"The Greeks of Today" (An American Diplomat's View, 1872)

From The Spectator Archives

The Greeks of To-Day, Charles K. Tuckerman, late Minister Resident of the United States at Athens. London: Sampson Low and Co., 1872.

Read the book online

Pdf File

From a Spectator review of 5 July, 1873:

"The current accusations against the Greeks of to-day are many. Mr. Tuckerman has something to say to most of them, and often looks at them in an unexpected light. The charge most generally repeated is that of political corruption. It is admitted that corruption does exist in Greece; the Greeks do not claim to be a society of angels. But the country is poor and small, there is eager political competition, and infinite talk and journalism magnifies everything :-

"I am persuaded," Mr. Tuckerman says, "that the Greeks themselves are accountable for much of the prejudice against them. The politicians ferret out every conceivable and many inconceivable crimes, and the twenty-five or thirty journals of Athens do not let it die for want of circulation, The great proportion of political sinning is fabricated by partisan scribblers, and it may be safely said that much of that which has foundation is exaggerated, and much of that which is not exaggerated has no foundation in fact."

And he proceeds to turn the tables on his own countrymen by a short but pointed reference to the well known condition of the Civil Service in the United States. The real reproach of Greek politics, according to the American ex-Minister, lies in the want of any coherent and widespread public opinion. "Greece is a nation of politicians without a party," and government is evolved as it best may be, which naturally is not very well, out of a scramble of individuals. However unsatisfactory this state of things is in itself, it seems to show a persistence rather than a degeneration of the old Greek character."