MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT.

HC Deb 16 February 1897 vol 46 cc518-33

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR

rose in his place, and asked leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance, viz., "the present critical position of affairs in the Island of Crete, and the conduct of Her Majesty's Government in reference thereto;" but the pleasure of the House not having been signified

*MR. SPEAKER

called on those Members who supported the Motion to rise in their places. Not less than 40 Members having accordingly risen,

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House do now adjourn."

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR

justified the course he had adopted by the strong feeling which the condition of affairs in Crete had excited in this country. The first observation he had to make was that last evening, when the First Lord of the Treasury and the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs were asked questions with regard to the present condition of this burning question, they replied that they did not consider it would be to the public advantage to make any observations or explanations on the subject. [Ministerial cheers.] In making that reply the Government evidently had the approval of hon. Gentlemen opposite, but they had not the approval of the Marquess of Salisbury, the head of the Government—[Opposition cheers]—for, almost at the very moment when the Government as represented in that House were refusing" any information whatsoever with regard to their policy on the ground of its disadvantages in the interest of the public, the head of the Government was making a statement which, if not a full, was certainly a considerable enunciation of the policy of the. Government. [Cheers.] The statement of the Prime Minister, summed up, was to the effect that everything was going all right in the island of Crete until the people and Government of Greece were unwise enough to intervene. He should like to know what was meant by the observation that things were going on all right until the Greeks were unwise enough—

*MR. SPEAKER

Order, order! The hon. Member is not in order in referring thus to a speech delivered in the other House. He will be in order in referring to the fact that a statement was made, but not in commenting upon it.

