MR. JAMES LOWTHER (Kent, Thanet)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps were taken to make known to the Cretan insurgents that the autonomy of the island was assured by the Great Powers; and whether it is the case that the information in question was withheld from the insurgents in the vicinity of Canea; and, if so, who was the intermediary to whom the communication was confided?
*MR. CURZONThe Commanders of the ships of the Allied Fleet that have been sent to different parts of the island were instructed to distribute a Proclamation to the effect that the Great Powers had assumed the responsibility for the future of the island. A formal proclamation of autonomy is now being made, it being very doubtful whether the fact that autonomy has been guaranteed by the Powers is at all widely known. I do not know through what intermediary, if any, the information was conveyed to the insurgents in the vicinity of Canea.
§ MR. J. M. MACLEAN (Cardiff)When proclamation is made of autonomy, will any explanation be given to the Cretans as to what is meant by autonomy? [Opposition cheers.]
*MR. CURZONConsidering that the Cretans have been agitating for autonomy for 100 years—[cheers and laughter, and a NATIONALIST MEMBER: "So have the Irish!"]—I think we may assume that they understand very well what the word 674 means. But, in any case, in the proclamation it will be made perfectly clear to them that autonomy means in the case of Crete that they will not in any circumstances revert to the rule of the Sultan.[Cheers.]
§ MR. M. J. FLAVINHave proclamations been issued there for the last 100 years? [Laughter.]
[No answer was given.]
MR. JAMES LOWTHERI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign. Affairs, whether any explanation has been received respecting the failure of the Greek Commodore to communicate to the insurgents in the neighbourhood of Canea the message of the Admirals of the Great Powers, forbidding any further advance towards the town, and offering medical assistance for the wounded?
§ GENERAL SIR HENRY HAVELOCK-ALLAN (Durham, S.E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Admiral commanding the British in Cretan waters has reported that the communication from the Admirals of the combined Powers to the effect that the insurgents would be fired upon if they advanced beyond their present positions was intrusted to the Greek Commodore Reineek to be delivered to the insurgents with whom he was in frequent communication; and, will he explain how it happened that the message of the Admirals was not communicated to the insurgents?
*MR. CURZONNo further information on this subject has been received since the telegram from the British Admiral of the 11th inst., the substance of which I communicated to the House on the 12th.
§ CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork, E.)May I ask whether instructions have been sent to Admiral Harris to satisfy himself in future that his information is accurate before he communicates it for publication to the Correspondent of The Times in Crete?
*MR. CURZONThe hon. Member is under a misapprehension. The telegram I read out to the House was to the effect that Admiral Harris had had an interview with the insurgents, and reported them as having given him certain information. [Ministerial cheers.]
§ CAPTAIN DONELANIs it not the case that Admiral Harris communicated himself with the correspondent of The Times at Crete?
§ CAPTAIN DONELANDoes it not appear from the telegram of the correspondent of The Times in the island?
§ MR. FLYNNMay I ask whether it is not the fact that Admiral Reineck gives an emphatic denial to the statements in the question, and declares that he duly informed the insurgents of the message of the Admirals; and, further—
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! If the hon. Member wants an answer to that Question he should give notice of it.
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT (Monmouthshire, W.)I desire to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether Her Majesty's Government have made any response to the reply received from the Government of Greece on March 8, and March 10, to the separate Identic Note presented to the Greek Government by the representative of Great Britain on March 2, which Note the right hon. Gentleman stated not to have been an ultimatum, and, if so, whether he will communicate such answer to this House?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.No answer has been made to the Note to which the right hon. Gentleman refers. The matter is under the consideration of the Powers.
§ MR. JOHN DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Greek Vice Consul and all the Greek residents have been ordered to leave Canea; and, if so, for what reason, and under whose authority has this been done?
*MR. CURZONHer Majesty's Consul has reported that the former Greek Vice Consul, who no longer held any official character, was residing in the Greek Consulate at Canea with certain correspondents, and that all of them had interviews and were in correspondence with the insurgents. The Greek Consulate had thus become a centre of agitation, and the Admirals on the 8th inst. invited the inmates to leave for Greece the next day, offering to convey them there if they had no means of leaving Crete. They eventually left on board a Greek man-of-war, under protest.
§ MR. DILLONMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman to inform us by what right the Admirals obliged those Greek 676 citizens to leave Canea? [Opposition cheers.]
*MR. CURZONBecause acting under instructions from the Powers, the Admirals have assumed responsibility for peace and order in Canea. [Cheers.]
§ MR. DILLONAre we to understand that that responsibility includes the right to banish from Crete any people, without trial or investigation, whom they may think—
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The Question on the Paper has been answered.
§ MR. J. BRYN ROBERTS (Carnarvonshire,) Eifionasked whether the Admirals had made use of these people for communication with the insurgents, and afterwards expelled them?
MR. JAMES LOWTHERI beg to ask the Attorney General whether his attention has been drawn to statements in the public Press announcing that subscription lists have been opened in England for the purpose of equipping volunteers to proceed to Greece, and that many such have been already enrolled; and whether in the existing state of the relations between the Greek Kingdom and other Powers, such proceedings are in accordance with the provisions of the Foreign Enlistment Act?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir RICHARD WEBSTER,) Isle of WightMy right hon. Friend was good enough to show me a letter in the Press to the purport referred to in the first paragraph of his Question. The facts were not sufficiently stated to show that any breach of the provisions of the Foreign Enlistment Act were contemplated.