THE DUKE OF ARGYLLMy Lords, I rise to ask a Question, of which I have given private Notice, to the noble Earl the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Had I known earlier of the circumstances to which my Question refers I should have given my noble Friend public Notice of it. It may be known to some, though possibly not to all, the Members of your Lordships' House that three days ago there appeared in one of the morning papers—The Daily News—a letter from Constantinople, giving in detail, and apparently in a very circumstantial form, an account of some alleged barbarities, massacres, and outrages upon Christian subjects of the Porte, committed partly by Bashi-Bazouks and partly by regular troops of the Turkish Government. If this communication of the Correspondent had been made in the form of vague rumours or something of that kind, I should not have called the attention of my noble Friend to them; but there is this peculiarity about the communication—that in respect of some of the towns and villages the names are given, the number of the persons massacred is given, and the name of the Turkish officer who commanded the troops is also given. I shall not, however, harrow the feelings of the House by relating the whole of the details of the correspondence. I shall simply summarize its statements; which are, first of all, that there had been an indiscriminate slaughter of old men, women, and children, in something like 100 villages in Central Bulgaria—a province in which, as far as I know, there is not now, and never has been, a state of insurrection. The names of 37 of these villages are actually given; and in the case of one town, the name of which also is given, it is stated that 1,500 persons—mostly women and children—were massacred. This town was a place of some 400 houses, all the inhabitants being Bulgarians.
No charge of disloyalty, still less any charge of open rebellion, had been brought 386 against it. Its one offence was that it was Christian, and in consequence, as compared with a Turkish village, rich. For this reason alone the armed Moslem rabble were let loose against it and its unoffending inhabitants. The village was surrounded and the inhabitants fired upon. Of course, the latter, surprised though they were, defended themselves, remaining, however, in their houses. A portion of the Christians even now consented to give up their arms, on being assured that they would not be injured, and a body of them unarmed, with women and children, and headed by two priests, went out to make submission. The two priests advanced to kiss the hem of the Turkish chief's robe, and was killed on the spot for his submission; the other was wounded in the head, but managed to escape. The unarmed inhabitants were attacked. Some of them fled; others took refuge in the two churches of the village. On the 11th of May Raschid Pacha arrived with a body of troops. He ordered the Christians to surrender their arms. They naturally requested to be allowed to retain them until the Bashi-Bazouks had withdrawn, fearing the fate of those who, having disarmed themselves, had submitted, and had found how utterly untrustworthy are the promises of a Turk. Raschid at once took the part of the Turks, and ordered the villagers to give up their arms. He thereupon made an attack upon the church, and old men, women, and children were indiscriminately slaughtered. Every house in the village was burnt, and on the 14th of May not a house existed. A certain number of the women and children escaped, and are now refugees in Philippopoli, but a number of women were carried off as legitimate prizes by the Bashi-Bazouks.In calling attention to this matter I have no wish to break through what has been called the "patriotic reserve" which we have all maintained with regard to the Eastern Question and the general policy of Her Majesty's Government in respect to it. I simply wish to know whether my noble Friend has received from our Minister at Constantinople any kind of allusion to those alleged horrible massacres in Bulgaria; and, if he has not, whether he has addressed or will address any inquiries to him on this subject?
§ THE EARL OF DERBYMy Lords, I saw the other day in the correspondence of The Daily News that very startling series of statements as to the alleged massacres and other acts of violence said to have been committed in Bulgaria by the Turkish troops to which my noble Friend has called attention. I need not tell your Lordships of the reputation of the paper from which the noble Duke has quoted, and I am bound to say, also, that those statements are given in great detail, and in a manner which would seem to establish some foundation for them; but your Lordships can readily 387 understand that, however desirous they may be to do so, journalists at home cannot possibly verify the statements which reach them from Correspondents at such a distance and writing under such circumstances. My Lords, though, from the nature of the case, it is impossible for me to prove a negative, I can state that the reports which I have received certainly do not bear out in any degree the statements which the noble Duke has quoted, and, in the absence of any such official confirmation, I think we should be slow to believe those statements. We have heard, no doubt, of acts of cruelty committed on both sides, but upon nothing like the scale spoken of by the Correspondent in question. It is quite true that Bashi-Bazouks have been employed in the suppression of the Bulgarian Insurrection; that the Regular troops have been supplemented by irregular troops; and that, in consequence of reports as to the conduct of these troops, a representation was made to the Porte by Sir Henry Elliot on the subject. The answer to that representation was that the employment of those Circassian troops had been discontinued. That is all the information which, as at present advised, I am able to give in the matter. There have been excesses committed on both sides—in some cases by the insurgents and in other cases by the Turkish troops; but I have not received official information of anything that will come up to the atrocity of the acts referred to in the statement quoted by the noble Duke. I do not ask your Lordships to prejudge the case; but I think we are bound to reserve our judgment, and not assume too hastily that statements of the kind are true. I have a lively recollection of the extraordinary and sensational circumstances which reached us day by day and week by week nine years ago, during the insurrection in Crete; I ventured then to express some doubts at their accuracy; and I make bold to say that nine-tenths of those reports turned out to be untrue. As the noble Duke has thought the evidence in this matter sufficient to justify him in bringing the subject before the House, I will not fail to make further inquiry from our Minister at Constantinople.
§ EARL DE LA WARRI beg to ask my noble Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether he is able to 388 give the House any information of the reports of the critical position of affairs in Servia?
§ THE EARL OF DERBYThe Question of my noble Friend is vague, and one which it is not altogether easy to answer. The state of affairs in servia is critical in one sense, inasmuch as we all know that great military preparations have been made in that country; the Militia and, as I understand, the Reserves, have been called out, and every preparation has been made which could be made for immediate entrance upon a campaign. No doubt in that way affairs in servia may justly be described as in a critical state; but if my noble Friend asks me whether I think it is the intention of the Servian Government to make war, that is a question which it is beyond my power to answer. It is open for that Government, in answer to any inquiries as to those preparations, to reply that in the unsettled condition of affairs around them they do not consider those preparations more than are necessary for the maintenance of peace.