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may be understood. But they do not constitute the immediate problem. They are not the cause of the present miseries and the present dangers. It suits the cynical politicians who would leave the Turks to carry out their programme of massacre and rapine, to put the discords of the Christian races in the foreground of the picture. But the real evil, the horrible reality which overshadows everything else, is the incurable misgovernment of the country, a misgovernment which is the result, not of stupidity or carelessness, but of a deliberate purpose to plunder the tillers of the soil for the benefit of a handful of landlords, tax-gatherers, and officials, coupled with the contempt of the armed Musulman for the defenceless Christian. There is no need to describe the forms which this misrule takes. They have been described over and over again during the last thirty years. They are substantially the same wherever in the Turkish empire there is a Christian population. They have been well sketched, as respects Macedonia, by Dr. Dillon in the Contemporary Review, and by Mr. H. N. Brailsford in the Fortnightly Review for September. From the latter writer I take a sentence or two, which supplement the accounts that may be found in the British Consular Reports, not but what those Reports (which hardly any one reads) contain more than enough to show how shocking the situation is.

The Consuls hear nothing of these little village tragedies,-the stolen sheepskin coat, the hamstrung ox, the shady tree cut down, the watercourse diverted, the wife insulted and, it may be, violated, while the husband is in the field. They go on unmarked from day to day, and it is only when one sits down at leisure in a peasant hut, and overcomes

1 This unhappy phrase soon found its punishment, for the British Ambassador at Constantinople was presently directed to explain that it had not been intended to exonerate the Turks, but had been used solely for the purposes of

the shyness and suspicions of the owner, that one hears of them at all. They are neither interesting nor sensational, but it is this daily domestic oppression, much more than the startling and wholesale outrages, that has ground down the peasantry of Macedonia, crushed its spirit, its intelligence, its humanity, and made it what it is to-day-a maddened race of slaves, which is ready at length to commit any crime, to suffer any torture, if only it may be rid of the little tyrants of its fields, who eat its bread, consume its labor, and destroy its soul. No one of the Christian races which threw off the Turkish yoke in the course of the nineteenth century, has had quite so ample a justification for revolt as this Macedonian peasantry.

Justification,

indeed! All the subject populations of Turkey have, for centuries past, had ample justification for revolt. Half of what is contained in the narratives of travellers, and in the Consular Reports, is enough to prove that; and the races which have suffered most are those which have remained longest under the yoke, because the completeness of their misery has left them least able to free themselves by arms. Yet the Prime Minister of England was ignorant enough, or thoughtless enough, to go out of his way, a few weeks ago, to declare in Parliament that, in the rebellion that has broken out, "the balance of criminality was on the side of the insurgents." True it is that some of the insurgent bands have done shocking things. But the cruelties perpetrated by the Turkish troops and officials, and that not only now, but during the many years of oppression that have provoked rebellion, have been far vaster in scale, as well as more wanton and atrocious, than can be laid at the doors of the insurrec

"esoteric parliamentary debate." In point of fact, it was needless for the purposes of debate, since no speaker had either attacked the Ministry, or attempted to adjust the balance of criminality.

tionary bands. Difficult as it has been to obtain trustworthy information of what has been passing since June last, there can be little doubt that, under Turkish orders, many thousands of innocent peasants, women and children as well as men, Greeks and Vlachs as well as Bulgarians, have, within the last few weeks, been slaughtered, hundreds of villages inhabited by non-combatants wilfully burned. The evidence given by the correspondents of the English papers, and particularly by the very capable correspondents of the Times, is conclusive. Should things go on during the next few months as they have during the last three, large part of Macedonia will be turned into a desert.

To all present appearances, things will go on as they have been going on. The revolutionaries are numerous and desperate, and the Bulgarian Principality will probably be drawn into the conflict by the feelings of a people who see their kinsfolk perishing. But the Turks have an enormous preponderance of force, and, being entirely reckless of consequences, may succeed in stamping out the insurrection, and with it great part of the population.

Can nothing then be done? Is the civilized West to look on as an indifferent spectator from week to week, and month to month, while atrocities continue, not less hideous than those the mere recital of which, long after they had happened, roused England to indignation in 1876?

Let us distinguish two questions, the second of which, though far more difficult than the first, is far less urgent. The first is, How can the slaughter be stopped, and a scheme devised which may secure the country some respite from its miseries? The second is, What shall be the ultimate political settlement of the conflicting claims

of the several races that occupy Macedonia, and of the two Great Powers that stand behind?

