Greece is the opprobrium of British diplomacy. We interfere enough
to do harm, but are punctilious when we are urged to do good. We can send ships to enforce our debt, but will not pay our voluntarily incurred debt to the Greeks. Although Lord John Manners was stopped in his exposure of the state of Greece, in the House of Commons on Tuesday, by a "counting out," the facts cannot be stifled. Greece labours under political anar- chy, financial insolvency, and social disorganization : her Finance Minister pleads guilty to charges of tampering with the accounts ; he accuses his subordinates of wholesale and universal embezzlement ; torture is among the screws re- sorted to by these embezzling taxgatherers ; and brigandage is a social institution protected by the Government. Such is the state in which Greece is kept by the Government which is maintained by the countenance of the "Protecting" Powers ! In the eye of justice, we are made responsible by our own acts for these crimes. Can we deny that responsibility ? Will our Government leave the Greeks really free to take the matter into their own hands—to fight it out with the Govern- ment at Athens, and dispose of the Bavarian dynasty as they please ? No. It is the diplomatic etiquette to promote a con- spiracy among all constituted governments against the free action of any nation ; and England, as one of the " Protecting" Powers, will politely prefer Otho to Greece. She will join others in preventing the Greeks from settling their own affairs. Be it so : but will she then fulfil the duty which she assumes, and provide the Greeks with a government at least decently efficient and honest?
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