Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-30
CRETE TO BE NEXT
IN THE LIMELIGHT
DISPOSITION OF COUNTRY
PUZZLES EUROPE
People Seek Annexation to Greece,
but Turkey Claims Title to the
lsIand-Protectora to
Be Dissolved

the four protecting poWers-Great
Britain, Russia, France and Italy
withdraw their troops at the END or TINS
month? Is it still to remain under the
nominal suzerainty of Turkey, or Is 1t
to achieve the ambition, passionately
cherished by nine Cretans OF ten, OF
union with Greece? Or is there some
other alternative which, while tulnil-
ing the ineradicablo aspirations of the
Cretans, will reconcile the young
Turks to the loss of yet another por-
ton of the Ottoman empire?
The problem is not an easy one TO
solve, yet its solution, either in whole
or in part within the next few weeks,
may easily prove a matter OF crucial
urgency. good deal of diplomatic
agility among the powers and good
deal of level headedness and restraint
among the Turks the Cretans and the
Greeks, will be needed If 1t IS TO De
settled without provoking serious
crisis Crete has been under Turkish
rule for 240 years. It's inhabitants are
all Greeks-probably the purest Greek
stock to be found in the Levant Even
the native converts to the Moslem
faith, roughly speaking one-tenth OF
the population, some 10000 of 100000,
though they side with Turkey and re-
gard themselves as Turks-Crete being
one of the many spots on this ineXpllc-
able earth where nationality is deter
mined by religion-are really Greeks
and indlstinguishable in race and IAN
glage from their fellow islanders.
Christians Restless
The Christian majority have never
acquiesced i'm the ottoman DOMINION
They have risen in desperate rebellion
against it time and again. Their only
10. lon HHTith
They are simple, mendaVious, intiam-
mable folk, with a sense of racial ma
tionality that has become at once an in
stinct, an ideal and disease. Hellenlsm
means moro to them than anything
else under the sun, 1t is one OF Ihose
deep-seated, primitive, unreasoning
passions that in the long run break
through all the barriers and artihces or
diplomacy. They know that Greece IS
a chaos of faction and corruption; that
her finances are wholly disorganized,
her army worthless and her future pre-
carious. They know that union with her
entails conscription and heavy taxation.
Nevertheless, to be part of the Greek
kingdom and under the Greek flag IS
the sum of all their hopes
And Greece reciprocates their long
ing To obtain Crete the Greeks have
defied Europe and fought Turkey, ana
would probably do so again. They nave
won all but the final victory. Crete
today is free in nearly everything but
the name. After the Greco-Turkish
war of twelve years ago the powers
expelled the Turkish troops from the
island and took over the administration
themselves, garrisoning its ports and
controlling its external affairs.
Turkish Influence Gone
Nothing today remains of Turkish
authority except a single crescent en-
sign floating side by side with the flags
ofr Great Britain, Russia, France ana
italy on an untnha bited rock IN Suua
bay There are no Turkish officials in
the island. The Cretans pay no tribute
to their pseudo-suzerain. For the past
eleven years they have been governed,
with the sanction and under the super
vision of the four powers, first by
prince of the royal house of Greece,
and secondly by former prime minis
ter of the kingdom Greek is the olll-
cial language; the legal code has been
remodeled in conformity with that or
the Hellenic kingdom; the Cretan nag
is composed of the white and blue or
Greece: the Cretan militia and gen
darmerie are under Greek officers; the
very postage stamps used by the IS
landers are those of Greece.
Except that Crete, like Cyprus, still
suffers financially from having been
once a part of the ottoman system, ana
cannot, for instance, alter its import
dues without the assent OF european
bondholders, and except that one-tentn
of its population Is stu MussuiinanI, a.
there is little or nothing to show that II
had ever come under Turkish rule.
Since it's occupation by the powers the
island has prospered, and peace be-
tween Moslem and Christian has been
all but unbroken. The powers four-
teen months ago were so satisfied WIN
its nrogress as to promise the with
draWaI of the International troops by
JuIv. 1909 Nobody at that time doubt
ed that the withdrawal of the troops
would be the signal for union win
Greece with the tacit consent OF the
porte.
But in the last fourteen months much
has happened. The old regime IN Iur-
KEY has disappeared. The nrst result
of its downfall and of the Austrian and
bulgarian coups that followed It was
that the Cretan chamber voted lnlne-
diate union with Greece Under the ad-
vice of the powers, Greece neither ac-
cepted the offer nor rejected II. She
held her hand, and with equal magma
nimitv and discretion did nothing TO
add fo the difficulties of the Young
Turks. But the question, shelVed last
october, is now pressing for settlement
Unless the four protecting powers leave
Crate in n week or two, and what VIII
bappen when they go, nobody KNOWS,
The Young Turks, however, are m
sistent that whatever happens, .trele
must remain a recognized part OF the
ottoman dominions. They declare that
thev have no wish or intention What-
ever TO interfere with its present au-
+ononous condition, or to restore thelr
vanished authority. They are content
with the status quo. But they are de-
cidedly not willing that the status quo
should be altered to their own disad-
vantage and to the advantage OF
Greece. They have lost Bosnia and
herzegovina: they have lost their last
titular hold over Bulgaria; they can
not afford to lose Crete also. If
union with Greece were declared at
Gambia and accepted in Athens they
would resist the blow to their prestlge'
If necessary, with force of arms. On
tbat noint all Turkey is unanimous.
cretans Determined
The Cretans, on their part, claim that
+heir national aspirations are perfectly
well known to the powers, have more
than once in the past ten years been
recognized and encouraged by them
MS. for instance, when the nomination
Of the governor of the island was en-
trusted to the king of Greece-and that
the promise of evacuation, promise
not withdrawn even after the Cretan
nhanber had voted union with Greece,
IS practically a European Endorsement
If their "manifest destiny" Left TO
themselves they will unquestionably
declare for incorporation into the Hell
lenic kingdom. and the Greeks as un-
ouestionably will give them ready