THE DUKE OF ARGYLLasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether any further Communications have passed between Her Majesty's Government and the Governments, or any of them, of the great European Powers, in reference to the existing Insurrection in the Island of Crete? A statement had appeared in the public journals to the effect that the English Government had been requested by the other Powers to unite in a joint-representation to the Porte, respecting the insurrection in Crete, and that Her Majesty's Government had not thought proper to accede to the request. He wished to know if this was correct. In the course of the day, a; later telegram had arrived, to the effect that a representation of this nature had been made to the Porte, though without Great Britain taking any part in it; that it included a proposition for the suspension of hostilities, and that the Government of the Porte had consented to this request of the united Powers. He should be extremely glad to know that, this statement was true. In consequence of some observations he had made on this subject in the early part of the Session, he had received from many sources, both at home and abroad, and even from Crete itself, abundant information as to the progress of affairs in the island; and he was convinced, after making every allowance for falsehood and exaggeration, that the war had been carried on with great cruelty and brutality on the part of the Turkish troops. Individual stories of atrocities might be unfounded; but he had good reason to know that many acts of gross cruelty and barbarity had unquestionably been committed; and, unfortunately, the inevitable horrors of war were stimulated, in this instance, by the animosities of race and religion. Among other things, the systematic devastation of the country had been carried on contrary to the humane practice of civilized warfare, and the olive and mulberry trees, the produce of which formed a principal article of commerce to the inhabitants, had been designedly cut down, thus exposing to ruin and starvation, not only the present generation of islanders, but also their innocent posterity for years to come. The European Governments 159 naturally felt that they were under some special responsibilities in the case of Crete, which did not apply as regarded the other dependencies of the Turkish empire. It was natural, therefore, that they should unite in an attempt to bring these calamitous occurrences to a close, and he should be glad to hear that a joint representation had been successfully presented, even though this country had taken no part in it. If this statement was true, not only the Turkish soldiers, but their officers, must be responsible for their destruction.
§ THE EARL OF DERBYI am afraid that in some instances great excesses have been committed by the Turkish troops: but from accounts which we have received from various quarters respecting the whole transactions of the war, we think that the Cretans keep up very much the character which they gained 2,000 years ago for want of veracity. It is actually impossible to give the slightest credence to any account of any transaction, or supposed murder, massacre, or burning, which I believe have no origin except in the imagination of those who relate them. The noble Duke does Her Majesty's Government no more than justice when he says that they are desirous of putting an end to a war which threatens such disastrous consequences. It is true, however, that her Majesty's Government have not felt justified, in their present relations with Turkey, to take the same active steps as have been taken by the other Powers with regard to the representations which they have made to the Porte. Her Majesty's Government have never ceased in a friendly manner to recommend to the Porte measures of amelioration of the condition of the Christian subjects of the Porte in all parts of the Turkish dominions, and they have urged upon them various reforms—I hope not unsuccessfully. Her Majesty's Government have even represented to the Turkish Government that it would be much more for their advantage if they would grant to Crete an autonomy. To that recommendation Turkey has not seen fit to accede, and Her Majesty's Goverment did not feel justified in making propositions to Turkey in the form of an identic Note, unless they had reason to hope that the Porte would be disposed to receive those recommendations favourably. I believe a Note has been sent in; but up to five o'clock this evening we had received no information, by telegraph or otherwise, as to whether an answer to it had been returned. The 160 last information we had was that no answer had yet been received from the Porte to the identic Note which had been sent in.