Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 143, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1914 — WAR HORRORS TOLD [ARTICLE]

WAR HORRORS TOLD

Greeks, Bulgars, Servian and Turks Accused of Massacre. Soldiers Shown to Have Burned Men Alive—Appeal Is Made to Nations by Commission of Inquiry of Carnegie Endowment

New York.—Atrocities inflicted on defenseless men, women and children by Turks, Bulgarians, Greeks and Servians during and after the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 are recounted in detail in a report made public by the Balkan commission of inquiry of the Carnegie endowment for International peace.

The document tells of the annihilation of one entire population of 15,960 persons, of the burning of men alive by hundreds, of the violation of the widows, of the hanging Of women to trees, of the butchery of men in groups of 300 or more and of the gouging out of the eyes of babies and their mothers.

After pointing out the effect of the atrocities of the people that survive, leaving moral and social chaos, the commission contends there is small chance of lasting peace In the Balkans. It closes its report with conjecture as to Macedonia’s future, and says: “What, then, is the duty of the civilized world in the Balkans, especially of those nations which by their location and history are free from international entanglements?

“It is clear in the first place that they should cease to exploit these nations for gain. They should encourage them to make arbitration treaties and insist on their keeping them. They should set a good example by seeking a judicial settlement of all international disputes. “The consequences of the recent war, economic, moral and social, are dreadful enough to justify any honest effort by any person or by any nation to alleviate the really distressing situation.” The report is in seven chapters and clears up much of the mystery of atrocities reported while the Balkan nations were involved in strife, either with the Turks or among themselves. Everywhere the commission found desolation, wretchedness and social and moral disintegration. In this Indictment brought by the commission against all contending forces no one of the Balkan nations is spared. Atrocities committed on noncombatant Moslems in Macedonia surpassed in many instances the crimes of the dark ages. The barbarous acts and inhuman reprisals performed by Bulgarians, Servians and Greeks against one another would seem incredible if they were not supported by unquestionable evidence.

The commission gives three causes for the war which followed the demand of the allies for autonomy of the European vilayets and. redivision according to nationality. These were the weakness and want of foresight of Turkey, the powerlessness of Europe to impose on a constitutional Turkey the reforms it had introduced into an absolute Turkey, and the consciousness of increased strength which alliance gave the Balkan states. The occupation of Macedonia by Greeks and Servians and the threatened decapitation of the Bulgarian nation fostered discord among the Balkanallies which had not been stifled by treaties, the terms of which wpre in continual dispute. Alleged Bulgarian violations of treaties and Servian transgressions, followed by mutual demands for concessions and extensions of frontier, precipitated a war among the allies which for wanton cruelty and wholesale demolition is almost unparalleled.

In commenting on the BulgarianServian country the commission says: “The things we have described, horrible as they are, are evidence of an abnormal condition which cannot continue.’’ The report, with a preface by Nicholas Murray Butler, is the work of the following members of the commission: Dr. Josef Redlich, professor of public law in the University of Vienna, Austria. » Baron d’Estournelles de Constantand M. Justin Cedart, lawyer and member of the chamber of deputies of France. Dr. Walther Schucking, professor of law at. University of Marburg, Germany. • ? Francis W. Hirst, editor of the Economist, and Dr. H. N. Brailsford, journalist, of Great Britain. Prof. Paul Milyoukoff, member of the Russian domain. Dr. Samuel T. Dutton, professor in teachers’ college, Columbia university, New York.