TOPICS OF THE DAY.
BULGARIA AND GREECE. EVENTS in the Balkans have moved with great rapidity since our last issue. On Monday the Russians issued an ultimatum to Bulgaria, declaring that unless she gave assurances as to her military action satisfactory to the Allies, the Russian Ambassador would leave Sofia and all intercourse between the two Governments be broken off—a demand supported by the rest of the Quadruple Entente. Bulgaria, or rather the Bulgarian King and his Ministers, refused to meet the demand of the Allies, and proceeded to mass troops upon the Serbian frontier. The time-limit having expired on Tuesday, the Russian Minister demanded his passports, an example followed by the Ministers of France, Britain, and Italy. Bulgaria's unsatisfactory answer to the ultimatum shows, of course, that King Ferdinand and his Government have definitely thrown in their lot with Germany. It is said, indeed, that no loss than three thousand German officers have arrived in Sofia, and we must expect very shortly to hear that Bulgaria has attacked Serbia. Indeed, it is rumoured that an ultimatum has already been issued. The fact that the British people will in all probability soon be at war with Bulgaria is a matter of very deep regret, for this nation has always watched the development of the peasant State with strong sympathy. It is of course fully understood hero that the Bulgarian people as a whole, or at any rate the great majority of them, are not at heart with the Germans. Unfortunately for them, however, King Ferdinand, the arch-plotter, or, as he has been called, "The fox of the Balkans," has manceuvred the nation which has the misfortune to be under his rule into the position in which it now finds itself. German promises of aggrandisement and German gold distributed wholesale, and no doubt also retail, have bought the kingdom, and King Ferdinand is now in the process of delivering the geode. But though we can and do sympathize with the Bulgarian people, it will be quite impossible to prevent the consequences of their King's evil deeds from falling upon them. War is a stern business, and the Allies cannot alter their course of action even though they understand Bulgaria's difficulties. Regret it as we may, the Bulgarian people will have to reap the harvest they have sown, or allowed to be sown. They will find now what comes of tolerating such a ruler as King Ferdinand. He is leading his people to their ruin, and only a miracle can now save them. Many of them no doubt are forgetful of all that they owe to Russia and Britain, and only think that, at any rate, they are on the winning side. They are mistaken. In the first place, it is the Allies who will win and not Germany. But in such an.event what must be the fate of unfortunate Bulgaria, surrounded on three sides by small States anxious to punish her for her treachery, if indeed not to share her inheritance, and on the fourth side by Russia, whom she has so deeply wronged P—When the war is over it will be Russia and not Turkey who will be Bulgaria's neighbour at Adrianople and on the Bosphorus,—It is a pathetic business, and only an internal revolution in Sofia can now save the situation for the Bulgarians. It is to be feared, however, that King Ferdinand, a man of abject mind, as well as of tortuous diplomacy, has made hie dethronement very difficult. Mobilization and a condition of war have given him absolutely autocratic powers, powers with which he can strike down opposition the moment it appears. As we write on Thursday it is very difficult to under stand the full bearing of the Greek Constitutional' crisis. Greece answered Bulgaria's mobilization by herself mobilizing, and the Chamber gave M. Venezelos, the patriot statesman who is the hero of the hour in Greece, a substantial majority when he announced his just and statesmanlike determination to observe the treaty obligations of Greece and to assist Serbia if attacked by Bulgaria. At first all seemed to be going well, and the Allies showed their determination to support the Serbians by beginning a lauding of troops at Salonika intended to safeguard the railway line which feeds the Serbian armies with munitions, a line which, however, passes close to the Bulgarian. frontier, and might easily be severed by a Bulgarian.. attach.. It is true that the _Gseeks made a, formal protest, but as a, matter of fact the action. of the Allies was taken with the full knowledge of, if not, indeed, in consultation with, the Greek Government. This was the situation up till Tuesday. On that day, however, a sudden change took place. The King, who through his wife, a sister of the German Emperor, is inclined to be subject to German. influences, suddenly dismissed M. Venezelos on the . ground that lie (King Constantine) "could not pursue to the end the policy of the Cabinet." But though the situation is thus rendered difficult and complicated, there is little fear of the Greeks allowing their country to be placed in the position occupied by Bulgaria. The most that the King of the Holleues could do, even if he were to drift into a positive pro-German attitude, which, however, we do not anticipate, would be to cause friction and to sterilize the action of Greece. That, of course, would have a result injurious to Greece, for it would deprive her of what would have been the ample fruits of loyal co-operation with the Allies. Its military significance, however, as far as the Allies are concerned, would not be great. Fortunately there is still time and still plenty of opportunity for the Greek people to realize the situation and to take the necessary steps for amending it. If the voice of the people makes itself fully heard, we do not believe that the King will attempt to resist it.
