r('bniai\ I, Jt)!/ 
LAND & WATER 
^5 
rational being can maintain, after tlie losson of tiicir 
latest histor\', that they werr not infected with the Old 
Turks' disease. 
But set this case aside, lake the previous attempt at 
reform which was carried out by a group during 1875 
and the following years. That movement also promised 
well. Tlie leading spirit was Midhat Pasha, and all who 
hoped that liukey might be able to regenerate itself 
})iaced great trust in .Midhat ; but I must confess that a 
few years ago my views about him recei\'ed a serious 
shock through what I heard from one \\ho had known 
him well. My authority did not tell the story either in 
blame or in praise ; he was simply narrating his own 
recoliertions, and they carried conviction. 
.Midhat, who was (ioveriuir of the ]Movincc of Bulgaria 
about 1874, said in private con\'ersation thai, if hv. were 
free to do as he thought best, he would j>rohibit all 
teaching or writing or reading of the l^ulgarian language, 
which is a Slav dialect. His reason was that a child 
takes only three years to learn to read and write Bulgarian, 
but it needs six years to learn to read and write Turkish ; 
it was therefore unsafe to give such an ad\'antage to the 
Bulgarians. The point of view is so essentially 'J'urkish, 
and morally so wrong, as to imply tliat the mind of the 
speaker, leading reformer as he was, had been iadicall\- 
distort(xl about the principles of governing. There is 
nothing to be hoped for except mere superficial impro\e- 
ments from such reform. 
Acting on the same principle the Young Turk govern- 
ment in 1000 alienated the Albanians by compelling them 
to adopt the Turkish alphabet ; the official mind always 
judges after the same fashion in Turkey, and the reformers 
are worse than the despots. 
It is understood that the Allies ha\-e agreed to put 
l-iussia in authority at Stamboul : and the only other 
method— namely, internationalisation, need not be dis- 
cussed. It must be acknowledged that free use of the 
great waterway is absolutely necessary for the develop- 
ment of Russia ; and that no other country, not even 
Roumania, is so dependent on the free navigation of the 
l^osphorus ; but l^oumania has an innnense stake in the; 
waterway, and many other nations ha\-e large interests 
in it : and it surely is within the power even of modern, 
diplomacy to conciliate the \'arious claims under the 
supreme authority of Russia. The prohibition of all 
fortilication along the line of the waterway together with 
proper supervision to insure that this condition is fully 
carried out, seems to be necessary and al.so to be possible. 
This supervision ought to be exercised by a Scientifu" 
("onnnission to regulate and improve the navigation of 
the waterway and the use to which it can be put : the 
powers of the commission to extend over the entire 
channel from the ]^Iack Sea to the yligean, and to a 
distance of about ten miles on eacli side. Tlie com- 
mission should not consist of diplomatists and lawyers, 
but of scientihc and practical men. , 
Jt is time to begin to put Turkish affairs under the 
control of knowledge and skill. The Allies should learn 
in this respect from the (lermans in Turkey. The fruit- 
k'ssness of all the many attempts to reform Turkey, or to 
inrhice the 'furks to reform themselves, has been largely 
due to wrong methods : diplomatists dealt with a gox'ern- 
ment, and never appreciated that they ought to be dealing 
with a jx'.ople. That government has been the greatest 
enemy of the Turks as a nation ; and it is as much in 
the interests of the Turks as of European nations, that 
the Turkish administration should be brought to an 
end in Europe, and should be radically' modified in Asia. 
Joffre and Nivelle 
By Charles Dawbarn 
JOFERE has Ixen made Marshal, Nivelle, who 
was in London the other day, commands the North 
and North-Eastern Fronts in France. Few English 
readers probably appreciated the signihcan.ce of 
the change. Joffn^ stands for a special sort of efticicncy, 
Nivelle for another. The two men are perfect products 
of their own environments. None can dispute the com- 
manding character of each, and vet each commands 
differently. 
Joffre's amazing popularity is based on a peculiar 
appreciation of his temix-rament. He is the highest 
expression of the jjcasant commanding a peasant army. 
For it is not always realized that the great majority of 
the tighting men of France spring from the soil, and 
therefore are its natural and most tenacious guardians. 
The French light with the indomitable ^■alour that we 
know, because they are fighting to defend their homes 
and their acre of ground. It is the instinct of possession, 
the fierce protective ^ensc of the farmer and cultivator, 
who sees his life-work jeopardised and undone, his farm 
and fields at the mercy of a barban^us foe. That is the 
Joftre spirit too. Joffre is representative of France 
because lie has sprung from a pure stock, which, for 
generations, has tilled the ground. His mother was a 
inodel housewife, orderly and economical, and Joffre 
inherits her order and her economy. 
His forte is forethought ! He thinks things out steadily, 
along certain lines ; he is master of his own destinj-, the 
captain of his fate. He disdains flashes of inspiration,- 
the sudden insight by which some great leaders have 
established reputations— at least according to' popular 
biography. Such narrowing of the impulse down'fo the 
hard and fast rules of calculation and research is par- 
ticularly useful in adversity, for it stiffens the soul, makes 
It face realitj-, steels it against the dreadful discourage- 
ments of defeat, and engenders a spirit of calmness and 
resolution. 
Yes, the knock-down blow is terrific to-dav. but will not 
:hc striker be himself fatigued ? It is as if one calculated 
the stress and strain of a bridge, subjected to severe 
pressure. Will it bear it ? Joffre knew that it would 
bear it. That knowledge gave Ihm confidence ancT 
strength in the darkest hour, when the Germans Were 
hard upon the heels oi defeated France and Britain. 
He ne\er faltered. He went about his work as calmly 
as if mathematics could not lie, and the exact sciences 
were always exact. He had deeply considered, he 
had slowly examined all the chances of things turning out 
differently from reasonable expectation, and he had 
taken the risk inseparable from enterprise. And he 
triumphed as he knew he would. ^ 
Somehow he was able to communicate this serene 
confidence to his troops. Perhaps it was not very 
difticult, for his peculiar reputation with the armies was 
of a man of groat wisdom and ponderation. He was 
CraiK/pci'C Joffre, and the grandfather is always astonish- 
ingly wise to his grandchildren. Moreover, he was kind, 
and at the same time, just : great cpialitics in a leader, 
that always inspire the affectionate esteem of the led. 
Joffre, removed to the more rarified atmosphere of 
technical a^dviser to the Inner Cabinet, has left behind 
him an enviabk^ record. " If after the war," wrote a 
Socialist and Professor in L'llumanitc, the organ of the 
late lamented Jaures, " a monument is erected to him, as 
assuredly it will be, no mother need turn away from it." 
And Joffre, tender-hearted beneath the coat of mail 
forged for th(^ circumstance of this war, derived particular 
pleasure from this panegyric. He has known how to 
make war humanely, with a jealous eye for the lives of 
the pawns. " Too many dead," he said, when Paris 
asked whether it should celebrate the victorj' of the Marnc. 
And, again, " I can break through, but it will cost a 
hundred thousand. Do you want that ? " Xotre Joffre 
is as parsimonious of his troops as if each poilu were his 
own son. 
He stands for the defensive, whilst his successor is 
the advocate of the offensive. The two systems are as 
wide apart as that. Joffre holds, " nibbles," wears down, 
wages a "war of attrition," the other hews his way to 
\ictory, but wins scientilically, by superior preparation. 
Nivelle is the sou and grandson of a soldier. He belongs 
therefore to the haute hoitrgeoisic. His mother is English, 
