May 30, 191 8 
Land & Water 
19 
The New Salonika : By Thomas H. Mawson 
I 
The Quay before the Fire . Eastern end of Rue St. Demetrc 
This is to be made wider and arranged as a Boulevard Donlteys laden with oak. An old Turkish Cemetery in 
in two levels background 
Mr. Thomas Mawson, the ivriter of this article, is the our armies are doing in the creation of a great system of 
well-known landscape artist and toien- planning expert, splendid railwaj-s and main roads, which radiate from the 
H e is the senior fnember of the Commission for the rebuild ing city through the hinterland to the frontier, and which have 
of the City of Salonika, xvhich was practically wiped out opened up the country for future development and assured 
of existence by the Great Fire of last autumn. Before the prosperity. In carrying out this work vast numbers of the 
war, Mr. Mawson had been engaged on a scheme for mixed population of Macedonia have been employed, their 
modernising the city of Athens. He also laid out Banff work being paid for on a scale which is just and even generous. 
and Calgary in Western Canada, so his experience is In fact, in all these matters the British have won a reputation 
unique. The members of the Commission include, besides for fair dealing and prompt payment. 
Mr. Thomas Mawson, Sir E. Hebrard, Captain Pleybair The third reason for our popularity is tJie knowledge that 
M. H. Kitchikis, and M J. Jacens, with the Mayor oj we are held in high regard by the King. M. Venezelos, and 
Salonika as cx-officio member. The Commission works his Government, and also by the fact that the safety of 
Macedonia is in the keeping of the Allies, who are working 
in perfect harmony with the Government in Athens. 
For these reasons, it seems to me that people at home 
should make haste to realise the commercial importance of 
Greece, and to take every advantage of the present favour- 
future of Macedonia and the intensely interesting able conditions to further British prestige, commerce, and 
problems connected with the rebuilding of Salonika ; industry. , j 
and yet I claim that no part of the territory o\'er The re-planning of the citj', after one of the greatest and 
with the Greek Ministry of Communications, which is 
under the able presidency of M. Papanasiacius. 
N these strenuous and anxious times comparatively 
few ])eople have gi\en any serious thought to the 
which we are now waging such 
terrible warfare would better re- 
pay careful study and active 
interest, for to every student of 
the Orient it is becoming in- 
creasingly clear that never before 
In our history have the British 
been held in such high regard, 
both by the Greek Government 
and people at large, as at the 
present time. 
There are several main causes 
which have produced this desir- 
able change in our favour ; tliey 
may be stated as follows. 
The great fwpularity of our 
Army (which applies to all ranks, 
from the Commander-in-Chief, 
General Sir George Milne, to the 
private soldier) is almost unbe- 
lievable until one hears from the 
natives of the splendid heroishi of 
our men and their self-sacrifice 
during the terrible night of the 
fire. Nothing has ever happened 
in Macedonia which so impressed 
the Oriental mind or so completely 
captivated the inhabitants of 
Salonika and the hinterland. 
Stories arc told on every side of 
the perfect genius of our soldiers 
for control on a great and tragic 
occasion, and their care of the 
women and children who flocked 
to them as their natural protectors. 
Everywhere I heard it said : 
"British soldiers are inimitable." 
The second reason arises from 
the recognition of the work which 
Church of the Twelve Apostles 
From this position can be obtained the finest 
panorama of City, Gulf of Salonika, and Mount 
Olympus in the distance 
most disastrous fires in history, 
provides just the right oppor- 
tunity and occasion for enter- 
prise, whilst the development of 
th? agricultural and mineral re- 
sources of Macedonia is now made ' 
possible by the new railways and 
roads to which -I have already 
referred. Together, these offer 
endless opportunities for British 
capital organising genius and in- 
dustry, and the more we can 
develop these opportunities, the 
more sure are we to prevent the 
future Germanisation of Greek 
financial corporations. 
A natural question wliich is 
often asked is : Where is the 
money to come from for all this 
exploitation ? To which I reply : 
Principally from the Greeks them- 
selves, because it cannot be too 
strongly insisted upon that the 
Greeks are to-day very rich. 
What is needed are a few recog- 
nised British financial corpora- 
tions, whose members are kn6wn 
for commercial abiUty. practical 
enterprise, and probity. Given 
these conditions, 1 am sure the 
rest is easy. 
I regard it as most fortunate, 
from a national point of view, 
that an Englishman was asked by 
M. Venezelos to take the senior 
position on the City Planning 
Commission — for rebuilding the 
city and to lay down the principles 
upon which the ])lans wryp to be 
