The record-union., 1897-02-21
The Newspapers Devoting Columns to
the Subject.
Salisbury's Refusal to Follow the
Suggestion of Emperor William OF
Germany, and Blockade the
Piraus, Warmly Praised, and His
Suggestion That Crete be Granted
Autonomy Believed to Afford
Solution of the Problem.

Solution of the Problem.
LONDON, Feb. 20 Copyrighted
1897, by the Associated Press).-The
Cretan question is now foremost in the
public mind and the newspapers pub
lish columns on the subject. The Mar
quis of Salisbury's refusal to follow the
suggestion of Emperor William of Ger
many and blockade the Piraeus is
warmly praised in Great Britain, and
his suggestion to the Powers that Crete
be granted autonomy similar to that
of the island of Samoa is well received
in many quarters, as affording a So
luton of the problem which Greece can
accept without too great a sacrifice of
national honor. This proposition, it is
understood, also finds favor in Paris,
where popular feeling is pro-Hellenic.
The continental correspondents of the
English newspapers all eXpatiate on
the pique of Emperor William at the
Marquis of Salisbury's attitude, which
openly displayed itself in his last in
terview with the British Embassador
at Berlin, while Count Won HatZfeldt,
the German ambassador here is re-
ported to have had a heated conversa-
ton with the Marquis of Salisbury.
1t appears that Emperor William per-
sonally insisted with the foreign Gov
ernments in favor of his proposal. This
action is stated to be due to his maj
esty's desire to overcome the Reichs
tags opposition to his naval policies.
He decided to initiate a very active
t,o1 ri; IN
in the Levant. The adoption of this
proposal to blockade the Piraeus would
have been a personal triumph for the
Emperor, and the opposition would
have been obliged to agree to increase
the strength of the German navy in
order to uphold the national honor.
This scheme, however, was knocked in
the head by the Marquis of Salisbury's
opposition.
The Turkish Government is uneasy
at the Powers over this question, fear
ing it might cause a break up of the
European concert, which would mean
an inextricable explosion in the Bal
kans and the subsequent disruption of
Turkey.
Opinion is universal that Crete will
never return to the Turkish yoke. The
island will either become independent
or a part of Greece. The chief danger
now is a collision on the Thessalonian
frontier.
The news that Turkey has ordered
her fleet to be mobilized was received
with derision throughout Europe. One
newspaper suggests that the Turkish
lronclads are more suitable for oyster
boats tan for fighting.
The newspapers here comment on the
paltry arrangements for State in
Quiry of such Importance as the one
being made by the parliamentary COM
mittee into the Jameson raid. 1t is
held in small, miserable room, and the
proceedings are altogether diveSted OF
dignity.
The feeling of the public certainly
appears to be leaning to the side of
Colonel Cecil Rhodes, whose examina-
ton will last another four or five sit
tings. The inquiry promises to be in
terminable. Commenting on President
Kruger's big claim for indemnity as
result of the Jameson raid, speaker
says: He has historical precedent,
though it is neither creditable nor hope
full, in the claims which the United
States advanced in the Alabama dis
pube."
The International Sanitary Confer
ence at Venice is making satisfactory
progress. 1t was announced to-day that
Great Britain has agreed to the ratifi-
cation of the Paris Convention of 1855.
DIR. r. Thorne, the British technical
delegate, asserted that the bubonic
t,%lo &c, 1acS a cholera
He deprecated the terror of the plague,
and urged that no sound basis yet OBJ
| tanned for special action, as in the case
of cholera. The Turkish delegate ex-
pressed confidence that the measures
taken would prevent the import of the
plague through the Red Sea. Regard
ing the question of incubation, ten days
was adopted as the basis of the Sanl-
tary regulations, reckoned from the
date of departure from a suspected
place.
In agreeing to the ratification of the
Paris Convention, it is understood that
Great Britain excluded from its appli-
cation, Canada, Australia and Cape
Colony.
The magnificent Hereford art collec-
ton left by Sir Richard Wallace, the
celebrated English philanthropist. to
his widow, has now been bequeathed
to the nation by her. The collection is
one of the finest private galleries in the
world, and is only rivaled by the Bor-
ghese collection of Rome and the Lich
tenstein collection at Vienna 1t is
valued at SIT 100000, and is now on
view at the Hereford House, Manches-
ter Square.
The plague and famine in India are
producing a crisis in the Lancashire
cotton trade. The collapse of the In
dian trade has led to the stoppage of
thousands of looms East Lancashire is
chiefly affected and the employers con-
template a reduction of 10 per cent,
and urge that an organized restriction
of production is what is necessary to
meet the trouble. If a strike occurs
| 2SS. 59S looms will be idle.
The English explorer Poulette Wealth
erby, just back from Central Africa,
reports that the village of Chilambo,
where DR.. Livingstone is buried, is
abandoned, and urges the erection Of a
lasting monument.
DEATH OF DIR. RUIZ.
May Cause American Warships to be
Sent tn Cuha