But though the Germans have managed to create a. situation in the Balkans which is for the Allies confused and perplexing in the extreme, it must not be supposed that their own path is easy. They have adopted a policy in regard to Bulgaria and Turkey which may be described as using the same thirty pieces of silver to pay two malefactors—the Young Turks and King Ferdinand, In such circumstances, one of the malefactors, or possibly both, will have to be disappointed. Enver Bey and his camarilla at Constantinople have always been told by the Germans that Turkey after the war is to be set on her legs again, and made once more a Great Power with Constantinople still in her grasp and still astride of the Straits. Further, she will be rejuvenated by the gold of Egypt and by the riches drawn from an Asia Minor exploited by German capital and enterprise. Now, however, it appears that the Bulgarians have been bribed with the same money. King Ferdinand has had the Imperial crown of Byzantium offered to him and he already sees himself entering Stamboul in triumph as its Emperor, and wearing the crown of diamonds which is said to have been got ready for him by a Paris, or more probably a. Vienna, jeweller during the last Balkan War, At present, no doubt, the Germans are telling each dupe in turn that lie is the one who will eventually come out on top. Ultimately, however, such tactics must fail. In all probability the Turks will soon realize that the Germans are more likely to pay Bulgaria than them. The Germans, when Turkey has been made as much use of as possible, will be very glad to find an excuse for getting rid of their obligations to her, They clo not intend to make Turkey once more an independent Power. Her provinces are too valuable for that. Germany wants Egypt for herself and not for Turkey. The same thing applies to the best parts of Asia Minor and Syria. If therefore Germany wins, she will prefer to keep faith with Bulgaria. No doubt the heavily bribed leaders of the Young Turks will not be in a position to make a protest ; but when the true significance of what has happened at last dawns upon the Turkish people and the Turkish Army, and they find they have been sold twice over, they will show the passions of their kind.
People are very naturally 'asking what Roumania is going to do. We may feel certain that at the present moment . lavish promises are 'being made to her, promises. to be kept very secret, for they involve the grossest act of treachery, from the German point of view, i to the Hungarians. Roumania is being told that f she will only keep quiet she will be given Transylvania ; but that, of course, must not be mentioned till the war is completely over. We do not believe. that Roumania will be taken in by such talk. Rouinanian statesmen are men of tried experience in Balkan affairs, and they will realize that if it is a question of looking for cl-ernian favours Bulgaria has obviously stepped. in beforp thetn, and that there is not room in the Balkans for two Powers to play, the part of the let and protégé of Austria; and Germany, ARRAYING THE NATION.
