Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-02-19
Stirring News from Crete.

tests,!"I Take the Responsibility
The eyes of the whole civilized world
have been turned for the past week upon
the little island of Crete, which lies in the
| Mediterranean southeast of the kingdom of
Greece. From its natural location the ISL
and ought to be a part of that kingdom,
but it is one of the provinces of Turkey.
Its 100000 population is divided in faith
between the Moslems and the Christians,
and between the two deadly feud exists
There have been repeated rprisings in the
island, and last Week there was news that
Moslem fanatics, aided by Turkish troops,
had attacked the Christians and slaugh-
tered several hundreds of them. King
George of Greece said that sort of thing
must stop, and boldly threatened to send
troops to Crete to occupy the island and
protect the Christians. Representatives Of
the European powers notified him that
such a procedure could not be tolerated.
To this the kings answer was, in sub
stance, that he was ready to take the re-
sponsibility of his acts, and in spite of a
pretended or threatened blockade of the
island by the powers he despatched a flo-
tilla Of transports to the Crete and landed
them, while a Turkish gunboat was at
tackled and driven back.
Tuesdays dispatches by way of London
said that the powers had sent collective
note to Greece, stating that unless the
Grecian forces were withdrawn from Crete
within Is hours the Piraeus would be
blockaded and hostiities begun against
Greece. When Col. Vassos, commanding
the Greek troops, was notified of this he
answered: 81 am ordered to occupy the
island and must carry out my orders until
| receive other Instructions Subsequent
| ~ the Greek commander issued this proc
| lamation:
| "Cretans, you are suffering from the
| present state of anarchy and are exposed
| to the cNcesses of fanatical populace, eN-
| ccsses which have awakened the national
| sentiment and have deeply stirred the Hell
! leuic people. This lameutable situation Of
a people Of the same race and the same re-
| lgion having common destnies with our
| selves, could not any longer be allowed to
exist The king OF the Hellens has resolved
to end this state OF things, by proclaiming
a Greek occupation Of the island.
"ln making this proclamation | promise
! in the name of King George to protect the
! lives, honor and property of the inhabi
tants without distinction OF religion and
nationality and to respect the religious
convictions of the inhabitants, while bring
ing to them peace and law"
The insurgents have declared their indie
pendence of Turkey and their union with
Greece, while the porte busters and
threatens to attack Greece on the main
land in retaliation for her aggressveness
! in Crete. The situation is critical, but
it is also amusing when one looks at the
spectacle which is presented by this tiny
kingdom of Greece defying the historic and
porientious concert of the powers" A
writer in leading newspaper, discussing
this phase Of the situation, says:
"For two and half years the Sultan has
successfully detird England, Germany,
! Italy, Austria, Russia and France, and
those six nations, which together could
sweep him and his fanatic hordes from the
map Of Europe, have been afraid to attack
| him for fear OF bringing about the very
conditions presented in this analysis, and
which now threaten.
"Yet now comes puny Greece, boldly de-
flying the Sultan, and showing herself to
| be ready and willing to maintain her de-
fanCe by the sword if it be necessary. The
King of Greece a man of lifelong caution
and excessive prudence, is suddenly meta
morphosed into an aggressive war lord.
There must be some hidden cause for this,
and none is more probable than that some
powerful nation is behind with a guarantee
of its support. Taken altogether, no sit
uation so complicated, so fraught with dan
ger and the possibility of surprises has
arisen in modern history. War may not
come at once. but the last hope of longer
tolerating the Turk in Europe is conceded
to be gone, and peace cannot be assured
until the map of Europe is radically
changed, either by rivers Of blood or by
unselfsh agreement, But the nations OF
! Europe are not unseltish.'
This from the New York Herald sums up
the general situation to date:
at would take very wise man to say
what will be the outcome of the present
crisis in Crete caused by the bold adventure
of Prince George of Greece. For the pres
ent it must be admitted that Greece has, il
not the upper hand, very strong hand
The powers are clustering as usual, but il
will be difficult for them to check the
course of events. Greece has, according
to a despatch from Athens, 10000 men in
the island of Crete, and if she lands more
the better the prospects will be for the ru-
NOR becoming fact that Prince George
of Greece will eventually be proclaimed
prince of Crete The sultan is evidently
weary of the whole Cretan business, and
he knows well that if Greece does not gel
the island the European powers will cut il
up for the purpose of establishing nava
stations. OF the two evils he would pre-
sumably choose the lesser.
1.-The Cretan troubles have at any rate tC
be removed if the peace of Europe is to b,
preserved. The news from st. Petersburg
the most important political centre in tn,
present agitation, is non-committal, but i
is enough to show that Greece has the
Cars earnest support and that no steI
can be taken to oust Greece from Cret
or to blockade the Piraeus, as the power
threaten to do, without his consent. From
present advices it is safe to say that Cret
is lost to Turkey and that the island viii
become a principality under the rule o
Greece's sailor prince, paying tribute to tn
Porte, until the propitious moment for ab
solute independence arrives"