.U.H.E GREEK IMBROGLIO.
IT is only natural that all the Chancelleries of Europe should be watching affairs in Greece with confessed anxiety. King George must have almost reached the limit of his forbearance, great though he haa already shown his .patience to be, and if he and. his family should retire from Greece all the evil political winds of European intrigue and ambition would be let loose upon the distracted country. The tragedy of strangling Greece might almost pass unnoticed—except by the Greeks—in such a violent scramble as would quite possibly take place among the European Powers if the succession to the Greek throne were in dispute. The Spanish succession caused the Franco-German War, but a Greek succession might cause Armageddon. It is impossible to look very far ahead in such a baffling mist as covers Greek politics now, and we trust things will be clearer soon. But at all events it is as well to consider what dangers are plain at this moment. Greece is under the protection of Great Britain, France, and Russia ; but this fact would not prevent other nations which have no special obligations in the matter, and do not subscribe an annual sum to the Greek Exchequer, from finding that their interests were very much involved in the succession to the Greek throne. The eternal conflict of wits between Russia and Austria-Hungary in. the Balkans is as acute now as ever it was, and if Greece suddenly became a new and open field of dispute between these great pro- tagonists one cannot foresee what might happen. Austria- Hungary naturally desires an open way to the Aegean, and the fact that she does so would give her all the justification that would be necessary for a general opposition to Russia in any new circumstances. But Germany is Austria- Hungary's unfaltering ally ; and as for Russia, she would. in most circumstances have the sympathy of Great Britain and France, and of her newly declared friend, Italy. More- over, the German Emperdr is brother-in-law to the Crown Prince of Greece, so that, apart from the Alliance with Austria-Hungary, Germany would. have rational grounds for intervention in Greece. But this is not a line of thought—vague and insinuating as it must necessarily be—which we care to follow further. It is enough merely to suggest the magnitude of the forces which would be brought into play. The only way to avoid _the clash of such rivalries is to preserve the status quo in Greece. We hope that the Greeks will understand that in humiliating their King to the last endurable degree they are gambling with the safety of all their neighbours. As for King George himself, we feel sure that one of the influences which have weighed with him in his trials is his sense of the service he is rendering to Europe by staying where he is. That being so, we are convinced that he will not leave his post till he finds his office quite intolerable. He might consider that the limit of humiliation had been reached, if the Crown Prince were required to renounce his right of succession. There is a rumour that the Prince will be asked to do this, and though we hope it may be untrue, we cannot help seeing that the officers who form the Military League would be in. a very uncomfortable position if the Crown Prince came to the throne. Their own interests may therefore be said to be driving them in this undesirable direction. The fact is that the League has embarked on a policy which must -bring it increasingly into antagonism with the reigning house. We see little prespe,ct of an improvement in this respect, and the best thing to be hoped for is that the League will retire gradually into the background, or that, having fulfilled what it regards as its mission, it will cease to exist. It is reported that if it continues to force its will on the Chamber after its present programme becomes law, M. Theotoki will retire from politics. This is very significant ; it means that M. Theotold, the ex-Premier, whose followers still form a majority of the Chamber, would release his party from their allegiance to him—in Greece allegiance is professed to persons rather than to ideas—and that the compact body of voters who have forced through the League's pro- gramme with unexampled despatch would almost certainly fall to pieces. But if the complaisance of the Chamber vanished, the Military League would have no agent through which to work except the Army, and possibly a dictator- ship. For the goodwill of the people towards the League, which has so far counted for a good deal, is evidently crumbling away already. The enthusiastic citizens who shouted their praises of reform in Athens a few weeks ago are taking a very different view of it now that they find more taxes are to be levied. They were gratified by the promise of a larger Army and Navy so long as it was announced. that this access of strength was to be paid for out of savings in other Departments, but their patriotism does not by any means run to paying "on the nail" large sums for which they may never recoup themselves. Some people discover signs of good sense and level- headedness in the Military League because it has ranged itself with the Government in the suppression of the naval mutiny. To us there appears to be no particular conclusion to be drawn from this. After all, the mutinous officers of the Navy only tried to do exactly what the Military League succeeded in doing. The League had its guns trained on the public buildings of Athens, and it was only the surrender of the Government which prevented bloodshed. No doubt treason to be laudable must be successful. The Army happened to succeed, and it can now comfortably accuse the junior officers of the Navy of treason, although Commander Typaldos had just as much (or as little) right to rise against the senior officers of the Navy as Colonel Zorbas had to rise against the Government. We do not suppose that ultimately there will be a rivalry between the two Services, as the Military League genuinely desires that Greece should make her mark in the world. and back her opinions with more physical power, and it probably knows that that power must be a well-balanced proportion of military and naval strength. The ambition of the Military League to have two hundred thousand men ready to fight in the spring must be looked upon with apprehension. "When the snows melt" is the phrase employed in South-Eastern Europe to signify that the time for fighting has come round once more. "When the snows melt" next spring will certainly be a time of anxiety if the League contrives to have any such Army as it contemplates. Of course it declares that it has no thought of aggression. But who ever confessed openly to such a thing? When all has been said, there can be no doubt that what has chiefly caused the present upheaval in Greece is bitter disappoint- ment at the failure to annex Crete, and at the recoil of Greek influence in Macedonia. The Cretans announce their intention of electing and sending Deputies to the Greek Chamber. If that be done, and the Greek Govern- ment receives them and gives them seats, Turkey can hardly be expected to remain passive under the challenge to her suzerainty. All these dangers are very teal, and they become unnecessarily magnified in a country where discipline is not a national characteristic.
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