§ Mr. RONALD M'NEILLasked whether certain deputies of the Cretan Assembly have been arrested and are being forcibly detained at Suda Bay; by whom, on whose authority, and for what reason were they so arrested; and has His Majesty's Government any responsibility for the present condition of affairs in Crete?
§ Sir E. GREYThe deputies were stopped by the ships of the protecting Powers on instructions from their respective Governments, because they were on their way to take their seats in the Greek Chamber, as an assertion of the Union of Crete with Greece. The deputies were acting in defiance of the repeated warning of the Powers that they would not permit any change in the status quo and are being detained on the warships of the three Powers. His Majesty's Government is jointly responsible with the other protecting Powers for the maintenance of the status quo in Crete, and must continue, as they have done for some years, to take whatever steps are necessary from time to time to prevent it from being violated.
§ Mr. RONALD M'NEILLMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether it is a fact that one of the protecting Powers is Italy, and whether Italy is to continue to act as a protecting Power while it is at war?
§ Sir E. GREYIt is true that Italy is one of the protecting Powers, but Italy being 554 at war with Turkey, there is no Italian warship there, and the three other protecting Powers, France, Russia, and ourselves, are the only three who have intervened in the matter of warships in the arrest of deputies.