The Week in Review.
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Tire Greek Crisis. THE alarm that is manifested in Turkey at the prospect of the convocation of a Greek National Assembly, is no doubt thoroughly justifiable. For Greece has been for a long time past seething with revolutionary ideas, and the ordeal through which the Turks themselves have just successfully passed might easily lead to unexpected consequences among their more impulsive and volatile neighbours. Of all the European nations the Greeks are the most emotional and impracticalule, and the temper of the people has made it possible for the Military League to bring about a revolution in spite of the fact that King George is an honest and patriotic ruler, and that the Greek constitution is already one of the most democratic in the world. Inspired by a sincere enthusiasm for the memories of their great historic past, and encouraged by the successes that the Young Turks have achieved in rehabilitating their country and enhancing its reputation in the eyes of the world, the Greeks desire not only to emulate the Turks in reconstructing their constitution, but they wish t • start out upon a career of conquest that may
recall the glorious days of Athens In its prime. It is all hopelessly sentimental and. visionary, of course. But the Greeks are the last people in the world to appreciate the futility of their own illusions, and long before their eyes are opened they may, unless they are controlled in time, risk some desperate escapade to which the Thessalian War of thirteen years back would be child’s play, and plunge the whole of Eastern Europe once more into the chaos from which it has so lately emerged. There is of course a special reason for the present crisis; that is to say the Greeks are not agitating themselves just now solely on general principles. The Military League has been table to make such headway and to imperil so seriously the position of the King chiefly because of the popular discontent aroused by the recent course of events in Crete and Macedonia. “Last year,” according to Mr. W. Maxwell, the well-known “Daily Mail” correspondent, “Europe was in a ferment over the audacity of Bulgaria in proclaiming her independence aud -stealing a Turkish railway and over the perfidy of Austria in annexing Bosnia-Her-zegovina. These were the rocks thrown into the pool, and the waves have not yet subsided. Crete awoke to memories of Athens and clamoured to be set free from even nominal association -with the Turk. Tlie Protecting Powers preached patience and ended by commanding obedience, aud Crete, despite prayers'and protests, remains an appanage of the Ottoman Empire. The dismay of the Cretans was not greater than the disappointment of the Greeks, who believed that the Powers were temporising, a«s usual, and would in the end join Crete with the Hellenic kingdom. They declare that Greece remained quiet during the Balkan crisis because assurances were given by the Powers that Crete would be liberated.” This last allegation is not necessarily
true; but the mortification of the Greeks has been aggravated by the recent efforts of Crete to identify herself still more closely with her Greek kinsmen. For though the Cretans were induced by the Powers to haul down the Greek flag which had been hoisted at Cauea last year after the withdrawal of the international garrison, they have not yet given -up the hope so long cherished of severing themselves from the Turks and ranging themselves by the side of the Greeks, and within the last month they •have once more asserted their determination to unite their island with Greece, and have appealed to their Greek compatriots and co-religionists to aid them. But not only have the Greeks been forbidden to accept the preferred gift of Crete—they have been robbed of all chance of promoting their schemes of aggrandisement in Macedonia. The reformation of Turkey and the substitution of a rational system of government for the bloodthirsty tyranny of' Abdul Hamid mean that Greece can no longer hope for a reversionary interest, in iJie Christian provinces of Turkey; and this is a death-blow to their dearest ambitions. ‘‘When you consider,” writes Mr Maxwell, “the claims of Greece to Macedonia —the efforts and money spent in agitation, the racial and religious bonds, and the political and national ambitions centred in Macedonia —you may measure the disappointment of the Greeks. A regenerate Turkey supported by the sympathy of Europe means the end of their dream of another Byzantine Empire, with Constantinople as its eastern capital. The Greeks have begun to realise this and are asking themselves why they have not profited like Austria and Bulgaria during the confusion of a Change of regime in Turkey.” It is chiefly because King George has set his face resolutely against the reckless policy of military adventure favoured by many of his subjects that he has become so unpopular of late in Athens. And the failure of the Greek Government to “bluff” Turkey and the Powers over Crete has naturally intensified this discontent. “The failure of national ambitions in Crete and Macedonia has been aggravated by the triumph of Bulgaria, who threw off Turkish allegiance and appropriated a Turkish railway without asking leave of the Powers, and from the position of a despised province of the Sultan stepped into the ranks of nations, armed and independent. The Greek feels keenly this triumph of daring and insubordination. His failure he ascribes not to his own weakness of character and Want of preparation.* but to his rulers, and especially to the King, whom be has divested of every shadow of authority aud power.” But however far the Greeks may be mistaken in their estimate of their own powers and virtues, their selfdelusion renders them all (he more dangerous a menace to the peace of Europe; and the proposal to convene a National Assembly at the present juncture, if carried into effect, might throw the Balkans once more into the molting pot and undo ail the work that the Powers have
