The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-26

10 cheaS - taS SNAtA'f NA' Va 80 oHe
the congratulations Of the American people.
Crete. Greece, md the Eastern Qucs-
ton.
From the mass Of conflicting testimony
regarding the situation in Crete and the
intentions Of the principal powers 1t is at
last possible to form some definite idea of
the projected settlement. What will be
the effect OF the settlement upon Crete,
upon the kingdom Of Greece, and upon the
whole Eastern question:
To answer the question we should recall
as briefly AZ possible what has occurred
during the last few weeks. The Christians
in Crete, like the Armenians in Asia Minor,
have been subjected for many years to rapa.
cious and cruel oppression, which in their
case, however. could not be carried to the
length of determination, for the reasons that
the Christians in the island outnumber the
Mohammedans by at least three to one.
The difference between the two elements
Of the population is one not Of race, but Of
religion only, the Mohammedans not being
Osmanli Turks but Cretans who have he.
come converted to Islam since their island
was wrestcd from Venice nv the Ottoman
power. The converts, like the Bosniak
Beys OF the period preceding the Berlin
treaty, have always treated their Chris.
tian fellow countrymen with the pro.
verbal f~erocity of renegades IL Is they
who have prevented the reforms prom
Used from time 10 time by the Porte
from being honestly carried out. 1t was
they who rendered unavoidable the latest
scheme of local self.government which the
Sultan ostensibly tried to apply in the island
about the same time that he pledged him
self TO establish a similar regime in Turkish
Armenia. In neither instance was the
promise kept but, while the Armenians
are now too few and too feeble TO protest,
the Christians Of Crete, being men of a
more r~esolute temper, and being, as we have
said, much more numerous han their enc
mics, rose In insurrection and laid siege to
the chief seaports, where the Mohammedan
population is mainly concentrated.
Under normal circumstances the result
would have been that large bodies Of Turk
ish soldiers would have been transported to
the island. and the rebellion would have
been drowned in blood. That such an out.
come of the uprising was expected and de-
sired by the great powers, which profess to
he acting in concert, has been proved by
subsequent events. The powers, however.
were unable to control the little kingdom
Of Greece, which in an outburst of sym
patty, that has put to shame the rest Of Eu.
rope, declared that the Greek Christians OF
Crete should be rescued from massacre.
To that end the Athens Government de
spatched a fiotilla to Cretan waters with a
view to preventingthe landing of Turkish re-
Inducements, and also sent thithera consid-
cradle detachment Of Greek troops with the
avowed purpose of proclaiming the annexa
tion OF the island to Greece. T%hcreupon
the warships of the powers, cooperating in
the so-callcd European concert, were in
structed to interpose and since then they
have not only taken possession of the CAPT
tai of the island and some other seaports,
but have turned back the Greek vessels
bringing ammunition and provisions, and
have bombarded a position occupied by in
urgents near Canea. In these proceedings.
manifestly taken in the interest of the Mo-
hammedan opprcssors and to the dctriment
Of the Cretan Christians, the warships of
Great Britain have borne a conspicuous
part. Meanwhile, however, 40 much indig.
nation has been expressed in those three
European countries where public opinion
Is an irresistible force, we refer, of course,
to England, France, and Italy, that the
powers do not venture to carry their pro-
gramme to its logical conclusion, and re-
place the Cretans under the misrule Of a
Governor appointed by the Porte. They
have, IL seems, at the suggestion of Lord
SALISBURY, while leaving the island under
the sovereignty Of the Sultan, and impos.
ing upon it the payment of n tribute to the
Porte, determined to give il absolute local
independence unde n Governor to be dcsig.
mated by the powers, and who, according to
most of the dispatches, il TO be a Greek
prince, but, according to a telegram from
Vienna, an Austrian statesman.
II this plan is carried out, il Ia evident
that the Christian Crctans will be, for the
first time in centuries, relieved from Turk.
ish oppression, and they will owe this boon
partly to their native energy, but prin-
cipally to the sympathy of the small
kingdom of Greece. What so great a
power as England has professed her.
self unable to perform in the case Of
the butchered Armcnians, whom she was
pledged by treaty TO protect, Greece will
have managed to achieve, not only in def.
ance Of the Sultan, but in the teeth Of
the rest of Europe. For the service thus
rendered to civilization the Athens Govern.
ment will receive for he moment no re.
ward, unless a son Of King GEORGE shall be
made Governor of the enfranthised island.
But an imperishable claim has been estab.
lished upon the gratitude of the Cretans
and upon the respect Of mankind, and,
when a partition of the Ottoman assets Is
eventually effected, the public opinion of
the world will require the annexation Of
Crete to Greece.
Meanwhile, Greece will have given a
memorable object lesson to the Christian
subject populations Of the Porte. Especially