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A POLITICAL RETROSPECT ON GREECE.
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rubbing their hands with satisfaction at having localized the war, prevented the reopening of the Eastern question, and pacified Crete. But have they really done so? Perfect chaos reigns now in Crete on account of the jealousy and the mistrust of the powers of each other. Half a dozen governors have been proposed and rejected. England wants a Battenberg, Russia a Montenegrin, Italy an Italian, Germany has her own candidate, and so forth. In the mean while the European fleets are at anchor at Canea and Heraclion, and their contingents occupy the four fortresses of the island, ostensibly to protect the Mussulmans from the attacks of the Christians. The latter have placed themselves at the disposal of the powers, who have done nothing to establish a local government, and it is very likely that this chaotic state of things will last for some time to come. A more ignominious failure than that of the powers trying to govern Crete can hardly be imagined.

History will register with shame these doings of the great powers at the end of the nineteenth century. Their conduct toward Greece has been cruel and inconsistent; but if the truth must be said, some of the powers have always tried to keep Greece backward for selfish purposes and