I. The one thing which is perfectly clear is, that the direct rule of the Turk must cease. The "bag and baggage" policy which Mr. Gladstone urged (and which he was attacked for urging), in 1876, the policy of getting the Turks out of the country altogether, was adopted for Bulgaria in 1878. It saved Bulgaria, whose peasantry have since then lived in peace and order. It was adopted for Eastern Rumelia, and it saved Eastern Rumelia. It has been adopted for Crete, and under it Crete is quiet. Nothing less will serve now. No paper reforms, no scheme, like that which the Turks, with suspicious readiness, accepted last Spring-for the appointment of an Ottoman official, taking his orders from Constantinople, to improve the local administration with the aid of a few European officers,will be of the slightest use. All Turkish intervention, whether military or civil, must be ended, and control be placed in the hands of an European Governor, neither appointed by nor responsible to the Turks, who shall have command of an efficient gendarmerie, and of revenue sufficient to maintain it. The nominal suzerainty of the Sultan may remain. Any balance of revenue, over and above that which the needs of Macedonia require, may be remitted to him as tribute. If these concessions facilitate a settlement, let them be made. But the vital thing is to secure a complete deliverance from the zaptieh, from the tithefarmer, from the rapacious official, from the troops who will not or cannot be restrained from outrage and murder.

It is not a question of Christian versus Musulman, for the Musulman will benefit, scarcely less than the Christian, from the substitution of

some

civilized government for organized robbery.

If the Powers who signed the Treaty of Berlin, or the two Powers in particular which, being nearest, are deemed to be chiefly concerned, desire to preserve the territorial status quo so far as titular sovereignty is concerned, and to reserve for the future the ultimate disposition of these regions, this is the quickest and simplest course to adopt. The Turk could not dream of resisting what the Powers, or even any two of the Powers, agreed in demanding; and no one will allege at this time of day that he has any rights that deserve to be regarded. He always has submitted when two or three Powers have conveyed their decision to him. He submitted in the Lebanon, in Eastern Rumelia, in Crete, and more than once where Greece was concerned.

Such an emancipation of Macedonia from the government to which her wretchedness is due, is all that need be pressed for at the present. It would stop murder and pillage. It would enable the villagers to return to their desolated homes, and resume the cultivation of their fields. It would, if the ruling hand were firm, impose a restraint on the rival racial propagandas, and it would remove, or at least postpone, the danger of a collision between the Great Powers who think their own interests involved.

Every one knows-none better than the Turks themselves-that Turkish rule in these provinces must before long come to its end. Why protract their agony now, when the cup of their misery has been filled to over.flowing?

II. As for the more distant future of the country, that depends in the first instance upon the policies of Russia and of Austria. Assuming that those Powers would refrain from partitioning Macedonia between them

and neither seems at present to contemplate such a step-there are two obvious courses open. One is, to allot to Bulgaria those districts which have a preponderatingly Bulgarian population; to Servia, those parts which are practically Servian by race; to Greece, a part of the south-west where the Greek element is influential, either entrusting Italy with a protectorate over Albania, or leaving it to itself, while establishing a strong line of frontier posts along its border to protect the villagers of the plains. The difficulties of delimitation (as has been indicated a few pages back) would be great, yet not insuperable; and although a Musulman minority would remain, especially in the towns, it must be remembered that Musulmans do not suffer under Christian rule, as the experience of Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia, and Crete, not to speak of Bosnia, has sufficiently proved.

The other course is, to turn Macedonia into an autonomous Principality, under a ruler approved by the Powers, who may, if so desired, own the Sultan as suzerain (as Bulgaria does now), establishing, when the fitting moment arrives, a constitution, similar to those which Roumania and Bulgaria have found it possible to work with a fair measure of success. Something may be said for each of these plans, but it is not necessary at present to decide between them, for the urgent and the indispensable task of the moment is to arrest the strife that is now proceeding, not, as some foreign cynics have suggested, by letting the Turk complete the work of extermination-for this is what "the suppression of rebellion" means-but by removing the causes which have made rebellion the only remedy for intolerable sufferings.

