The text of the Patriarchal Encyclical summoning all the Metropolitans
of the Orthdox Church to a national assembly 'was published on Tuesday at Constantinople. The Times correspondent says that it is a vehement document which declares equality under the Turkish Constitution to be an empty phrase, while liberty is so interpreted as to be more intoftrable than under the old absolute regime. "The State is ruled by an invisible power, the aim of which is the annihilation of all religions and of the national existence. Abuses of all kinds abound. Upon the pretext of dis- armament, free citizens have been tortured and killed by the instruments of a free Constitutional State. In order to enfeeble the autochthonous Christian population, Mussulman settlers have been established in circumstances involving numerous acts of injustice to Christians." It need not be pointed out that this declaration from the Patriarch, who usually holds himself aloof from politics, is a serious matter. Whether the charges be true or not, the fact that they have been made cannot be forgotten. When they are considered in conjunction with the bitter complaints of the Macedonian Bulgars and Greeks, it is hr.iossible to dismiss lightly the difficulties before the Turkish Government. Bulgar refugees are arriving at Sofia and Greeks at Athens, and if the Turks cannot effect disarmament in Macedonia humanely, the result under the stress is likely to be a combination of the Christian populations.
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