The Canadian Magazine of Politics, science, art and literature Vol. XX
"...All eyes are being turned to Macedonia. That the Province is seething with discontent is certain enough, and we have in addition tales of murderous oppression and tyranny which, if true, would be quite sufficient to account for the prevalent unrest. Doubt is thrown upon the truth of some of the worst of these tales. It is the most striking commentary on what Turkish rule does for those countries over which it is exercised to know that the ancient seat of the Philip against whom Demosthenes thundered, and of that Alexander who conquered the world, is so cut off from civilization that we have to depend for news of the conditions that exist there on the most accidental and unreliable sources; and that the London Daily News is sending a correspondent in there much as they would send one into the region of the Mad Mullah. Until some such dependable connection is made with the mountain valleys of Monastir we will not certainly know the extent of Turkish oppression and misgovernment there.
One would think that the most hopeful feature of the situation is that Russia is not financially ready for a great war. She has been spending so much on the development of her Asiatic possessions that a prolonged war would be a sore trial to her. The danger is of setting a programme of reforms for Turkey, which, if curtly or peremptorily rejected, might leave no other resource but the sword. That it would be no easy taik, even though nothing but Turkish soldiers arc encountered on the way to Constantinople, we may well believe. It is said that 250.000 Turkish troops would be mobilized and thrown towards the Balkans. They are well armed with Mauser rifles, would be on the defensive, and under Edhem Pasha, who proved himself so cool and masterly a strategist in the Turko-Grecian war a lew years ago, they would give even a more powerful invading force many a rough day's work. The latest intelligence is, that the leaders of the committies which were making Bulgaria a land of refuge where their plots could be carned out in safety had been arrested by the Bulgarian authorities. While on the face of it this appears to be an act of friendship towards Turkey, it is in reality done in a way to make it most exasperating. It is accompanied by a sort of challenge to Turkey to explain why she is massing troops along the Bulgarian border. One thing that has to be remembered is that neither Macedonians nor Bulgarians are Greeks. They are mainly Slavs and will put up a stiff fight in the hilly country which will be the scene of operations if an uprising takes place."
"...All eyes are being turned to Macedonia. That the Province is seething with discontent is certain enough, and we have in addition tales of murderous oppression and tyranny which, if true, would be quite sufficient to account for the prevalent unrest. Doubt is thrown upon the truth of some of the worst of these tales. It is the most striking commentary on what Turkish rule does for those countries over which it is exercised to know that the ancient seat of the Philip against whom Demosthenes thundered, and of that Alexander who conquered the world, is so cut off from civilization that we have to depend for news of the conditions that exist there on the most accidental and unreliable sources; and that the London Daily News is sending a correspondent in there much as they would send one into the region of the Mad Mullah. Until some such dependable connection is made with the mountain valleys of Monastir we will not certainly know the extent of Turkish oppression and misgovernment there.
One would think that the most hopeful feature of the situation is that Russia is not financially ready for a great war. She has been spending so much on the development of her Asiatic possessions that a prolonged war would be a sore trial to her. The danger is of setting a programme of reforms for Turkey, which, if curtly or peremptorily rejected, might leave no other resource but the sword. That it would be no easy taik, even though nothing but Turkish soldiers arc encountered on the way to Constantinople, we may well believe. It is said that 250.000 Turkish troops would be mobilized and thrown towards the Balkans. They are well armed with Mauser rifles, would be on the defensive, and under Edhem Pasha, who proved himself so cool and masterly a strategist in the Turko-Grecian war a lew years ago, they would give even a more powerful invading force many a rough day's work. The latest intelligence is, that the leaders of the committies which were making Bulgaria a land of refuge where their plots could be carned out in safety had been arrested by the Bulgarian authorities. While on the face of it this appears to be an act of friendship towards Turkey, it is in reality done in a way to make it most exasperating. It is accompanied by a sort of challenge to Turkey to explain why she is massing troops along the Bulgarian border. One thing that has to be remembered is that neither Macedonians nor Bulgarians are Greeks. They are mainly Slavs and will put up a stiff fight in the hilly country which will be the scene of operations if an uprising takes place."
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