§ VISCOUNT STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE, in rising to move that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty for such further Correspondence between Her Majesty's Government and the Governments in alliance with Her Majesty as may have occurred since the date of the 5th of February in this year respecting the insurrection of Candia, the means employed for its pacification, and the assistance afforded to the insurgents either by the Greeks, the Greek Government, or the natives or Governments of any other countries, said: My Lords, I feel, on this occasion, even more than ordinary embarrassment, proceeding in part from the late period of this anxious and protracted Session, and partly from the denuded state of the benches, a natural consequence of the very advanced stage of the public business. I explained on a former evening the accidental circumstances which had compelled me to postpone the Motion of which I had given Notice, and if I now persevere in bringing forward the subject to which it relates, I may fairly affirm that I am less influenced by motives of personal consistency than by a sense 1548 of public duty and also of respect for your Lordships' House. I claim no merit for meaning to perform my task with as much conciseness as the nature of its object and the principal considerations belonging to it will permit.
You are aware, my Lords, that the formidable insurrection which broke out in the island of Candia about twelve months ago has never been entirely extinguished. It rages no longer with the violence which characterized it at first; but it continues, nevertheless, to smoulder beneath its ashes, and to prolong a state of disturbance and suffering, when it has probably ceased in real effect to be a source of hope on the one side and a cause of serious apprehension on the other. Although the actual scene of contention between the Sultan and his Christian subjects in Candia is limited to that island, it stands in such close connection with more extensive countries, and brings into play so many eventful interests, that, even at this distance we cannot be indifferent to the incidents which occur there. The island itself, though comparatively of small extent, is by no means destitute of natural advantages, and whether under the name of Candia, or under that of Crete, has acquired no trifling renown; and from its situation with respect to Greece, to Egypt, and to Turkey, has on several occasions excited the ambition of rival Powers. The desire of independence has operated strongly on that part of its population, which is Greek, and has led to a display of energy on their side which is worthy of better fortune and of better times. The Turks also have employed powerful means in support of their authority, and have shown by their exertions what deep importance they attach to the retention of Candia under their rule. The loss of that island, placed as it is near the entrance to the Archipelago, would not only diminish their revenue, but compromise in no small degree their political power, and greatly tend to hasten the catastrophe which ever hangs over them in the shape of the Eastern Question. It does not appear that the insurrection had its origin in any oppressive acts committed by the local authorities. The habitual state of antagonism subsisting between the two separate races, and rival creeds is enough to account for a mutual disposition to quarrel, and it may readily be imagined how intensely the war of last year in Germany worked among the ardent minds of the Greek population, and 1549 inspired the hope of a general convulsion favourable to their deliverance. Committees were not wanting to fan the nascent enthusiasm, to organize the means of insurrection, and to create sympathies capable of assuming in due time the form of material succour. The Hellenic Government could hardly expect to avoid the suspicion of encouraging, and perhaps even of aiding, the Cretans in their rash but patriotic efforts to throw off the Mussulman yoke; and greater Powers were not likely to neglect so good an opportunity of promoting that process of decay and exposure to dismemberment in Turkey, for which their policy is supposed to have been long prepared. The natural vicissitudes of war, resulting from superior forces on one side, and from remarkable advantages of position on the other, its cruel necessities and brilliant exploits, have rendered the situation still more complicated in its bearings and dangerous in its contingent results.
My Lords, it is not my intention to open a discussion as to the manner, discreet or otherwise, in which Her Majesty's Government have dealt with this important matter; and with respect to the noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs, I readily acknowledge the commanding ability he has displayed in the performance of his public duties. But I must at the same time assert it to be the duty of Parliament to take an active part in watching over the proceedings of that department with respect to an event of such political magnitude as the insurrection in Crete. It cannot be denied, my Lords, that such transactions are of the greatest importance not only to the interests but to the honour of our country. England, whether we look to her political relations, or to her commercial interests, has a deep stake in the movements and destinies of the Eastern World; she is bound thereto by obligations of the most solemn character. She has given her guarantee to the Turkish Empire, and also to the kingdom of Greece. She has made herself virtually responsible for the conduct of both those Governments. Engagements of such importance, whether wisely contracted or not, must be held to carry with them no common charge of duties as well as of rights. If Turkey is supported by the guarantee of England and her allies, the guaranteeing powers are fully entitled to insist that the Porte shall lose no time in carrying into real effect those measures of administrative reform which 1550 it has solemnly adopted and proclaimed as necessary to the existence of its empire. If Greece and its independence are sheltered from danger by the protection of Christian Powers, the protecting Governments are morally bound to restrain the Greeks from every act of unprovoked hostility against the Sultan. These obligations evidently press with the greater force upon England, because, of all the powers concerned, this country is the most fitted to command the confidence of Turkey as well as of Greece, and the most exposed to injury and loss by a revival of the Eastern Question. It is but too clear, from occurrences reported in the public journals, that not only sympathy but material aid in men and munitions of war has been largely afforded to the Cretan insurgents, if not by the Government, at