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR

said the statement had been made that things were going on all right in the island of Crete until the intervention of Greece. He took up the position that if it had not been for the intervention of the Greek troops the condition of Crete would have gone from bad to worse, and the very first gleam of real light they had seen for the last six months in the condition of that island had been this intervention on the part of the Greek people and Greek Government. Further, he said the affection, admiration, and approval of the overwhelming mass of the people of this country were behind the Greek people. ["Oh!"] He was interrupted by the hon. Gentleman, who thought it becoming a Member of that House to accept a decoration from the present ruler of Turkey, and he ventured to think the hon. Gentleman's opinion on this question was just as little representative of the opinion of the country generally as his action in accepting that decoration. They had heard that evening from the Under Secretary a statement of the reforms which were recommended and agreed to by the great Powers. The right hon. Gentleman said very truly that these reforms were welcomed by both, parties in the island of Crete. He thought the right hon. Gentleman would also confirm the statement that the Government of Greece strongly advised the people of Crete to accept these reforms and work them as best they could. What happened with regard to the reforms? They had heard that a Christian Governor was appointed, but he had left the island, having found it impossible to govern. This Christian Governor complained several times to the representatives of the Powers that he was embarrassed and obstructed, and practically made powerless in carrying out the reforms, the Powers had recommended, and he (Mr. O'Connor) would make the further statement that the disturbances which had prevented the carrying out of these reforms were initiated by the Mussulman inhabitants of Crete, and were encouraged, inspired and commanded from the Yildiz Kiosk. The right hon. Gentleman opposite shook his head, but he should be very much surprised if he could contradict this statement. The Ottoman Commissioner in the island confessed to more than one representative of the foreign Powers that these disturbances were initiated by the Mussulman inhabitants of the island, and were in-spired from the Yildiz Kiosk. The Turkish Government themselves laid the blame for the disturbances, not so much on the Mussulmans, not even on the Christians on the island, so much as upon the great. Powers who insisted on reforms being carried out in a Mussulman population which that Mussulman population showed themselves determined to prevent. That was the answer always given by the Porte to any proposal of reform. Let him describe what the position and history of Crete had been until the present state of affairs. There had been no less than ten insurrections in the island since 1831. In the course of a Debate, he thought in the last Session, the Under Secretary stated that these disturbances were to be laid as much at the door of one section of the population as at the other. He did not know whether the right hon. Gentleman would repeat that statement to-night. He knew that the Member for the Ecclesall Division of Sheffield would state it, but he was appealing to responsible men. Anybody could form his conclusions as to who were the aggressors in the island when they had a small minority on the one side enjoying all the lower, free to rob, outrage and kill, and on the other hand a large majority of the people, of a different religion, subjected to all these outrages without any form of appeal or means of having justice done to them. The slate of Crete had been a constant stale of chronic insurrection, because it had been in a slate of constant and odious serfdom. What made the matter worse was that the condition of the people of Crete was imposed upon them, not by their own will, but in spite of their own sacrifices and efforts. At the end of the Creek War of Independence Crete was just as independent as any other Creek island, but she was driven back by the action of the Powers of Europe into servitude; and he dared say in this, as in other crises where the Turkish Empire was oppressing Christian subjects, this country had a large responsibility in the matter. What relief had the people of Crete got from this constant state of affairs? They had had promise after promise of reforms but not a single one had been carried out or attempted to be carried out, and if they had once more, by the action of the Mahomedans and the Turkish Government, been driven into revolt, it was because they had come to the conclusion that all chance of reform rested in the strength of their own right arms alone. He came to the action of Her Majesty's Government. It was stated that everything was going on all right until the intervention of the Greek troops. But in what way? Massacres, outrages and pillage were going on. There was not a Cretan in the island the honour of whose wife or daughter, or the safety of whose life, was protected by any adequate means on the part of the Turkish authorities, and the Cretans had the one choice of submitting to degrading servitude or rising against the Mahomedans. Under these circumstances the Greek Government, not acting upon its own initiative, but in obedience to an irresistible impulse on the part of its own people, thought it time to take action. Was there a man in that House, except the hon. Member for Sheffield, who would rise up and say a word of blame was due to Greece for taking this action? The Creeks of the Continent and of Crete were joined by the ties of blood. They were the same race, and spoke the same common language. Under these circumstances the Creeks would have been less than human beings if their blood had not been stirred by the outrages suffered by the people of their own blood in Crete. What was the conduct of Her Majesty's Government? As far as he was able to gather from the telegrams, a good deal of initiative in the matter had been taken by the Government, though the complaint they had frequently had to make of the present Government was in other cases when atrocities were being committed by the Turks on Christian subjects, that it was wanting in initiative. Apparently, when the people of Crete were to be stopped from meeting with their saviours and fellow countrymen, they found on the part of the Government new acting and initiative which were not altogether to their credit. He was glad the Under Secretary was able to contradict the statement with regard to the interview which was alleged to have taken place between the British Admiral and Prince George. He was sure the report of that interview sent a thrill of disgust and indignation throughout the masses of the people of this country. The right hon. Gentleman, however, was not able to contradict the statement as to the action of the British commander with regard to the Greek vessels. The statement was that the British commander had rot threatened to fire upon the Greek vessels, but had declared that the Turkish vessel would be allowed to go over its course. If he was rightly informed, the work in which the Turkish transport was engaged was in carrying troops from one part of the island to the other. He condemned any assistance being given by the British commander in the transport of Turkish troops to be used against the Cretans who were struggling for liberty. He asked whether the men-of-war of the different Powers were to be removed when order was restored and the Cretans to be driven back under Turkish Government. [Cheers.] He hoped the Government would give an explicit declaration that, as far as they were concerned, the Cretans would never again be subjected to Turkish rule. If such an assurance could be given it would allay much of the anxiety that existed and disapprobation that was felt of the policy of the Government. [Cheers.] He begged to move the Adjournment of the House.

