GREECE'S VACILLATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 24

GREECE'S VACILLATION.

LONDON, October 20. Great Britain has offered the Island of Cyprus to Greece, on condition that she joins in the war. Greece is con= sidering the offer. [Cyprus is an island in the Eastern Mediterranean (or Levant), oft' the coast of Syria. It was occupied by Great Britain under the Convention with Turkey, signed Juno 4, 1878. It has an area of 3584 square miles and a population of 274,000, of whom 215,000 are Greek Christians and 57,000 Mohammedans. Its chief products are cotton, wine, caroubs, wheat, barley, wool, silk, spirits, sponges, and raisins. Under the Convention of 1878 an annual tribute of £92,800 was payable to the Sultan of Turkey, but on the outbreak of war the island was formally annexed. The island receives an annual grant of £50,000 from the British Exchequer. The revenue in 1913-4 was £391,816, and the expenditure £388,965. The imports in 1913 totalled £619,333, and the exports £620,591. Its chief importance to Britain lay in its geographical position —its proximity to the Suez Canal.] October 21. Greece’s reply to the offer of Cyprus has not reached London. The Daily Telegraph’s Athens corre= spondent says the offer is creating a favourable impression. It is regarded as a substantial proof of Britain’s good= will not taking the form of a promise for the future which the Germanophile party suggest that Britain could not carry out, but an actual immediate concession in the event of the Greeks intervening to support the Allies. ROME, October 21. It is stated in diplomatic circles that Greece is willing to give formal assurances that she will not side with AustriaGermany in any event. THE KAISER AS PROPHET. ROME, October 20. The Kaiser, in a proclamation to the Bulgarian army, exalts their courage and heroism, and adds ; ‘‘ Bulgaria is destined to become the Mistress of the Balkans, and reign on the Black Sea from the yEgean to the Adriatic.”