What is the duty of England? What help can she render? Her duty is undeniable, for it is chiefly through her

action in 1878 that these horrors exist in 1903. Painful as this fact is, it must be dwelt upon again and again; for it is the fact which makes the call of duty peremptory. But for the demand made by Lord Beaconsfield's Government, and conceded at the Congress of Berlin, nearly all Macedonia would for the last quarter of a century have been a part of the Bulgarian Principality. Her people would have dwelt in peace; and the many thousands of innocent peasants, men, women and children, who have perished during the last six months, would now be living. Was there ever a blunder that had more dismal consequences, or that more clearly imposed on the nation answerable for it the duty of trying, so far as is still possible, to retrieve it?

Unhappily, it is harder to do good in 1903 than it was to do evil in 1878. The influence of England in the Near East has waned; and the predominant voice in the determination of the course of events in European Turkey now belongs to the two great military Powers whose dominions lie near that region. Whether isolated naval action by England would avail to save the Macedonians, is a question which need not at this moment be discussed. Such forcible action can hardly be expected from a Ministry which lacked the nerve to employ it in the autumn of 1895, when (as those who have the best right to know have stated) it would have succeeded in stopping the Armenian massacres. But the path of diplomatic action at least is open. What part the British Ministry have taken up to now in the dealings of the Powers with this matter, remains dark; for they have refused to tell Parliament anything. It may be feared-it is indeed commonly believed-that they The Independent Review.

When I thrice interrogated them on the subjeet, no information was given in reply.

have merely declared their acquiescence in whatever Russia and Austria have proposed, or have failed to propose. The time has surely come for taking a bolder line; and, believing that English opinion will support the Ministry that takes it, one may venture to hope that it will speedily be taken. There is reason to think that both France (however closely connected with Russia she feels herself to be) and Italy, in both of which countries public sentiment has been deeply stirred, would join England in urging the other Powers that signed the Treaty of Berlin to require the Turks at once to withdraw from Macedonia, and leave it to be administered under a scheme such as has been already sketched out. The peril is imminent, for Bulgaria may be at any moment drawn into the conflict; and every day sees hundreds of non-combatants slaughtered, women violated, villages destroyed, and the area of ruin extended. No one is entitled to suppose that Austria and Russia, callous as their policy has seemed to be during the last few months, will refuse to accede to such a proposal, coming from a Power which has the fullest right to make it, and has no selfish interest to serve. If they do refuse, on them let the guilt rest.

Be the result of her efforts what it may, England at least is bound to do her best to serve the interests of humanity-interests which seem to be so much less regarded in our days than they were forty years ago. Let England at least clear herself from the disgrace of having stood coldly or timorously by, while horrors, unexampled even in the East, are being perpetrated, a country devastated, a people blotted out.

James Bryce.

MR. KIPLING AS POET AND PROPHET.*

The author of "The Islander," "The Lesson," "The Absent-Minded Beggar," "The Old Issue," and similar compositions, comes before the world principally as a prophet. These works may be taken as successful examples (like the laureate's "Jameson's Ride") of the art of giving concentrated voice to a popular sentiment, in a form which adapts itself readily to recitation in the music halls and other local centres of emotion. But behind the prophet still lurks the poet who wrote "Danny Deever," "Kabul River," "Mandalay," the "Ballad of East and West," and "The Flag of England"; and in a literary review one may be pardoned for dealing first with Mr. Kipling in his less obvious capacity. It is sad to record that the volume before us opens with a disappointment.

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poem about the sea, he has no business to intrude upon us at the end of each verse a thought in no way related or led up to. The fault is simply damning, and if the refrain were as good. in form as it is slovenly, the verses. would still have to be ruled out. Moreover, in the third verse what is meant by this?

White water half guessed overside, and the moon breaking timely to bear it.

It is hard to have patience with a man who will spoil work so fine as that in the first four lines of our quotation. But Mr. Kipling, who has trodden the easy ways of prophecy, knows that in an "Absent-Minded Beggar" ode anything will do, and does not hesitate at the conclusion that, even when he writes poetry, the public will not inquire too curiously into his grammar or sense. It is a deal easier to write offhand

And our bullies close in for to make him good prize

or

The bitter salt spin-drift; the sun glare likewise

than laboriously to find the word which will fill the space in metre or the gap in rhyme and yet keep the desired tone. Nevertheless, the prophet does not always usurp. "The Bell Buoy" and "White Horses" seem to me worthy of a place with Mr. Kipling's best work; and there is fine writing in the commemorative lines on Joubert (though a Boer would probably say that Joubert's "name will pass from sire to son" with that of Buller), in "The Settler," and in the "Young

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