THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1925. THE NEAR EAST.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 3 May 1923, Page 4

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1925. THE NEAR EAST.

. , » --«, T&'ough tl«3 cable messages are bring•ktg iittle news of the fcavisanue Conference, Which was resumed a few days •ago, tbere sceniS to be reason for "thinkteig that a settlement will be •reached by the parties represented. It -is interesting to note the changed at■titu'de of the nations towards war. I Preceding the upheaval in 1914 there ■Was a feeling for years that the storm •would burst and that the Central Powers were only .awaiting a pretext tto launch their .plan -for world dominion. Their opportunity came when | a Serbian murdered the Archduke. i Austria made the incident the occasion for demandij^g from Serbia terms which she knew would be rejected. Austria became nervous and was inclined to withdraw, but the powerful Prussian clique forced her to maintain her .attitude and tke war was th« result. Last year Britain found that the Turks under Kemal were adopting an increasingly arrogant attitude, and , ! it looked for a time as if the Turks would .fight upon the slightest jjretext being given. Fortunately .the .British troops at Chanak and the '■commanders of the \warships behaved with wonderful- forbearance and the Turkish .ejx.citement ; s.lowly subsided. Probably Kemal, o.n second thoughts, avealis.ed that Britain, though alone, wouJd win the initial ro.urid, for her warships were in a position to capture Constantinople, ,and such a loss would not have helped jKemal to retail! .the' leadership which ihe had gairied by his ability. The {longer Kemal .delayed hostilities t\\e ;lejss likelihood was .there of war, and W@ .do not think that there will b.e any trouble in the near futur.e. Britain '.s handling of a very difficult situation was entirely different from the method .adopted by Germany and Austria tor wards Serbia in 1014, and, though th§ conference at Lausanne a few months ago adjourned without reaching a definite sett}.cingnfc, the prospects are that an agreement will be signed very soon. It is to be hoped that it will last for a long time and that it will not raise complications with the Balkan States. The Turks have been left in a bad economic position by the war and no doubt they will find it to their advantage to restore friendship with the Western nations as early as possible in order to seek means for restoring their country. A settlement will mean a great deal to Britain, whose interests in tho Moslem world are greater than those of the other Western Powers. The Near East has been and probabiy will always be a problem, but the events of the last few months have shown that by tact and careful handling hostilities can be avoided and our nation can maintain its prestige and influence with the Moslems.