least by the inhabitants, of Greece. I do not wonder at, indeed, I can hardly blame the feelings which have found utterance in this manner. But they are not the less indulged to a degree which compels the Turkish authorities to employ severer means for putting down the revolt, which prolongs the horrors of a hopeless contest, and exposes the protecting Powers to reproach, to trouble, and eventually to the most disastrous contingencies. The Hellenic vessel, which has earned the largest share of admiration by the courage and dexterity of its crew in running the blockade, would also seem to have shown the most daring contempt for the law of nations, the most utter disregard of the duties prescribed to every vessel bearing the colours of Greece, and not prepared to incur the extreme penalties of piracy. Can it be doubted that in such a state of things your Lordships must desire to know what language has been held, what steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government with respect to the transactions in question. Has anything been said or done in the name of England to restrain such perilous excesses, and at the same time to dissuade the Turkish Government from pushing its rights to an extreme? The best friends of Turkey are those who, while they respect its independence, and withhold as far as possible every kind of coercive intervention, employ their friendly influence with effective energy to settle its administration on a broader basis, and to provide impartially for the welfare and protection of all classes of its dependents. The best friends of Greece are those who would engage its people to seek a gradual 1551 extension of power by improving its natural resources in every branch, and by regaining the confidence of other nations. The sea is open to its activity, the neighbouring continent to its intelligence, and its example in cultivating the arts of peace would do more for the Greeks in Turkey than any ebullition of a lawless and aggrandizing spirit. I have no hesitation in expressing my deep conviction that Europe, and more particularly England, will find its true interest, no less than Greece and Turkey will find theirs, in pursuing this twofold policy, which is at once conservative and progressive in the best sense of those words. Whatever feeling may be entertained in favour of the Greek populations, or to their disparagement, I, for one, have never ceased to give them my cordial sympathy, originating in the remembrance of their condition under the oppressive sway of Turkey before the existing reforms were introduced. There is a further consideration which cannot with justice or safety be left out of the account—I mean the moral duty of maintaining the law of nations, and not lending the countenance of this great country to any violation of that law. With respect to Turkey itself, your Lordships cannot have forgotten with what generosity the blood and treasure of England, and of England's allies, were expended on behalf of that Empire only a few years ago. In coming forward with assistance involving so many sacrifices we surely acquired a right to take care that the rulers of Turkey perform whatever depends upon them to prevent the necessity of our undergoing the same tribulations again. If we have pledged ourselves by a treaty of guarantee to them, they also have pledged themselves to us by proclaiming a system of internal reforms confessed by them to be necessary, and recorded with their concurrence in the same treaty. The idea of nationality is become so powerful a dissolvent of political relations, and, by consequence, so abundant a source of disturbance and confusion that it is the more incumbent upon us to hold the Porte to a steady performance of its obligations, and thereby to protect ourselves and our allies from those evils which the continued and, therefore, increasing weakness of its Empire would not fail to reproduce. This sounds like intervention, and such in truth it is; but friendly intervention in the matter of Greece and Turkey is no longer a question open to our choice. It is the natural 1552 fruit of anterior circumstances, the necessary consequence of engagements now in force; a rightful duty, to be exercised with due discretion and under its appropriate limitations.
I trust, my Lords, that in the course of these remarks I have suggested reasons enough to justify a call for that additional Correspondence to which my Notice refers. The Papers already communicated to Parliament on the subject in question go but very little beyond the month of January. More than six months have elapsed since that time, and the long interval has been productive of occurrences no less significant than those which appeared in the first series of documents, and no less capable of giving occasion for important communications between the several Governments concerned. Now, my Lords, when interests so momentous, as I have shewn them to be, are at stake, when the honour and prospects of the country are involved with the conduct and language of the Foreign Secretary, I am greatly mistaken if your Lordships would approve of being kept indefinitely in the dark. It is true that we are now on the verge of prorogation, and cannot hope to exercise any effective or immediate control over the transactions in Downing Street. But it is not the less desirable that Parliament should stimulate the sense of responsibility in official quarters, and convince the nation that a vigilant attention is paid by both Houses to its interests abroad as well as to those which lie more directly under our observation at home. Such being the case, I rely with full confidence upon that support which useful and constitutional suggestions are sure to receive at your Lordships' hands. I appeal to you, my Lords, with the greater earnestness, because to my apprehension the time is not far distant when an impartial estimate of the functions assigned to this House of Parliament may avail much towards maintaining a wholesome equipoise in the popular institutions of this deep-rooted but not unshaken monarchy. We have just returned, as it were, from launching the Vessel of the State, with all its time-honoured freight of liberties, glories, and prosperities, upon a new sea of illimitable expanse. We have seen it quit the well-known, long-tried shore of our ancestors, and whether, as all must hope, it shall find a brighter course and a safer haven in regions favoured by all the elements, or meet, as many fear, a disastrous doom in the dominions of the 1553 iceberg or the hurricane, your Lordships must wish to have the satisfaction of looking back with honest pride on services rendered by this House to the country in many successive ages. Under these impressions and in this spirit I humbly solicit your Lordships' assent to my present Motion.