MR. JOHN DILLON (Mayo, E.),

in Seconding the Motion, said Lord Salisbury's statement in the House of Lords had been interpreted by the Press and public opinion in this country as an expression of the determination of the Government to use the force of England to compel the Greeks to withdraw from the action on which they had embarked. The Times that morning, commenting on Lord Salisbury's statement, said the Greeks had been guilty of "a most unadvised act" and practically of "a crime against civilisation." The Times went on to say—and this was the natural interpretation of Lord Salisbury's statement—that the labours of the Powers "appeared to be on the eve of bearing fruit." The reforms had been sanctioned and were being carried into effect. Suddenly the Greek Government, urged on by the demands of the people and apprehensive perhaps of the operations of secret societies, decided to take the Cretan question into their own hands. It was added that the Powers were united in condemning this act." Lord Salisbury has stated in plain and impressive words what is the judgment of the Powers on the action of the Greeks. All of them, he says, 'without exception,' were of opinion that the dispatch of Greek ships and troops was 'a most unadvised act.' So soon as they heard it was in contemplation they protested and expressed their opinion in very earnest language' to the Greek Government. What was the crime of the Greek Government—a crime for which the public opinion of this country would universally thank them? They had broken up the concert of Europe—[cheers]—which had condemned the unfortunate people of Crete for months, without hope of relief, to massacre and chaos, the like of which, except in Armenia, had not been seen in any country of the world. ["Hear, hear!"] What good had the "concert of Europe" ever done for the population of Crete? Within gunshot of men-of-war sent by the Powers atrocities had been carried on for six months, Canea was in ruins, and the Christian population had been hunted like dogs out of the place. He pressed for a specific declaration that the arms of England would not be used to turn back the forces of the Greeks. In this matter they, on the Opposition side of the House, spoke the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the English people. Greece, in interfering on behalf of the Cretans, had run the risk of having her kingdom invaded by hordes of barbarians. The verdict of civilised mankind would be that Greece alone of all the European Powers had thrown selfishness and self-interest behind her to help those who were allied to her by blood and race. It might be foolish in a certain sense, but he believed that the voice of Europe, weak as it had shown itself in dealing with the Armenian and Cretan questions, would not tolerate the invasion of Greece by Turkish armies, and if the Sultan was so ill-advised as to declare war against Greece he would bring about the absolute ruin and final end of his own cursed sway. The House of Commons were at least entitled to as much information on foreign affairs as the House of Lords. ["Hear, hear!"] The business of the House of Commons, in the view of the present Government, was "not to reason why," but to find the money. [Laughter and "Hear, hear!"] Whatever other Powers might do he hoped it would be understood that the forces of England would not be used to resist what the public opinion of this country heartily approved—the action of Greece. [Cheers.]

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.

