The Hastings Standard Published Daily. FRIDAY, FEB. 12, 1897. TURKEY AND CRETE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 245, 12 February 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

FRIDAY, FEB. 12, 1897. TURKEY AND CRETE.

For the cause that lacks assistance. For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

Crete stands in the same relation to Turkey as does Cuba to Spain, it rebels against the foreign yoke. Negligence and tyranny have done their work. It has become a tradition with the Cretans or Sphakiots to shed their blood in struggling for the freedom of their country. The Sphakiot learns at hi- mother's breast to detest the Moslem, and his nursery rhymes are but so many incitements to - 1 1 nnself a brau- .sUuir of Turks as :-ueui as he can carry a gun. Ilis enthusiasm of hatred is kindled by his country's ballade. The cry in Crete is still what it was an indefinite number of years ago.

< >u, on to war! On, on lo war! i l ( reuui lads so bold ! With sword in muul. like heroes, He- ,t " Freedom, as of old.

And yet t rete appears to have been under foreign domination for many centuries. The Venetians were in occupation of Crete from the thirteenth ceuiury t<« the seventeenth. In Kilo the Moslems appeared on the scentatul In-sieged Cam a. \ * nice did her utmost to keep | n > —t - - s ■)! J of Crete*, but in the eiid the Turk triumphed and has hueii in occupation ever since, but lua pocjvssiya liiua vvui tavii pre-

carious and costly, for the Cretans believing that they will receive external aid as soon as they have proved themselves strong, are continually breaking out in open rebellion. In 1770, 1820, 1880, 1858, 1866, 1878 and 1889 the Cretans have given the Porte all the trouble annoyance and expense of suppressing insurrections. There is a great bond of sympathy between Crete and Greece, and its growth is due to Turkish cruelty in i the suppression of the earlier risings, which compelled multitudes cf Cretans to expatriate themselves. Greece received them, and on Grecian soil they lived for years, _ married, and gave birth to children. These exiles and their children subsequently returned to Crete with their ideas enlarged and their hopes for their country's freedom intensified by intercourse with the Greeks. The bond between Greece and Crete is domestic and personal, and the islanders regard Greece as the mother country. The Athenians are never tired of inciting the Cretans to rebellion, while the latter say in effect " we can be happy only upon condition that we are united to Greece." The Cretan petition of 1866 to England, Russia, and France, severally contained the following : "In order to keep the country in subjection, Turkey is obliged to retain an army and a fleet, and to spend enormous sums of money, without the result of much service to her; whereas Crete, if united to Greece, would confer great advantages on the whole Greek race, and would be able to embark on a system of civilisation. If the creation of an Hellenic Kingdom has for its object the regeneration of this people, Crete, which is a purely Hellenic country, would become one of its foundation stones." This holds good to the present day. The Turk is detested, he is where he is not wanted, and the repeated Cretan iusurrections have failed to root him out of the country. It is plain, however, that so long as Turkey keeps possession of Crete, so long will the latter continue in rebellion. This is recognised, but with the perversity which passes comprehension no change is attempted. The latest news of the Cretan rebellion now engrossing the attention of Europe shows the direction for which the Cretans are making. At Haleppa a union with Greece has been proclaimed, and in Athens there is great popular excitement. Greek and Moslem may be forced by circumstances to cross swords over Crete, and then perhaps the Cretans may obtain their cherished desires with the consent of Europe.