§ Moved, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty for such further Correspondence between Her Majesty's Government and the Governments in alliance with Her Majesty, as may have occurred since the date of the 5th February in this year, inspecting the Insurrection of Candia, the Means employed for its Pacification, and the Assistance afforded to the Insurgents, either by the Greeks, the Greek Government, or the Natives or Governments of any other Countries.—(The Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe.)
§ THE EARL OF DERBYMy Lords, nothing can be more natural than that my noble Friend, who has been so closely connected with the affairs of Greece, should desire to receive all the information which it is possible for the Government to give with respect to a subject in which he, in common with many other Members of your Lordships' House, takes the deepest interest. I can, on the part of the Government, assure my noble Friend that we have not the slighest wish to withold any information bearing upon that subject which we think we can lay before Parliament consistently with the public interests I can, however, I have no doubt, satisfy him and the House that it would be inexpedient to produce at the present moment the Papers for which he asks. No very great or material change in the aspect of affairs in Crete has, I regret to say, taken place since the last Correspondence relating to them was laid upon the table. The insurrection still continues with unabated activity, although Omar Pasha has, I believe, lately met with some signal successes; and I have very little doubt that the insurrection would long since have been suppressed had it not been for the encouragement and assistance in volunteers, provisions, and warlike stores, which the insurgents have received from the Greeks. There exists, no doubt, on the part of the Christian populations in the East a very great desire to be emancipated from the rule of the Turkish Government; but I am not at all disposed to think that the unity between them and their Greek allies as to the ultimate objects they have in view is very great. I do not believe that it is the desire of the great body of the Christian population to be annexed to Greece, although 1554 they may be very anxious to get rid of the domination of Turkey. I entirely concur, I may add, in the view which has been expressed by my noble Friend (Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe) as to the policy which ought to be pursued by Greece at the present moment. I think with him that her true policy consists not in attempting to extend her territory by means of foreign conquests; but in the more rational and modest ambition of establishing peace, good order, and tranquillity in her own dominions; by that means she will be more likely to promote her happiness and that of the populations around her than by indulging in wild schemes which will interfere with her tranquility and progress. And if my noble Friend entertains the least suspicion that Her Majesty's Government have been indifferent to the occurrences in Crete, or have in the slightest degree encouraged the Greek Government to take any part in assisting the insurgents in Crete, I assure him he is very much mistaken as to the course which we have deemed it to be our duty to adopt. The fact is, whatever appearances may be, that the Greek Government has always steadily denied any complicity in the expeditions which have been organized for that purpose. It is said that those who leave Greece and convey assistance to the insurgents do so in the character of blockade-runners, and that they do not leave it under the sanction of the Government, which has no means of preventing them from doing so. But we have expressly stated our opinion that blockade-runners are subject to the penalties of illegal commerce, and are not the less subject although they should sail with the sanction of the Greek Government. Unfortunately the Turkish navy is utterly insufficient to prevent this illegal traffic, so that some vessels, few in number and comparatively insignificant, are able to carry over with them stores and volunteers with perfect impunity. One vessel is said to have made twenty-two voyages with perfect immunity, landing ammunition and stores on each occasion, and carrying back with her on her return to Greece, numbers of wounded volunteers, women, and children. Only in one case did a collision take place, when a Turkish vessel pursuing a Greek vessel into Greek waters was fired upon by a fort. With regard to the position of the Turkish forces at the present moment, I apprehend the case to be this—that they constantly obtain very considerable successes, but that the 1555 continual reinforcements arriving week by week, and day by day, among the insurgents, keep alive the spirit of revolt; and although, no doubt, both on the one side and on the other, there have been some cruelties and atrocities perpetrated by the Mussulmans on the Christians, and by the Christians on the Mussulmans, yet any excesses on the part of the Turks have been chiefly committed by irregular troops. I believe that the regular Turkish troops have, on the whole, behaved with singular moderation, that Omar Pasha has earnestly endeavoured to avoid any unnecessary effusion of blood and especially to spare the lives of women and children, has forborne to take sanguinary measures, and has protracted negotiations with a special view to spare human life. I believe that the slowness of his movements may be in some degree attributed to this motive. There is no doubt that where the Christian population have made their submission, men, women, and children have been furnished by the Turkish authorities with provisions and supplies, and have been treated with great humanity, and I. believe there is no case in which those who have so submitted have had reason to complain of the conduct of the regular Turkish troops towards them. With regard to the interference of foreign Powers, the matter stands thus—Her Majesty's Government, in common with the Great Powers of Europe, have sought to impress, as they have a perfect right to do, upon the Turkish Government the expediency of carrying out internal