striven so laboriously to accomplish during the past decade in the Near East. J» JI The Education Conference The meeting of an Educational Conference to discuss various matters of importance in connection with our primary schools system should be a matter of great public interest; aud we regret that it is necessary to draw attention to a serious defect in the constitution of this conference, as pointed out by Mr. Parr, to the Education Board today. The Minister for Education, or the InspectorGeneral, has apparently decided that the conference is to consist of Departmental officials, teachers and inspectors; but that the Education Boards are not to be represented. Now it seems to us that the authorities have not only inflicted a gratuitous indignity upon the Education Boards by excluding them from this conference, but they have also deprived themselves of the services of the very men whose advice and assistance they appear most urgently to need. The Education Boards in this country contain a large number of men, who, actuated solely 'by public spirit or a personal interest in educational matters, have devoted a large amount of time and trouble, extending in a large number of cases over many years, to the administration of our education system. Not being servants of the Department they are able Io criticise the system from an entirely in dependent standpoint. Being in many instances men of business ability and experience of affairs, they can supply that element of practical common sense which, with all respect to the Education Department, has not always been conspicuous in its dealings with its subordinates and in its management of our primary schools and our educational system. From every point of view wc regard the refusal to invite representatives of the Education Boards to this conference as a serious error in judgment: and if the Department wishes to secure or to retain the confidence of the general public and of the educational world here, it. will revoke this preposterous decision without delay. J* J» Training College in Auckland. The educational authorities are confronted by a difficult problem in regard to the Training College, which was established for the purpose of pro viding efficient teachers for our primary schools. The College is regarded as an entirely nww.v institution, and there is no reason to believe that it has failed to livt- up to its opportunities. But apparently there is a serious dearth of students, and the Piimip.il of the College in his last annual report drew the attention of the Education Board to the Jack of material on which the College might operate. The Board has since very properly ordained that all pupil teachers. after completing their course, must take two years' work at the Training College piepar.iloiy IO
Accepting positions in our primary schools; and this regulation will no doubt help to meet the difficulty. Hitherto the temptation of a decent salary has been too much for many pupil teachers, and the Education Board, in ita perennial need of teachers, has been only too glad to secure them as soon as their four years’ course is finished. This, we need haidly say, is bad for the teachers ami bad for the schools;
and the new arrangement must commend itself to all who desire to see our primary school work carried out under the best possible conditions. But we believe that there is still a good ■deal of room in the Training College, and a suggestion was made at the Education Board’s meeting this morning that should help to fill up - the gaps at the College, with highly beneficial results. It is well known that an unusually large number of Matriculation candidates failed at the recent examination; and it has been argued with considerable force that the University Senate, in raising the standard without due notice, has inflicted a distinct injustice on many of the
unsuccessful candidates. This, however, is not our present point; but it has been proposed that the Education Board should apply to the Department for leave to admit a certain number of these Matriculation candidates for a two years’ course at the Training College. It should be possible for candidates to matriculate from this institution; but' in the meantime such an arrangement would promote the objects that the Training College was established to secure, and would also increase the supply of material on •which the Education Board must draw in future for its primary school teachers. The selection of candidates, and the amount of pecuniary assistance, if any, that they should receive, are matters for arrangement' between tiie Board and the Department; but the suggestion put forward by Mr. Garland and Mr. Parr certainly seems a valuable one, and we hope that it will not be lost sight of by the authorities.
