§ MR. SUMMERS (Huddersfield)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is able to give the House any information with regard to the origin and nature of the disturbances that are reported to have recently taken place in the Island of Crete?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir J. FERGUSSON, Manchester, N.E.)The present disturbances in Crete are stated to be due to the quarrels of political factions in the Island. Members of these factions have attacked, and in some cases murdered their rivals, causing panic in unprotected localities, and the flight of defenceless people to the places occupied by their friends. Demands have been made upon the Turkish Government for reforms, and by one party for the removal of the Vali, but there does not appear to be anything amounting to an insurrection against the authority of the Sultan.