denmark.

At present, immigrants arc pouring into Canada at the rate of 18,000 per month; 12,000 off these new settlers come rom Britain, the balance from thp United Statc^.

The italian Parliament has approvx ed the Government Bill for the confiscation of all excess war profits. The Italian Government docs more tnan merely rant against the profiteer!

Cricket is catching on fast this season at Westport, but there is not the sport in it that there is in football. It has too much of a "go-slow" about it for one to take an interest in it (writes a correspondent.)

White bait seem to have adopted the "go-slow" policy all over the Coast waters. The factory at Westport has its doors shut up, as no ono has any tins of white bait to bring along.

Sums of money are coming in (writes our Denniston correspondent) for th c purpose of erecting a fine head stone over the grave of the late Tom. Stephenson, who died during the influenza epidemic in Denniston.

The German States have given up their right to levy income tax in favour of the Federal Government. In consideration of this, they receive from the Federal Government a proportionate amount of the Federal income tax collected; in the caso of Prussia, this ■amounts to 2,413,000,000 marks this year.

The first permanent tribunal to be established by the League of Nations is the International Court, which is to control the Saar Basin. The President of this is Professor Nippold — a Swiss. Most of the judges of the Court have been selected from neutral nations. It will have complete judicial authority in the district.

The Westport Labour Union arc asking the teaching staff at the Schools to give the children a lesson on taking a poll, and how to vote on the Proportional Representation System, so that the children can teach their parents how a ballot paper should be marked thus avoiding informal voting papers. Mr. J. Fair is going to endeavour to have the next Borough election at Westport carried out on the proportion-

al Reprcsentatian System,

The annual banquet in connection -with the Star Football Club will "be held in the Young Men's Club Booms, upstairs Town Hall, to-morrow night. Opportunity will be taken during tne evening to present the Club with the Watson's No. 10 Cup, they having won it outright. A medal will also be presented to C. Brown (fourth grade player) ho being the most improved player in that grade during tho season. This medal "was presented by Alex. Cowie, Esq., of Hokitika.

The London "Labour Leader" reports that Tom RichaTdson, an I.L.P. member of last British Parliament has been asked to stand as a Labour candidate for tho Parliament of British Columbia. Another old I.L.P. member has also been invited to contest a seat for the B.C. Parliament, Alfred Har-vey-Smith, who was secretary of the Finsbury I.L.P. 10 yeaTS ago. Mr Har-vey-Smith has made a great reputation in tho B.C. Co-operative movement.

Mt. James Gardner, an old goldxniner, SO odd years of age, was found dead in his hut on the beach at Westport on Sunday morning, (writes our correspondent.) On Tuesday afternoon his funeral took place, the coffin leaving the Orange Hall at 2 p.m. and a good number of the members march-, ing in regalia. At the grave side, tho Eev. Mr. Miller, M.A., (Presbyterian), read the service and took for his text "The Flesk shall Return to the Green Grass." Mr. George Taylor read the Orangemen's final service in a very solemn and impressive manner. ""

The debt of the United Kirigdom now stands at £7,840,000,000. Of this £1,279,000,000 is external. The chief creditor abroad is the American Government. The British Government now owes it about $4,000,000,000, which, at pre-war exchange, would be about £800,000,000; at present it is over £1,000,000,000. This aeot was not raised as a loan repayable In a certain number of years, but is composed of credits given Great Britain to enable her to purchase American munitions and goods. It is payable on demand. This, as English financial pa-pers-point out ,is a somewhat formidable pistol which the Americans can hold at the head of the British Government if they "wish. The suggestion has beW made in influential quarters in Great Britain that the Americans should cancel this • debt altogether. They . have not done this, but have consented to forego the interest for three .years. Great Britain has not, however, extended the same generous treatment to the countries which owe her money. No doubt, she would explain she could not afford to do so as well as America. • ;_