The Northern Gateway. Until Lord Kitchener’s repertri TtpCW the defence policy of Australia becomes public property, it would be premature to accept the “obiter dicta” so frequently cabled to us as material for criticism. At the same time, even detached remarks made by so distinguished a man must always engage a certain amount of publie interest, and the importance that Lord Kitchener is said ■to attach to the adequate defence of the Northern coast of Australia suggests one of the most interesting problems raised by the Field-Marshal’s visit. What is Australia doing, and ■what should she do to strengthen herself on what is obviously her most vulnerable side? If ever the menace of foreign invasion looms threateningly on the Australian horizon, it will be from the North, in all probability, that the danger will come. For whatever we may think of the Yellow Peril cry, so far as the immediate future is concerned, it would be folly to shut our eyes to the palpable fact that within easy distance of the Australian coast lie Borne of the most densely-crowded regions in the world; and the recent history of the Far East, if it teaches nothing else, should deter us from ehei ishing any longer the delusion that •We can always depend upon Oriental nations maintaining for ever the lethargic and unprogressive state in which they have slumbered for centuries. t he mere magnitude of the Northern Territory is itself an excuse for taking an active interest in its destiny. The territory contains over 33.3,000,000 acres of which less than half a million acres’ nave been sold; so that the Federal < •overnnient has in these regions available for settlement a province six times the Bize of Victoria, more than twice the •ize of France or Germany, and more than four times the size of England, Scotland, and Wales. But it is selfevident that such an expanse of land is • source of weakness rather than strength if it remains empty and unpeopled. “Effective occupation,” aa the “Melbourne Ago” puts it, “is the only Maim at this stage of the world’s history
that any people can advance to retain possession of any habitable portion of the globe. At present the Northern Territory io occupied at the ratio of 1 person to the 130 square miles, a circumstance that amounts to a national menace when we consider ita dangerous proximity ts the seething hordes of’Asia. It has millions on millions of acres, but there is no strength in millions on millions of acres ■that are empty.” And close at hand there are countries teeming with hordes of Orientals, who may sooner or later be roused by that irresistible impulse to migrate which hae so often changed tlie whole course of the world’s history. “The Northern Territory has a paltry population of 3500, of whom only about one-fourth are whites; the overwhelming majority of the people being Chinese, Japanese and Malays. Japan lies only a few days’ steaming distance to the north, with a teeming population of more than 40,000,000 souls. Yet Japan is less than a third of the size of the vast unpeopled territory. China lies even nearer. China is ibigger than the Northern Territory, it is true, but China is over peopled and can hardly support on the land at its disposal its unwieldy population of 400,000,000; and China, galvanised by the example of Japan, is waking up.” This is why the Northern Territory has been termed the "Achilles’ heel,” the one vulnerable point of Australia, and the discriminating eye of Lord Kitchener has been quick to fasten upon the weak spot in Australia’s outworks.
What can be done to strengthen the national bulwarks against such a danger as the mere emptiness of the Northern Territory portends? In the first place it must be remembered .that the Northern Territory is not as was once believed, a barren desert. The explorations of Professor Baldwin Spencer and other eminent naturalists have shown that it contains vast areas of land well suited for settlement and capable of supporting a large and prosperous population. To people the country, should therefore be the first step toward the establishment of any true policy of national defence. But immigration, can never be effec- . tually encouraged, and settlement will never progress rapidly till the Territory 1 is connected with the elarger centres of i trade and population in the -So,uth. ■ Thus we arrive at the urgent necessity for a trans-continental railway; and whichever of the two rival routes may be finally adopted, it is riot too much to say:that the fortunes of Australia are inextricably involved in the rapid completion of this transcontinental line. Regarded from the military standpoint, it would be hopeless to attempt any systematic defence of the Northern Territory without strategic railways to keep open the country behind the coast, and to ’ facilitate the transport of men and supplies. This is the strongest argument in favour of the immediate transfer of the Territory from South Australia to Federal control, and it is unfortunate that disputes as to the route of the railway and the financial claims of South Austra- ” lia should have deferred this project so long. The defence of 1200 miles of coastline is in itself a task that will need the energies of the whole nation to ac- - complish. But no army or navy, whatever its strength, could hold Northern Australia against China or Japan, or even against a European foe, unless and until these thousands of square miles are peopled by a dense population, bound to the soil by the sense of patriotic ownership and organised efficiently to undertake the supreme national duty of fighting in defence of their native land.
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New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 6, 9 February 1910, Page 1
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2,797The Week in Review. New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 6, 9 February 1910, Page 1
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