The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 10, 1947, Page 6

i i { | “laos PAGE Sy 7} 2 ’ GHp KEY WEST ‘CITIZEN 2 os ; WEDNESDAY; DECEMBER 10, ate SHORT LiFe {POMAKS ARE PEOPLE OF FRENCH CABINETS THE WORLD — By RELMAN MORIN By DANIEL DE LUCE Written For The Associated Press| AP Newsfeatures ASHINGTON. — A French ON THE GRECO-BULGARIAN FRONTIER.—They are a people jovernment, on the aver- that the warld forgot. They live in a no-man’s land where | age, a very short life-span. | i,» only law is a gun. The present regime is the The Pomaks aye an example of Communism socking the sixth—and in one sense, the seventh—that hos ‘come. ta power in the 30 months since the liberation of Paris. That works out to something leas than a five months’ average th si ji man’ There are, however, 350,000 Pomaks along Hoth sides of pl i et IG M the Greco:Bulgarian border, clinging to tiny, rocky farms in are Eecded, Pee ener | the Rodope mountains which theiz forefathers ‘settled before | Charles DeGaulle, in the near a Norman conoyeror set foot in England. future. It is a high mortality rate, but not so high as before the wor, when the French some- times changed their govern- ments within the same week. The system differs from both the American and British sys- tems in that a French govern- ment can fall out of office over a single issue. A prime minister's policies may be challenged and a vote of confidence called for. If he fails to receive a majority in the National Assembly, he re- signs. His Cabinet goes with him, Therefore, in stormy times,; when passions are running high, the life-expectancy of a French government is short. The years immediately before the last war vividly illustrated this. The French people saw war coming, and they changed prime ministers with great rapidity in the search for a man, and a gav- ernment, who coyld command their confidence in his ability vo either avoid the war or defend the country. Similarly, political and eco- nomic stresses have brought ihe downfall of six men since the liberation, Gen. DeGaulle, head of the first Provisional government, resigned when his demands for 2 strongly centralized govern- ment and large military cred- its were denied. Then came Felix Gouin. Six months later he resigned in the fight over the new cgnstitutign. Georges Bidault went out five months afterward as a result of discontent aver the economic sit- uation. Leon Blum's’ one-month government was a stop-gap re- gime, put in as a compromise he+ tween the parties. Paul Ramadier headed the fifth and six government. His first Cabinet was so sharply al- tered, When the Communists; walked out of it, that the sucy ceeding one was in effect a new regime. Ramadier had the stormigst ® Of this “lost race” inside Europe, historians confess that; nothing of its origin is certain. Pomaks are not even mentioned | in most famous encyclopedias. They are Moslems but-seem to have no blood kinship with the Turks, although they once fought for the Ottoman Empire. Many have blond hair, blue eyes and almost Nordic features. Their females are veiled from the cradle to the grave. Elders; who have visited Mecca cry the words of Mohammed from needle- UY / b WA TOBACCO IS MONEY to the Pomak. Here two of the hardy mountaineezs barter the Jeaf in Northern Greece. pointed minarets, but most ofthe faithful have never been fdrther than 25 miles from where they were born. Are you making like a sure your own and your family’s future : i ~~ 9 security is to start saving regularly and systematically now. platy ‘ : You can do this easily .. . almost pain- pee lessly ... with U. S. Savings Bonds. 4 U. S. Savings Bonds are 100% guaran- ! ‘ teed by our government. They pay you $4 for every $3-you put in, after ten’ years. Which means the money you save makes more money for you— without risk. You can buy Savings Bonds regularly through the sure, convenient Payroll Sav- ings Plan. If you can’t join Payroll Sav- If you save in great rushes... taper off ings—and do have a checking account — ‘ »++ Spend your savings on a fast ridedown —_ask at your bank about the new, automatic ‘ » - then start over again— you'll soon Bond-a-Month Plan, — learn this: Like the roller coaster, you end up exactly where you began. Much of the mountain territory sprinkled with Pomak villages is, by default, under Communist control in the Greek civil war, “Taxes” of: corn, donkeys and home-woven cleth- ing are collected with sub-machine guns, ees 1 In oné afternoon, I saw half the population of Pachni,'a mile} from Bulgaria, flee to Glavki, a village four miles deeper within by very nar- | Greece, because Greek rebels demanded a ton of corn. on everything of his policy on Indo-China to pressure against his freeze on wages and his tempt to lower prices by law. Except for increasing po| ¥ opposition to the Communists, his government might have fal- len over a single strike in the Renault automboile works. The Communist ministers were in. an embarrassing position. They had endorsed the Ramadier poliey on wages, Then came the strike. Confronied with the necessity of supporting the workers they had to disavow fhat policy. So they attempted to topple the govern- at: with. them, ‘but it didn’t ple. : They coritinued their efforts, outside thé government. Eventu- ally, by starting a series of strikes in key industries, they brought Ramadier to his knees. His successor, Paul Schu- mann, has already won some decisive ' victories, jamming through the assembly—against fanatical Communist opposi- tion — legislation providing penalties for fomenting strikes ‘and practicing sabotage. | @ Roller coasters are great—to ride on! Taking advantage of the rebels’ daylight absence, the vil- lagers trekked off with wives, children and winter food re- serves, since at Glavki they could be protected by an ouipost of 90 Rovalist troops. But it's not very smart to imitate them, especially when it comes to an important thing like saving. : Glavki was quiet. Soldiers dozed at lookout stations while | young, bare-bottomed Pomaks begged a share of their American! rations.’ Old. women trudged in with huge bundles of firewood on! their stooped backs. Tobacco was hung out to dry on racks beside } sagging stone+and-timber houses. Join elther today— and you'll take the roller coaster run-around out of your sav- The only effective, sensible way fo en- ing system! SAVE THE EASY, AUTOMATIC WAY—WITH U. S. SAVINGS BONDS At dusk, the village locked itself in. All windows were shuttered and doors bolted. A new squad, more alert, took ever the lookout duty. Night belongs to the rebels. Pomaks,:some students theorize, may be otiginally of ‘Bulgar stock .or. a“ tribe—Kumans or, Pecenegs--which wandered: south across ‘the Danube in ‘the 11th Century ‘to! halt ‘in’ the peaks of Thrace.’ Fifty thousand are under the Greek flag, 300,000 in Bul- garia. Sponsored by The KEY WEST CITIZEN This is an official U. S. Treasury advertisement—prepared under auspices oi Treasury Department and Advertising Council When western statesmen, in 1878, carved up the Sultan's domain in Europe, 21 Pomaks villages fought off the ac- quisitive Bulgars and set up an independent republic. Bulgaria i annexed it in 1886 and that was the last of Pomak self rule. Perhaps with tongue in cheek, Greece sent a Pomak delegation | to the Paris ‘peace conference last year. Bulgaria was demanding It is generally believed, now, Greek Thrace. The Pomaks claimed part of Bulgaria. The con that: DeGaulle will be the next| ference snubbed both, on the stage. He can return in| —_____.... 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