WE are delighted to record the appointment of Lord Derby to beineffect Chief Recruiting Officer for the nation. Lord Derby has in Lancashire shown an extraordinary flair for recruiting work. His sympathy, his tact, his enthusiasm, and. his determination to keep his eye upon the object—that of getting the men—and not to allow his efforts to be deflected by any theories of his own or other people, have been quite admirable. If he can do for the country at large what he has done in Liverpool and that portion of Lancashire to which his efforts have been specially directed, the recruiting sergeants should soon "got busy" again. The appointment of Lord Derby means, we presume, that the Government have at last fixed upon a policy in regard to the getting of more men. The nature of that policy it is not hard to guess, since it has in effect been shaped, as is too often the policy of Governments, by the force of circumstances rather than by a conscious and intelligent study of the situation and its needs. The voluntary system, or rather the voluntary system as at present worked, has by the admission of all men broken down. We are not getting the men that we must have if we are not to be beaten in the war. In these circum stances, the Government must clearly devise some other method of filling the ranks. The obvious method is of course that which Abraham Lincoln adopted—i.e., compulsion and the adoption in war time of the system which we 'ought to have followed in peace—the system of the most democratic State hi Europe, the Swiss Republic. We should, like Switzerland, train all our young men to arms and to military service, on a plan which gives all the good and avoids all the evils of militarism. For reasons which we will not discuss now, the Swiss example is the chief bogy, we will not say of the working classes, but of a certain section of the population who may be best described as the smaller middle class— the class, be it noted, out of which the professional Radical politicians chiefly come, the men of the Caucuses, .Federations, and Unions, and of the Chapel and Free Church political organizations. These are the 'people referred to by the Somersetshire miner's wife when she said to the chapel elder : "The poor have gone, and the rich have gone, but it's you pious people iv, the middle that won't go." The sharp-tongued female critic was, of course, indulging in a generalization, and generalizations are never fair ; but her mot to some extent represents the facts— witness the position of papers like the Daily News and the Nation.
Those whom we may call, without any desire to be offensive, "the pious people in the middle," have demanded of the Government that before recourse is had to any form of compulsion to fill the ranks a last chance shall be given to. the voluntary system. As supporters of universal training and service on its merits, we are not attracted by such a proposal per se, especially as it means a waste of time, and.. wasting time now means a terrible wasting of precious lives. A nation cannot stop in the middle of a war, sit down and scratch its head, and work out the abstract merits of voluntaryism and compulsion ; or rather, if it does, a great many of its sons will be killed who might have been saved. However, things being as they are, we recognize that the Government could not very well resist this appeal to give the voluntary system one more chance.
Therefore we must all fully and loyally acquiesce in the decision, and do our very best to back up Lord Derby's efforts to get another twenty miles, or shall we say twenty weeks ? out of the good old horse 'Volunteer.' And here we may remark that we are quite sure that the vast majority of compulsionists will, like us, stand by Lord Derby, and work as bard now as they have been working in the past to make the voluntary system a success. It is one of the curiosities of the situation that the keenest workers for the voluntary system have throughout the war been compulsionists. While disliking the system at heart, and making no concealment of the fact that they believe compulsion would. be much fairer and much more efficient, they have yet worked their fingers to the bone in the cause they distrust. On the other hand, the strong anti-compuisioniste have for the most part contented themselves with abusing the compulsionists, and have done little or nothing to get men by voluntary methods. The present writer does not want to boast of any personal activities on his own part. Considering the nation's need, they have, Heaven knows, been poor enough, and are rather a source of humiliation than of pride. He owes so much and has paid so little. Yet ardently compulsionist as the Spectator is, its editor ventures to say that he has done ten times as much to aid and abet the endeavours of the voluntaryist., even when most doubtful, as the editor of the Nation, whose pages have rung each week with shrill denunciations of compulsion in the abstract and of oompulsionists in the concrete as vile oligarchs, apparently tyrannically determined to send the sons of working men to the front and keep their own sons safe at home—a miracle the accomplishment of which under a system of universal service is never explained ! For example, only last Saturday the present writer spent five hours in the saddle riding in a recruiting procession and rally at the request of the recruiting authority in a provincial town. That contrast will be called only a picturesque accident. Possibly ; but we honestly believe it represents the position all over the country. The men who have clamoured for the maintenance of the voluntary system and belauded it as the only fair one have not been the men who have tried to work that system and given time, health, and money in order to do so. The personal sacrifices in the cause of voluntaryism have been left almost exclusively to the compulsiouists.
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