PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3275, 20 December 1916, Page 66

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

VENIZELOS, PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER. Last week 1 promised to give another Chat upon Venizelos, who is at present in danger of his life; and perhaps I should have explained that, though he had become President of the Cretan Parliament, he had also come into conflict with Royalty. In this way: In 1898 the Powers appointed a High Commissioner and a Council of four members to govern Crete as an autonomy under the suzerainty of the Sultan, and the High Commissioner appointed was Prince George, a brother of the present King of Greece-linoi as he is contemptuously called. In 1900 Prince George made a tour of Europe, and before starting said in effect: 'When I am travelling I shall ask the powers for annexation, and I hope to succeed on account of my family connections. The words were spoken in the enthusiasm of youth, but they made Venizelos uneasy, and he pointed out to the Prince how dangerous it was from the point of view of government to promise anything which was practically impossible to realise so soon after the change for the better that had already been made. When the Prince came back he said: "You were quite tight. 1 hePowers refused annexation point-blank This was one of the instances in winch Venizelos showed his wisdom and crossed the impetuous Prince, who was inclined to carry things with a high hand and to resent 'interference. The building of a palace was another cause of friction. When he proposed to put up a beautiful residence, Venizelos remonstrated, thinking no doubt that Prince George looked upon the High Commissionership as his permanently and conferring the right oi heredity. Said his adviser: "The building of a palace will symbolise the permanence of a regime which the Cretan people have accepted as a last stage on the road to union; the present state of affairs cannot last long. Your proposal hurts the feelings Cretans; do not take away from them all hope of a prompt union, even though it cannot be realised as soon as we wish." These words were probably the sense of what he said. _ Crossing the Prince's whims made relations strained, and Venizelos, like any other reformer, made powerful enemies. The result was that, chafing under the restrictions and guidance of Venizelos, Prince George dismissed him. "His dismissal was the signal for the persecution of his partisans and friends; the newspapers which supported him were suppressed. Everything was done to depreciate his'political work; ho was denounced as a conspirator, the friend and instrument of England, the opponent of the union with Greece. As a result Venizelos's followers conceived a profound hatred for the Prince." But popular sympathies wore with Venizelos; an insurrection took place; Prince George was forced to resign and to return to Greece. This was in? 1904. The Powers . entered into possession, but the unrest continued and was not stilled until a Greek statesman, M. Zaimis, was appointed. Put even then agitation continued, eventually ending in the Crete Assembly declaring its annexation to Greece in 1908, which was followed in 1912 by Cretan deputies being admitted to the Greek Parliament at Athens, and this in turn being followed by the annexation being recognised by the Powers in December, 1913. I have written this outline to show that Venizelos has antagonised the Royal Family by adopting such a course in Crete and in

Athens as lie has thought to be in t]\e interests first of Crete, and then on the larger field of political action in Greece. THE MILITARY LEAGUE. In the meantime Athens was in the throes of a revolution. In 1909 "the people uttered a cry of deliverance; no revolt lias ever been more bloodless, or more essentially popular. The Greek nation was suffering from a general unrest; it was tired of Parliamentary slackness, of the Government's indifference, and the laxity of discipline." The Military League became powerful. An amnesty forced from the Government was granted to officers and men who had been prominent in asking for reforms; and the League demanded that a national assembly should be summoned to revise the Constitution. Neither the King nor the Government approved, but the league was powerful enough to force matters. The Ministry resigned, and another Cabinet formed. " All this was happening in the reign of George I, the father of the present King. REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION. George I, as you know, was a Dane, the brother of our "Queen-Dowager Alexandra, and his son " Tino," now reigning, is therefore a cousin of our George- V. But George I seems to have been easy-going, and to have allowed things to drift. At the same time he was determined that none of his Royal powers should be taken from him. The Military League wanted the Constitution revised to clip the Royal power, and this caused the formation of two parties—those wanting a revisionary reform of the non-fundamental clauses of the Constitution and those who wanted

" to abolish many Royal prerogatives." In 1910 Venizelos resigned the Presidency of the Cretan Council, and went to Athens, where lie was received " with an outburst of enthusiasm such as had never before been known," and from the hotel balcony addressed a vast crowd. "My criticisms upon the inertia of Royalty," paid he, " have been misinterpreted as anti-dynastic. On the contrary, I believe that it is to the nation's interest to show its devotion to the reigning dynasty, and I therefore consider the Assembly should remain revisionary, and recast the basis of legislation, according to modern requirements, in all matters dealing with public education, with labour questions, and the relation of [between?] Capital and Labour. I will therefore co-operate with those whose aim it is to raise Greece morally and materially to the level of other modern States, and to make her the great factor in civilisation and progress in the East."

You will notice in this extract that Venizelos was in favour of the revisionamy (nou-fundamental) reform and not of the CONSTITUENT (fundamental), which would have limited the Royal prerogatives. When he used the words, " I consider that the Assembly ought to remain revisionary,'' the crowd * shouted "Constituent! Constituent!*' Venizelos repeated the statement, and the crowd clamoured " Constituent." " I say revisionary " came back quietly insistent, and "as if by magic the seething crowd was silent, accepting and welcoming the proposal of the man who was already spoken of as the 'Cretan Deliverer.'"

The Cabinet was forced to resign, and the King instructed Venizelos to form a Cabinet after hearing his views, which concluded in these words: "If your Majesty consents to give me a free hand, and to ratify this programme, I undertake in five years' time to show him a regenerate Greece, strong enough to inspire respect and claim lier rights." That was in 1910, I think, but the five years have passed, and the promise has not been fulfilled. Why? The two Balkan wars and the great war were not anticipated. I think I had better write another Chat covering the time from the beginning of the first Balkan war to the present time