The Hastings Standard Published Daily. THURSDAY, FEB. 18, 1897. THE CRETAN CRISIS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 250, 18 February 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

THURSDAY, FEB. 18, 1897. THE CRETAN CRISIS.

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

Tivk recent news flashed across by cable are serious indeed, ami it would seem that Greece insignificant Greece is to lijjht the fuse that will explode tiie powder magazine of Europe. The rebellion is not of yesterday. Long years of Turkish misrule have told their tale, and the unfortunates must in self-defence light. Massacre, pillage, desecration and every insult and injury is committed upon the Christians by the lawless, and in many cases otlicially incited Moslems, and the island has been in ft tumult of rebellion for the past twelve months. About July last year the position was critical, and Great Britain, Russia and France were requested by Austria to blockade the }*>r:: of Crete. Hut this did not m.-'-: with the »ppr;>val of the jk.iUi r- concerned,' and the le.vi eft'«'ti\e course of ujwi Tutki-di r* forms was adopted. The SulUi.ii who h l-> bv«.n profuse in promises readily .o.'n.d to the pro{K.w<l reforms, tb." - i.ts.ll conditions of which wen 1 i rhe appointment • vf a Cb'tiataiu Uoverttor lor &v* yeac* j

under the guarantee of tbe Powers, the Governor to have the right of veto upon all measures passed by the Cretan Assembly which do not effect the Sultan's sovereign rights, and to have the Imperial troops at his disposal. He to appoint all subordinate officials two-thirds of whom are to be Christians and one third Mahomedans. (2.) The economic independence of the island, with the payment of an annual tribute to Turkey. (3.) The reorganisation of the gendarmerie. (4.) The judiciary independence of the island for the disputes between native Cretans alone, the decisions of the Court of Appeal in Canea being final. (5.) The concentration of civil and military power in the hands of the Governor-General. The reforms were unreservedly accepted by the Christian Cretans, but beyond appointing the GovernorGeneral and earring out some of the minor measures the reforms were a dead letter. The old and brutal system of butchering, pillaging and dishonoring on the part of the Moslems continued and the Cretan Christians always supported by tbe Greeks have retaliated. The insurrection in Crete of itself would be of no great moment, for it is the chronic condition of the country, but the intervention of the Greek nation in support of its compatriots gives a new and a dangerous aspect to the affair. A conflict between Greece and Turkey will be the cue for a Macedonian insurrection and the drastic measures of sending a vast army in this turbulent country on the part of Turkey indicates the nature of things in that quarter. How to keep Turkey and Greece apart is the problem submitted for solution to the other powers, and if Austria or Italy interpose the gravity of the situation will be intensified. That the crisis has reached a critical stage is amply demonstrated in the fall of Imperial consols. A decline of £1 2s 6d by this best of gilt-edged securities is significant, and indicates that the influences of the Stock Exchanges and Bourses, which have unquestionably been used so far to prevent a breach of the peace, are powerless in the presence of the new order of things which have followed upon the bellicose attitude of Greece. The clouds are gathering thickly, and the bursting of the storm seems inevitable, and what that storm will be like, and what the effects will be can be very well imagined. A European war with the millions of trained soldiers armed with weapons of deadly precision, will be such a slaughter that the mere contemplation of it makes one shudder. The map of Europe will have to be recolored, but in the new map, Turkey, the nightmare of European statesmen will be missing, The next few days will decide matters.