Sir, I rise to deprecate, not in the interests of the Government, but in the interests of the Cretans, of the Asiatic subjects of the Porte, and the interests of Europe, the continuation of this Debate. [Cheers.] We feel sensible, of course, that the policy of the Government in foreign as in domestic affairs should be reviewed, and is liable to be reviewed by this House, and we should always be ready, to the best of our ability, to deal with and meet charges of maladministration, whether at home or abroad, which may be made against us. But a heavy weight of responsibility rests upon any assembly which, like the British House of Commons, uncontrolled by outside power—which must shape its action entirely in accordance with its own views of what is right or wrong—which has the power of pressing the Government for information at a time perhaps when information should not be given, and the power of discussing policy at a time when policy ought not to be discussed; and I do ask the House to exercise now that self-control which it has so constantly exercised in the past—["hear, hear!"]—and defer to a future occasion the condemnation of the Government—if the Government is to he condemned—or at all events a discussion of the policy the Government are pursuing in this grave and difficult crisis in our foreign affairs. After all, even the two hon. Members who have just spoken must realise that but one of two policies is open to the Government—the policy of letting matters go on in the Turkish Empire as best they may, and the policy of attempting to reform, as far as reform is possible, the unhappy condition of the various populations in that Empire by the united action of the Powers. ["Hear, hear!"] The hon. Gentleman would like to sec, apparently, Europe exercising all its influence to prevent the Turks from doing anything in Crete against the Greeks, but to allow the Greeks to go in—[Opposition cheers]—not as the mandatories of Europe, but on their own authority, to carry out reforms in their own way. I am not going to discuss which of those two policies is the right one, but I warn the House that the second policy is a policy which would lead you straight on to a European war. [Cheers.] It is absolutely impossible that you should keep the Concert of Europe going for some purposes connected with the Ottoman Empire, and not going for all purposes. It is perfectly impossible that you should attempt at Constantinople through the concerted action of your ambassadors to introduce reforms in the Asiatic and European provinces of Turkey, and at the same time tell the Sultan that Crete is outside the sphere of the operations of the European Powers, that we are not going to allow him to govern a portion of his dominions, that we are not going to govern it ourselves, but that we are going to leave it to chance and to the operation of Powers irresponsible in the matter. You cannot adopt that policy. If you mean to do what the hon. Gentleman purposes we should do, the inevitable consequence will be that the Concert of Europe will be broken up, that all the hope which we may legitimately found on that policy will be disappointed, and that the last chance of reforming the Turkish Empire will have disappeared—[Opposition laughter and Ministerial cheers]—and that the one result will be that that Empire will fall to pieces—[Opposition cheers]—not by the peaceful growth of free institutions within its limits, not by the spread of civilisation from one end to the other, but by the operation of a European war the consequences of which no man can foresee. [Cheers.] There are Gentlemen opposite of infinite courage, who are prepared to face that result with great equanimity, and to face it apparently in the interests of humanity and in the interests of peace. We think that neither the interests of humanity nor the interests of peace are the natural fruits of the policy which they would recommend. We are pursuing a policy essentially based on the united action of the European Powers; we may be right or we may be wrong; we may he successful or we may be unsuccessful; but the very worst thing that could happen would be that we should attempt to carry out half that policy and half some other policy—Heaven knows what it is—pressed upon us by hon. Gentlemen opposite. We have made our choice, and we moan to abide by it. [Cheers.] We have come deliberately to the opinion that the sole possibility of peacefully solving this problem, if a solution be possible, is by the instrument of the European Concert, and we will not be responsible for any step by which that concert would for a moment be endangered. ["Hear, hear!"] That, Sir, is the policy of the Government. We believe it to be a policy justified not merely by European considerations based on the interests of the five great Powers of Europe, but we believe it to be a policy with which the whole possibilities of growth and prosperity in the East of Europe and in the Turkish dominions of Asia are intimately bound up. If I ask the House, as I do now earnestly ask, not to indulge in a discussion which must either be purposeless or useless, or which, if it is to endeavour to extract pledges and promises from the Government, or information as to pending negotiations, must end in endangering that concert which we believe carries with it the only hope for our foreign policy in the future—["hear, hear"]—I shall not, I suppose, be suspected of standing up here to defend the government or the misgovernment of any portion of the Turkish Empire. I presume that even gentlemen who are most ardent in their desire to sec the whole of the Eastern world involved in flames will not believe, at all events, that if I take a different view, I take it because I am less anxious than they that the cause of civilisation should prosper in those territories. But I think I may appeal, if not to them, at all events to the Leaders of the Opposition, to wait before they condemn the Government, to wait before they criticise the Government, to wait even before they cross-examine the Government, until the crisis in which we are involved in connection with Greece and Crete at this moment has passed away. I trust and believe that that day will not be far distant, and when that day comes, we shall be glad to give a full account of our whole conduct in connection with this matter, and to defend ourselves, not merely before this House and before the country, but before the civilised world, whose interests we are helping to support. [Cheers.] At any rate, we feel it is not in our power to prevent the Debate from going on—we cannot silence hon. Gentlemen opposite if they choose to speak—yet we shall not permit ourselves to say anything, or to be dragged into saying anything—[cheers]—by which the main lines of the public policy of this country can for one instant be endangered. [cheers.]

*SIR WILLIAM HARCOUKT (Monmouthshire, W.)

