Dictatorship, War

Now on trial at Athens for high treason is General Theodore Pangalos, recently the efficient Dictator of ungrateful Greeks (1925-26). Today Pangalos seems a ruined man, his body wasted by imprisonment, his hair turned prematurely white (TIME, Feb. 27). Yet he rallied, last week, sufficiently to state crisply to correspondents his views on dictatorship and war, as follows:

"In Athens the dictatorial governments of Solon, Pisistratus and Pericles marked the most brilliant stations in the evolution of democracy. ... As I repeatedly said, even when I was in power, I never believed that dictatorial rule could ever be a permanent and durable political regime. . . . I consider that by means of favorable conditions created through a temporary disregard of formalities, it is possible to solve problems and render such service as no parliamentary government would be able to achieve despite its good will. I wish that Greece may prosper in peace and happiness and may never again need my services."

Turning to philosophize on war, Statesman Pangalos became wholly the soldier:

"War is more than a necessary evil. It is a great law of nature. . . . War has always accompanied life and will not disappear until life on this planet becomes extinct."