378 



GREECE. 



on our part adopt a firm policy and a manly determi- 

 nation to tread without deviation the path of national 

 duty and of sacred interests. After Turkey has car- 

 ried her arrogance and her contempt for Europe to the 

 point of dragging Europe to Constantinople to tour 

 up the decision of the Berlin Congress who will main- 

 tain that Greece will be punished by Europe, when 

 Europe has not punished Turkey ? 



Europe can not come out as our opponent if we pro- 

 ceed to the execution of its own decision, and supple- 

 ment and complete it if possible. True, no treaty nas 

 been signed which guarantees us the alliance of Eu- 

 rope, and we have no protocol which assures us of aid 

 and support in our struggle. But let us not forget 

 that the true international treaties are not those writ- 

 ten with ink and paper the latest treaty, that of Ber- 

 lin, shows us clearly how much weight written trea- 

 ties possess. The true treaties of lasting value are the 

 unwritten treaties of national rights and international 

 interests, and these neither personal cavils nor diplo- 

 matic artifices can destroy or impair. Such true and 

 irreversible compacts subsist between us and Europe, 

 between us and the whole civilized world. Greece 

 represents in the Orient, not conquest, but liberation : 

 not robbery and extortion, but creative effort and 

 peaceful industry ; not misery and decay, but prog- 

 ress and liberty. 



It was feared that the dissatisfaction of the 

 Greeks at the change in the boundary arrange- 

 ment would still prevent a peaceful settlement ; 

 that they would either reject the offer outright 

 or delay their answer so long that Turkey would 

 withdraw her propositions. Within the proper 

 time Coumoundouros returned, April 7th, a cau- 

 tiously worded note in which he accepted the 

 promised territory, demanded that the powers 

 should secure its evacuation, and committed 

 the welfare of the Epirotes to the guardianship 

 of Europe, without renouncing the prospects 

 held out by the Berlin decision of the amalga- 

 mation of Epirus with Greece. The accept- 

 ance of the proffered cession was couched in 

 the following words : 



Greece, though pained to see substituted for the 

 decision of the Conference of Berlin another boundary- 

 line, hastens nevertheless to thank the powers for their 

 benevolent interest. She desires to know what term 

 will be set for the occupation, and what guarantee will 

 be offered that the occupation will be accomplished 

 without bloodshed. 



The representatives of the powers objected 

 to the form of the acceptance, and on the 13th 

 of April Coumoundouros substituted the follow- 

 ing document, which was approved as a formal 

 acceptance of the conditions : 



"WTien the Greek Government accepted the serious 

 decree of the Berlin Conference, the Government con- 

 sidered, as it considers to-day, that the decision of 

 the great powers of Europe created rights and obli- 

 gations aflecting both Turkey and Greece, and the in- 

 habitants of the provinces which were awarded to 

 Greece as well as Europe. To-day the great powers 

 come forward to inform Greece that since, through the 

 force of circumstances, the conclusions laid down in 

 the Berlin decision can no longer attain the peaceable 

 fulfillment which the Cabinets nad in view, these have 

 instructed their ministers in Greece that they should 

 consider and establish among themselves the bound- 

 ary-line which best suits the requirements of the sit- 

 uation. The conclusions of the embassadors, which 

 Europe has adopted and expressly substituted for 

 those of the decree of July 1, 1880, alter in a radical 

 manner the boundary-line "of the Berlin Conference ; 

 they put in the place of it a new boundary-line, the 



main positions on which afford no sort of security and 

 lack every requirement for natural defenses. "This 

 line, whose delects must occasion inevitable difficulties 

 in the present and danger for the future, Greece is 

 expected, according to the dispatch which has been 

 received, to accept at once. In regard to this invita- 

 tion of the powers, Greece could not avoid reflecting 

 as to whether its acceptance would bring the question 

 nearer to a conclusion, whether it would insure the 

 complete, rapid, and peaceful solution of the difficulty. 

 The experience of the past, the fate of the arrange- 

 ment concluded in Berlin, the effect of the acquies- 

 cence expressed by Greece in the conclusions of the 

 conference all this has not encouraged the Hellenic 

 Government to give an affirmative reply. Hence it is 

 of importance to her to learn when the new decision 

 of Europe shall be carried out : whether the peaceable 

 delivery of the territories ceded to Greece will be 

 effected immediately, or within a stated, brief period ; 

 and finally, to be enlightened as to the guarantees 

 which the powers would give that it would take place. 

 The Greek Government is pained to learn that the 

 prospect of a breach of the peace has been sufficient 

 to impel Europe to modify the decision reached in 

 Berlin. Greece would never have supposed that Tur- 

 key would refuse to submit to the arbitration of the 

 great powers in such manner as to oppose their firm 

 and unalterable will and expose herself to all the 

 eventualities of a war whose consequences and extent 

 she herself could not calculate. Greece desires peace ; 

 ehe rests in the hope that the great powers will take 

 into serious consideration her appeal to their sense of 

 right, that they will weigh it in the same spirit of 

 good-will which has ever guided them hi their decis- 

 ions upon Greece and the Hellenes. Greece is grate- 

 ful to Europe for the peaceful solution of the question 

 of the Greek boundaries. She will therefore hasten 

 to take possession of the territories which she is to re- 

 ceive, and to offer all guarantees that may be desired 

 for the benefit of the Mussulmans of the annexed prov- 

 inces, both with regard to their religion and respect 

 for their rights of property. But though resolved to 

 take the peaceful course which has been pointed out 

 to her by Europe, whose counsels she has at all times 

 been accustomed to respect, Greece believes it to be 

 neither a dignified nor an honorable proceeding on her 

 part toward children who remain on the other side 

 of the new boundary, and whose rights Europe sol- 

 emnly acknowledged at Berlin, and has repeatedly 

 confirmed, to leave them to their fate. 



COUMOUNDOUKOS. 



As soon as the conditions of the new ad- 

 justment were made public, the military ardor 

 of the Greeks abated. In the country demon- 

 strations in favor of war took place, but at 

 Athens the party of Trikoupis as well as the 

 adherents of the Government approved the 

 tranquil acceptance of the situation. There 

 was a party which would have embraced the 

 opportunity afforded by any wavering on the 

 part of Turkey to agitate in favor of breaking off 

 from the agreement. The powers addressed 

 a collective note to the Porte, urging that the 

 terms of the settlement should be drawn in a 

 formal convention without delay. The Greek 

 frontier commission met to arrange the terms 

 of the convention in the middle of May. The 

 convention between the Porte and the powers 

 was concluded and signed at Constantinople, 

 May 24th. The Ottoman delegates on the com- 

 mission presented stipulations for insuring the 

 religious, civil, and property rights of Mussul- 

 mans in the ceded provinces. The Porte de- 

 manded among other terms that Mussulman 

 communities should choose their own officials, 