, who was received with Opposition cheers: The right hon. Gentleman has appealed to those who sit upon this Bench in this matter. I think we are entitled to say that in dealing with questions of foreign policy we have not endeavoured to embarrass the Government. [Ministerial cheers.] Since I have been in this House I have never taken that course, but there is one thing upon which I think we must come to an understanding with the Government. I put a question to the right hon. Gentleman yesterday as to whether he was prepared to make any statement with reference to the condition of affairs in Crete, and he gave me the answer that it was not possible to make any statement at all. I was ready to accept that statement from the right hon. Gentleman, but to the surprise of everyone that course was not followed by the head of the Government and the Foreign Minister in another place. [Cheers.] I have heard Mr. Gladstone in this House and out of it condemn the principle of having the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister in one person in the House of Lords, as that makes it impossible for the House of Commons to receive that information which it ought to receive with reference to critical conditions of foreign affairs. I suppose that the right hon. Gentleman, when I put that question in identical terms with that put to the Prime Minister in the House of Lords yesterday, would have understood from the Prime Minister that he was not going to make any statement upon the subject. But a statement was made in another place, and it is a remarkable fact that the only statement that has come from the six Powers of Europe with reference to the policy that is being pursued in Crete was made by the Prime Minister in the House of Lords yesterday. Is it to be accepted that in a critical condition which the right hon. Gentleman had told us may lead to a European war—that a statement which affects the whole of the foreign situation shall be made in such a manner that we cannot examine it. [Opposition cheers]. Sir, such a position is intolerable, [Renewed cheers.] Everybody is to know it except the House of Commons; Europe is to know it; the British public is to know it through the Press, and here we who represent the people in the House of Commons are not to know anything whatever about it. That is a situation which we cannot accept. ["Hear, hear!"] What is the substance of that statement? I cannot refer to it in detail, but as I understand it the substance of that statement is a condemnation of Greece. If that is the policy of the Government—and I have heard of no other policy—if the policy of the Government is simply a condemnation of the conduct of the Government of Greece, in my judgment that docs not represent the opinion of the English people. [Cheers.] I remember an adjective celebrated in the history of this country applied to an event which mainly conduced to the establishment of the independence of Greece—I mean the battle of Navarino—when the Duke of Wellington, I think in the King's Speech, described that as an "untoward event." That untoward event, as we know, ended in the independence of the Greek kingdom. Now, Sir, we have another adjective which may be compared to that of the "untoward event"—I think it is called "unadvised action." If you mean to have silence, if you mean to have no discussion, then abstain from statements of this kind. [Cheers.] But if you are going to give the impression to Europe, and to Great Britain, that the spirit by which you are actuated is simply a spirit of censure and hostility to the Greek nation, and to the Greek populations wherever they are situated, I think we are bound to say that that is a policy of which we do not approve. [Cheers.] I do not desire to discuss to-night the policy of the Government; I shall say nothing at all about it. I do not desire to disturb the Concert of Europe; I hope that Concert will prove more efficient than it has shown itself to be recently, whether it be in Asia or in Crete. We have been told to-night by the Under Secretary that arrangements were made in August last for reform in Crete. Six months have expired, and I cannot say that we have any assurance that those arrangements have been productive of any beneficial effect. There was a Concert of Europe, no doubt. The right hon. Gentleman has talked of the action of this country in regard to the Turkish rule. I will not go into that matter now except so far as to refer to the famous phrase employed by Lord Beaconsfield in reference to the Treaty of Berlin, when he said that the removal from Turkish rule of the provinces of the Balkan peninsula was the consolidation of the Turkish Empire. [Laughter and cheers.] If the Government will still pursue that policy of the consolidation of the Turkish Empire by a progressive removal of Provinces from the Ottoman dominion, I think they will be pursuing a very beneficial policy. [cheers.] I confess I do not desire now to question the details of the negotiations that are in progress between the Government and the Great Powers of Europe. I only hope that they will have results which may conduce to the freedom of Christian populations. [Cheers.] I express an earnest hope that that will be the spirit in which the Government will embark upon these negotiations. I greatly desire that the Government will remove the impression unfortunately made by the statement of the Prime Minister yesterday in the House of Lords that the spirit which actuates the conduct of the Government is one simply of censure of the Government of Greece. [Cheers.] I trust also that they will not have recourse again to that inconvenient and most unconstitutional proceeding of the Prime Minister, but that they will make their statements in this House which we can understand, and as to which, when they are made, we can, in this House if necessary, call for further explanation. [Cheers.]

MR. HENRY LABOUCHERE (Northampton)

said the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition had very clearly stated the unfair and unconstitutional action of Her Majesty's Government. Yesterday, question after question was asked in the House as to what was actually going on in Crete, and the answer in every case was that the Government had no information. Yet, at that very moment, in another place, the Prime Minister was declaring the policy of the Government in regard to Crete, and today, when they protested against that declaration, they were told that they must not discuss it or deprecate it, and that they must defer criticism to some other occasion. When that other occasion came, what was going on now in Crete would be an accomplished fact. What would be the use of criticising then? What they wanted to do was to make it clear to the Government that they, representing as they did a very large amount of public opinion in England, protested clearly and distinctly against the Government taking action, whether in Crete or elsewhere, with the Great Powers or without the Great Powers, to maintain the Turkish rule in any part of Europe. The policy of the Government in regard to all these matters had been a policy of reticence and secresy in the House of Commons. Last August the House was told that arrangements had been come to in regard to Crete. Yesterday the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs told them that a dummy of the correspondence between the Great Powers was then laid upon the Table. But the right hon. Gentleman admitted that he had infringed the Rules of the House by not having until that moment placed that correspondence in the hands of Members of the House. The explanation given by the right hon. Gentleman was that he had to obtain the consent of other Powers to permit this country to know what negotiations had taken place with them in regard to Crete.

