LAND AND WATER 
October 9, 1915. 
passivity. T^nt one could not reasonably expect 
them to try issues with the greatest military nation 
in the world. They would, therefore, have to sulv 
mit to German pressure, but would do so with 
sincere regret. The Germans would thus open 
the road to Constantinople, and the Bulgars 
would have deserved their grr.titude while escap- 
ing the censure of the Quadruple Alliance. Truly 
a well laid plan. 
AGGRBSSION NEGES-ARY. 
But there was more. In order to clear the 
road for the Teutons to the Turkish capital the 
north-eastern Serbian front — the Orsova-Vidin 
tract — must be denuded of troops. And for this 
purpose Bulgaria's neutrality alone would not 
suffice. Aggressive r.:tion was indispensable. 
But if the Army were moved against the Serbs, 
the Quadrui)le Entente would wreak vengeance 
on the perfidious Bulgars. Even over these em- 
barrassing circumstances, however, Ferdinand's 
resourcefulness prevailed. His jilan was truly 
ingenious. But it was disa})proyed in advance 
by Bulgaria's most sr-.^acious statesman and 
military strategist. General Fitcheff, who was 
accordingly removed from his post as War 
Minister, just as he was removed over two years 
ago when he advised Ferdinand not to break oft' 
the London negotiations but to make peace with 
the Porte. The scheme consisted in the dispatch 
at first of four divisions to keep watch and ward 
over Roumania lest that country should spring a 
surprise on the Bulgars. And in the meantime 
an irregular army of twenty-five thousand comi- 
tadjis, or Bulgarian Bashiboozooks, were to be 
supplied with everything needful and to be let 
loose on Macedonia. A Bulgarian comitaji is 
cruelty incarnate. And as soon as twenty-five 
thousand of them overran Macedonia, Serbian 
troops would have to be dispatched from the 
north-eastern front, leaving Germany's road to 
Turkey inadequately defended. Protests against 
action of this kind would be fruitless. For the 
comitadjis are not regular forces for which the 
Sofia Cabinet is responsible, and in this case thev 
would be dubbed '" Macedonians in revolt against 
the unbearable yoke of Serbia." The incursion 
would thus be reduced to the insignificance of a 
domestic Serbian question, while its effect on the 
International situation would be far-reaching. 
For among the consequences of this attack on 
Macedonia would be the interruption of railway 
communications between Salonica and Serbia, 
whereby the Serbs would be isolated and bereft of 
the sources of their supplies. The loss of that 
railway would also deprive the Tsardom of the 
principal route connecting it with its Western 
Allies, and as a corollary Greece would be aban- 
doned to her own inadequate military and 
financial resources. It was this alarming prospect 
that moved King Constantine to lend a ready ear 
to \ enizelos' arguments in favour of mobilisation 
Aone the e.ss the Premier had an arduous task to 
accomplish For Greece is the only Near-Eastern 
M^te which is governed by two different and 
differing authorities, each of which is backed by a 
large tollowing in the country. United thev 
could regenerate the Greek people; divided the'v 
they agree?^'^^^ ^'' ''^ ^''' '""'j'"'^ ^^ mobilisation. 
Greece's further behaviour depends in all 
14 
proliability less upon Venizelos and King Con- 
stantine than upon the action and reaction of 
Bulgaria and the Quadruple Alliance. The 
triumph of Radoslavoft's avowed policy entails 
the ultimate annexation of the Greek possessions, 
Cavalla, and probably Salonica, by Bulgaria. And 
the King who recently dissolved Parliament and 
dismissed Venizelcs rather than exchange a small 
portion of that territory for an enormous district 
in and around Smyrna cannot now sit still and 
allow the Bulgars to snatch it all from Greece 
witliout any compensation but the thanks of his 
im}>erial brother-in-law. 
Serbia has a claim on Greece for military co- 
operation against a Bulgarian attack. It is em- 
bodied in a formal treaty. But it was stipulated 
that in order to enforce the claim Serbia herself 
must place at least one hundred and fifty thousand 
men in the field against her invaders. As this con - 
dition may have to remain unfulfilled, it has been 
suggested that the Entente Powers should provide 
the men, landing them at Salonika. The writer of 
this article has grounds for affirming that if that 
number could be doubled, and the measure adopted 
without dela}-, Roumania would probably join 
Greece, the Bulgarian spectre would be laid, 
and the problem of the Dardanelles solved 
satisfactorily. E. J. DILLON. 
[Since Dr. Dillon wrote this article Russia 
has handed an nltiriiatuni to BuUjaria. As we qo 
to press the news is on the placards that in Greece 
M. Venizelos has resigned. — Editor.] 
AZRAEL. 
Just at llie journey's end. 
We meet one gracious friend ; 
AV'hom having found we lose for evermore. 
His name is Death. .And he 
.\lone will absent be 
When friendsiiip's roll is called on yonder shore. 
Mahkl Garland. 
UNREST IM MUNlTIOiN F.4C TORIES. 
To the Editor of Land .\.vd Water. 
Sir, — As a friend of Labour I deplcre the intransigeaut 
attitude which so many workers in n.unition factx)ries°hav9 
taken up, because I feel sure that, after the war, many peopia 
who would otherwise have been inclined to listen to the reason- 
able demands of Labour will turn a deaf ear to them. This 
may not be enough to prevent Labour from getting its reason- 
able demands, but it means that they will only bo procured 
with friction, of which, after the war, we shalfwant as little 
as possible if \ve are to recover quickly from the effects of it. 
Mr. Jowett's article on this subject in your last issno 
would have been more convincing if he had explained why 
the unrest in munition factories varies so much. In Leeds 
there has been practically none, very little in Sheffield, not a 
great deal in Birmingham or Barrow, but a good deal at 
Birkenhead, Liverpool, Southampton, and Glasgow. Now, 
no one who knows Leeds workmen will accuse them of being 
a docile lot. The great municipal employees' strike of 1913 
and the fact that one-fourth of the City Council is composed 
ot Labour representatives are proofs to the contrary. Nor 
would the charge hold good of Sheffield or Barrow, whatever 
may be the case m regard to Birmingham. 
Now, it is, to say the least, exceedingly improbable that 
all the employers in the first four towns which I have named 
are good ones and all those in the four last towns bad ones. 
Iherefore, the only explanation we have left is that tha 
workmen in thein are not so patriotic as their fellows elso- 
where.— \ curs, &c., -n r, t 
o r> 1 T -r , iREDK. G. JaCXSON. 
8, Park Lane, Leeds. 