reforms and improvements for the benefit of its Christian subjects; and I must do the Turkish Government the justice of saying that they have never shown any indisposition to enter upon a course of such reforms and improvements. They have not even made any objection to the mission of the persons appointed by the different Governments to associate themselves with the Turkish Government for the purpose of inquiring into the causes of complaint which the Christian population of Crete had against them. They have, however, said this—"As long as this insurrection goes on we must use our best means for putting it down. We are ready to follow your advice as far as possible, provided you will give us a security that the object is not to despoil Turkey of that which is an integral portion of her dominions, and provided, also, that encouragement is not afforded to foreigners—more especially to 1556 the Greeks — to throw in reinforcements from various parts, and thus to keep alive the spirit of insurrection among her subjects." Her Majesty's Government took early opportunity of joining in the recommendation to the Turkish Government to issue a Commission to act with persons deputed by foreign Powers for the purpose of making inquiry; but they have done so separately from, and not in conjunction with, those other Powers. We are in harmony with their wishes; but we have not felt ourselves bound to press on the Turkish Government that which other Governments have thought it reasonable to urge on them—namely, that this Commission should be issued irrespective of any such condition as that imposed by Turkey, or that during the progress of the insurrection any security should be given by the different Powers that they would discourage it. That is how the matter stands at the present moment. All the Powers of Europe are agreed in urging that Turkey should do justice to her Christian subjects; but they are not all agreed as to the extent and the manner in which they would press their recommendations upon Turkey. This subject has engaged the anxious consideration of the Foreign Office, and the Correspondence with reference to it which has taken place with other Powers has been very voluminous. There is one particular thing in which we have refused to join with other Powers, and which may, at first sight, appear to be an act of humanity—namely, the sending of vessels of war to remove any portion of the Christian population from Crete. Russia and France have felt it to be consistent with their duty to send out their vessels of war for that purpose; although the Turkish Government protested against that proceeding they acquiesced in it, and those vessels have carried away considerable numbers from the island. The case therefore stands in this way—united, as all the Powers are, in the object which they desire to effect—namely, the improvement of the condition of the Christian population subject to Turkey—an object, let me say, which I believe the Sultan and many of his subordinate agents are sincerely desirous of promoting—we have not come to an agreement as to the mode in which, if at all, we should enforce our views upon the Turkish Government. Her Majesty's Government have steadily refused to take any step for forcing their advice upon Turkey. They have given 1557 her their advice as a friendly Power. That course we have thought was consistent, not only with our own obligations, but with the best interests of the Ottoman Empire. But if Turkey should not be disposed, under present circumstances, to listen to our arguments and recommendations, we do not feel ourselves in a position to force them upon her. There being, therefore, at present a certain amount of divergence between the views of Her Majesty's Government and those of the other Powers, I think my noble Friend (Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe), with his long experience, will acknowledge that the production of the Correspondence which has taken place with the several Powers—with whom we have not yet come to an agreement as to our course of action, although we may hope that we shall be able to do so in future—would not be likely to serve any useful end, but might prove very mischievous. I can assure my noble Friend that nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have it in my power to produce any information on this subject to your Lordships; and I believe I may express a confident hope that before Parliament re-assembles next Session we shall be able to place before it a full account of the proceedings connected with this Question, and that, too, at a time when Parliament will have an ample opportunity of giving it their best consideration; for your Lordships may rest perfectly satisfied that we have not the slightest desire to conceal any portion of our conduct on this important matter.
§ VISCOUNT STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFEsaid a few words in reply. He acknowledged the courteous manner in which his noble Friend at the head of Her Majesty's Government had treated his Motion; and he could not but admit the general validity of the reasons alleged by the noble Lord for postponing awhile the communication of any further Correspondence respecting Crete. He relied upon the assurances given by his noble Friend that the Papers in question would be laid upon their Lordships' table before the next Session; and he had heard, with satisfaction, the principal part of what the noble Earl had thought proper to disclose of the opinions entertained and the course of policy pursued by himself and his Colleagues. He (Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe) trusted that the contest in Crete would speedily terminate in some arrangement calculated to secure the tranquillity and 1558 equitable administration of that island; and he expressed once more his conviction that, in pressing that object on the Sultan's consideration, Her Majesty's Government might be sure that their advice would carry with it all the weight which the friendly and disinterested policy of England towards Turkey so justly deserved. On these grounds, and only on these grounds, he could see no objection to withdrawing his Motion.
§ Motion (by Leave of the House) withdrawn.