*MR. CURZON

The hon. Gentleman has misunderstood me. We did in the case of the Cretan Blue Book what is invariably done in the case of every Blue Book that is laid before the House. The Dispatches giving the opinions of foreign Ambassadors or Governments are always referred to them for confirmation before they are published. That is what was done in this case.

MR. LABOUCHERE

The right hon. Gentleman stated yesterday in regard to those papers—

*MR. SPEAKER

Order, order! I must say that this discussion in regard to what took place yesterday as to the Papers is remote from the urgent matter of public importance which is under discussion.

MR. LABOUCHERE

said he would pass to the urgent matter of public importance, which was what was taking place now in Cretan waters. They read in the newspapers—for the newspapers were the only source from which they could get information—that the commander of the Greek Navy was told that if that Navy attempted to stop Turkey from landing troops in Crete, that action would be resisted by the Great Powers, including England. It was against that action that they protested. [Cheers.] It must be understood that the Greeks of Crete were not asking for reforms. They thoroughly distrusted, not only Turkey, but the Great Powers of Europe. They wished to strike to be free themselves. [Cheers.] They were not asking for paper reform; they demanded their independence. At the present moment they hold the whole country of Crete, with the exception of two or three towns, and these were being besieged by them, and if they were only loft to deal with the Turks, they would certainly vanquish the Turks. It was said that the Great Powers were landing troops in Crete to maintain order. What was called order there was Turkish Government. [Cheers.] For his part, he would welcome a revolution in any part of the Turkish Empire, and he rejoiced when he saw any portion of the Turkish Empire taken away from the Sultan's authority. [Cheers.] While the people of Crete were fighting the Turks, the Great Powers looked on and did not move. But when they found that the Cretans were likely to achieve their independence, and when that brave little Power, Greece—whom he honoured—was going to the aid of the Cretans, the Great Powers interposed and said that they would not allow it. The Great Powers went hat in hand to the Sultan and implored him to carry out some reforms. But they had paper schemes of reforms again and again in Turkey and no good had resulted. Let it be thoroughly understood by Her Majesty's Government that, so far as the Radicals were concerned, they were not going to look on quietly while these proceedings were taking place, both in Parliament and outside Parliament. They would protest against any action of the Government on behalf of Turkish rule in any part of Europe. [Cheers.]

*SIR ELLIS ASHMEAD-BARTLETT (Sheffield, Ecclesall)

said he should certainly observe the request made by the Leader of the House, and would not say a single word about the Policy of the Government. He only rose to refer to some misstatements which had been made by the hon. Gentleman who had opened the discussion, and which he thought it would be most unfair to Turkey to allow to go uncontradicted. It had been asserted that the Christian population of Crete had been subjected to the most grievous attacks and outrages at the hands of the Mussulmans. That statement was, in regard to the present period, absolutely untrue. The hon. Member had not given a single fact in support of his reckless assertions. No attacks had been male by the Mussulmans on the Christians of Crete. There was a Christian rising in Crete which was supported from abroad by money and arms, and the first operation of the rising was to attack and drive nearly the whole of the Mussulman population of the interior from their homes to the coast of Crete. If those unjust statements were allowed to go forth from the House of Commons uncontradicted they might have a very deleterious effect on the fortunes of the Christian people in other parts of the Turkish Empire. In Crete the Christians were four to one as compared to the Mussulmans, and were well able to take care of themselves. The question at issue there was between Mussulmans and Christians, and not between Greeks and Turks. The Cretan Mussulmans were Greeks by blood. The cause of the rising was religious animosity. But, whatever might be the case in Crete, the Christians in other parts of Turkey were at the mercy of the Mussulmans. If it were to go forth to those Mussulmans that the House of Commons accepted false and distorted charges against them without any proof as to their truth, and refused a hearing to the sufferings of the Cretan Mussulmans, the Mussulmans in other parts of Turkey might be driven to despair, and that despair might lead to the most terrible misfortunes to the Christian populations of Turkey. Though his voice might be the only one raised in support of justice to the Mussulman population of Crete, who to-day were the victims, and who were in reality the persons subjected to outrage and persecution, he would still do what he could on their behalf. His voice would be raised, not only on behalf of justice to the Mussulman, but ill the true interest of the Christian population of Turkey.

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR

said that he desired to withdraw the Motion.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.