MR ASHMEAD-BAETLETTasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether the Mussulman community of Cyprus have presented a Petition to Her Majesty's Government against the new Constitution of the Legislative Council in that Island, by which it is proposed that the Council shall consist of nine Christian to three Mussulman members, and whether the following is an accurate representation of the tenour of the Petition:—That the British Government, in proposing this change of proportion (the present members on the Council being half Mussulman and half Christian), have not considered the loyalty with which the Mussulman inhabitants of Cyprus accepted the change of administration, refusing to listen to the Anti-English party who tried to stir up agitation; that the British Government have not considered the character of the agitation which is now going on among the Greek population for the ruin and oppression of the Mahometans; that they have not considered the fact that the Mussulmans, who have for over three centuries possessed the Island, have always treated their Christian fellow-citizens with justice, and protected them in the enjoyment of their property and religion; that the Government have not consulted the British Authorities in Cyprus before using this new Constitution; that, although in the 10th and 11th Articles of the new Constitution it is stated that the British Government, in accordance with the terms of their Convention with the Sultan, wish to give the population of Cyprus a law and not privileges, yet by the 4th Article (which establishes this Council of nine Christians to three Mussulmans) they give to the Greeks the greatest possible privilege—one which they do not even possess in Greece itself; that in Asia Minor, where the Mussulmans are in a 1263 large majority, the Christian population have equal numbers and equal votes on the Administrative Councils, and of the fact that under the proposed change the Mussulmans who are in a majority in Nicosia, the principal town, would be at the mercy of the Greeks, and in view of the fact that the Greeks openly assert that they mean to use their majority on the Council in order to oppress the Mussulman population, and to obtain the independence of Cyprus; the Petitioners finally pray that either the proposed Constitution of the Legislative Council be modified and restored to the old plan of equal numbers and equal votes, or that the Mussulman population be allowed to emigrate in order to escape the loss of their rights and their personal safety; whether the attention of Her Majesty's Government has been called to the inflammatory articles inciting to race persecution and revolution which appear in the Greek journals of Cyprus; and, whether, in view of the very grave statements contained in the petition of the above Mussulmans of Cyprus, which is signed by the Mufti and other notables on behalf of the whole Mussulman population of the Island, Her Majesty's Government will either withdraw the Article complained of, or fix an early day for the discussion of the question in Parliament?
§ MR. COURTNEYSir, a Petition has been received from the Mussulman community of Cyprus; but the representation of it in the Question of the hon. Member cannot be accepted as accurate. The Petition and the reply will be included in the Papers shortly to be presented. I may, however, say now that the document commented on in the Petition is not a draft of a Constitution with definite Articles, but a despatch containing a general outline of a proposed new Council. It is not proposed that the Council shall consist of nine Christian and three Mussulman members. These will be the members elected by the Mussulmans and Christians, and in addition thereto there will be six official members, and the President will also have a vote. The present Council is not half Mussulman and half Christian. Sir Garnet Wolseley appointed one Mahomedan and two Christian unofficial members; but there is now one vacancy among the Christian members. It is not the case that the British authorities in Cyprus 1264 have not been consulted. There have, in truth, been long and frequent communications with them. It will be seen, without going through all the paragraphs of the Question of the hon. Member, that the fears of the Mussulman community, to whose loyalty and good behaviour the Secretary of State willingly bears testimony, rest on misapprehension of the nature of the proposed Council, and it is not proposed to withdraw the scheme. It is not thought that any particular attention is due to the articles in the Cyprus Press more than to other strong articles which appear in newspapers throughout our Colonies. It is not intended to fix an early day for the discussion of the question in Parliament.
§ MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTasked of what nationality the six official members were to be?
§ MR. COURTNEYAs they will be appointed by England, they will be probably English.
§ MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTsaid, that, in consequence of the unsatisfactory answer of the hon. Gentleman, he should call attention to the subject on an early day.