658 



The Review of Reviews. 



her, and for this she is much indebted to her 

 King and his good worlc may yet receive a more 

 general recognition, for 



It almost seems as if, for the second time in his life, 

 King Carol is to have a supreme stroke of good luck. 

 Years ago, just when his soldiers were ready for fight- 

 ing, he was given the chance of proving how well he 

 had trained them ; and now that his whole people are 

 ready for work of another sort, he may perhaps have 

 the chance of showing that in labouring among them 

 he has not laboured in vain. Should the mission be 

 given to her, Roumania may be trusted to do good service 

 for law and order, for righteous dealing, too, and 

 culture, among those turbulent races with whom her lot 

 is cast. 



OBSOLETE DIPLOMACY. 



A STRIKING article, unsigned, on present-day 

 diplomacy in connection with the Balkan crisis 

 appears in the first November issue of La 

 Revue. 



HOW NOT TO DO IT. 



The Near Eastern question having been 

 raised once more, all thoughtful minds ought to 

 protest against the mean and unstable solution 

 which diplomacy is trying to force on the bel- 

 ligerents. To promise to localise the war is not 

 to establish lasting peace. To establish defi- 

 nitely European peace, the solution of only two 

 problems is really necessary — that of Alsace- 

 Lorraine and that of the Near East. Franco- 

 German reconciliation, on the basis of justice 

 and equity, may be postponed a little longer, 

 the conscience of the two nations agreeing to 

 reject the hazardous and bloody solution of a 

 war. But in the Near East the situation is quite 

 different. It is not merely a question of main- 

 taining the position of two Great Powers ; the 

 interests of the entire West are entangled on 

 Balkan territory. 



THE BEST EXAMPLE OF FAILURE. 



Diplomacy has done next to nothing to pro- 

 mote order throughout the world. Armed peace 

 is one of the most costly and atrocious stupidi- 

 ties which humanity has ever had to endure. 

 Everything around us progresses except diplo- 

 macy. Reduced to its old immoral and degrad- 

 ing procedure of half-measures, it is the unique 

 domain for the preservation of misunderstand- 

 ings and dangers of explosion. The Near East 

 is the best illustratir)n of diplomatic failure. 

 Everyone considers the present war right, yet 

 it will cause serious destruction and loss of life. 

 Bui what does it matter? The great Christian 

 Powers will not care, provided it remains 

 absolutely sterile and useless. 



BRUTAL EGOISM. 



The status quo — that is the dream and the 

 pT-ogramme of diplomacy. What a contrast 



between the idea of justice which animates 

 nations and the brutal egoism of diplomatists ! 

 Turkey is disorganised and incapable of as- 

 suring justice and order, thanks to the rival 

 action of the Powers, and yet we are promised 

 that this state of things shall continue in the 

 name of the principle of Ottoman integrity ! 

 And it is Austria, Italy, Russia, England, and 

 France — all of them nations who have been 

 enriched by the spoils of the " Sick Man " — who 

 desire to impose this principle on the Balkan 

 nations. True, the Oriental knot which diplo- 

 macy has complicated, and is complicating, is 

 difficult to undo. But does not Europe main- 

 tain battalions of diplomatists whom she over- 

 whelms with honours and glory? And the 

 sovereigns, what are they doing? Difficulties 

 exist only to be overcome. 



WANTED — A STATESMAN. 



Should the Great Powers decide to intervene, 

 it will be their imperious duty to settle once for 

 all the questions pending, and to save the 

 honour of Europ)C and the principle of inter- 

 national justice. Many things are favourable 

 to the creation of a solid peace, and there is the 

 Hague Tribunal, which in the last resource 

 might smooth down the insurmountable diffi- 

 culties of a conference. But is there a states- 

 man to be found capable of grasping the events 

 from an elevated point of view and of dis- 

 regarding passing satisfaction in order to 

 consider only the verdict of history and the true 

 interest of the nations? 



POSITIVIST VIEW. 



Professor Beeslv, in the Positivist Review, 

 confesses to have warmly welcomed the Turkish 

 revolution. He now declares that history will 

 picture the whole period of the revolutionary 

 government as a continuous march tending 

 always to a bad end. As to the future, he 

 says : — 



A Turk, like an Ulsterman, may at first find equality 

 humiliating. But he must get over it as well as he can. 

 There is nothing in it of which he has any right to com- 

 plain. If the Balkan States remain at peace, Thrace and 

 Macedonia may be expected to show as remarkable and 

 rapid a progress — political, social, and economic — as Bul- 

 garia has made since her emancipation. In these advan- 

 tages the Turk may share, unless there is something in 

 his habits that incapacitates him. 



Greece -will probably aim at naval rather th.an military 

 power. It is to be hoped that all the islnnds inhabited 

 mainly by Greeks will now be allowed to join her if they 

 wish. Among these is Cyprus, which nisT:ieli embt-z./led 

 when he was supposed to be in charge nf Turkish interests 

 at the Berlin Conference. There is an agitation for 

 union with Crreece. and we had better retire while we can 

 do so with a good grace. Cyprus costs the British tax- 

 payer ;^so,ooo a year, which he pays for the satisfaction 

 of painting that morsel of the map red. 



