| Show QUESTIONS OF THE DAY CANDIA AND TURKEY foursome vor tor some months past occasional allu alons lions have been made in the telegraphic dispatches to the candian or cretan insurrection the island of crete or Ca candia lidia in the mediterranean lying to aa th 0 southwest south west of european turkey is 1 BO 1 0 ernail and comparatively ant that but little attention has be been an paid in inma many ny quarters to the insurrectionary movement that has been in progress there for several months but its prolongation lon ion gation gatlon under the great odds against which the cretans cregans have to contend ia Is exciting more interest the inhabitants are a mixture of christians and Mahome dans between whom there exists a hostility which would ouid if they were left to themselves probably only end in the extermination of one of the two parties the turks who have had control of the island are alleged to have been guilty of the grossest outrages and acts of barbarism against ag dinst the christian population who in consequence revolted and sought by force of arms to drive their oppressors from the island while the insurgents lacked force to drive off the turkish troops the chain of mountains which runs through crete afforded them many fastnesses fast nesses where they could con eon continue tintie the struggle and from which they could harras their more numerous enemies but it is probable abre they would not have been able to continue the struggle so long nor so successfully if they had not received aid from greece the struggle indeed might with propriety be termed one between greece and turkey but each of those powers is cautious of assuming the responsibility which might arise from so avow ing not only are the cretans caetans aided by volunteers from greece but they are to some extent officered from the fo forces aces of king george coroneas Kor oneas one of the principal insurgent chiefs is an officer af the royal army as well as a grecian subject and others in command inthe in the insurgent forces hold commissions from the game source mustapha pasha leader of the turkish forces with some men undertook to subjugate the island and blockaded it with fifteen steamers to prevent the insurgents receiving heli Hell Hel hei lenie enle aid but notwithstanding numbers of volunteers were constantly landing and moving to their assistance several engagements were fought lak laW fail fall with varying success in october mustapha gained a victory aft att or 6 s which he deemed decisive but the valor displayed by the ore Gre gaetans cretans tans inspired those who had been lukewarm with courage and the result was vas eventually more lnore fa vou rou vou rable to them than to the turks annexation to greece is the s solution which most of the insurgents nU desire jet set to this the Sp hakian chiefs whose power ia Is in the mountainous district are somewhat opposed mustapha entered into an arrangement with wilh those chiefs by which they agreed to deny hospitality to grecian volunteers on condition that no turk should be per bitted to enter their mounta mountainous bious district on this thia arrangement being concluded and after the battle of caphes the government of the porte announced that the insurrection was quelled the policy of the turkish government has been to make it appear that the insurrectionary ary movement was comparatively trifling lest bome some of the great christian powers should interfere hence the announcement alluded to but the insurgents continued their offensive and defensive op operations orations with tigor vigor and in a manner that was waa measurably inesm incomprehensible to their enemies at a glyen given point where a few hundred men would appear in the morning as many thousands would be found ready for battle on the samy ey ening evening men of families would appear to be at home and all quiet while in the mountains were determined men w with I 1 ith no such ties who in an hour of emergency would be speedily reinforced by those who seemingly were not actively engaged in the movement thus it has continued until the attention sf of the great powers is being directed to it the blowing up of the monastery mon astry of arkadi called the tragedy of arkadi has excited no small email amount of painful interest in the success of the insurgents this monastery mon astry which was wag a massive building erected by the om rim 1200 years ago was held by men including three greek volunteers and sixty two monks there thero were also inside women and children mustapha pasha moved upon it with men battered it with artillery and effected a breach in the walls an am attack followed and the turks were crowding into the tho building when t the he magazine was fired by its defenders a priest putting a lighted candle into a barrel of powder and the place was blown into the air about 1500 turks are said to have perished in the r ruins ulna I 1 of those inside there escaped fifty three half burned women and children and forty three wounded men who had taken refuge in a cellar coroneas Kor oneas oncas the leader it appears by some means escaped for the turks set a reward upon his head and upon that of his fellow chieftain koravos Ko Xo the revolutionary government of crete have issued another declaration recently to the christian world in which they declare that the people will never give up the contest this declaration in the face of the previous announcement no by the turkish government that the insurrection ivas was quelled and with the fact existing that it still continues unabated has claimed the admiration and enlisted the sympathy of very many throughout christendom who see in the movement an outraged and oppressed people struggling for existence but recently a large and influential fluent ial meeting was held in boston to elicit sympathy in their behalf and raise funds for supplying them with material aid in many other places there is a strong desire manifest to see them ultimately victorious and there is no doubt douk but the great european powers are watching the struggle with varying feelings insurrectionary The spirit is spreading to other places the greek subjects of turkey aro are fuli full of it the province of bosnia besnia is declared to be on the evo of revolt the turkish ambassador has been recalled from athens and EO so imminent does the government of the po porte rte arte deem the danger that a levy of turkish troops has been ordered to meet it russia is still anxious to have a large share of the blek sick mans possessions and would willingly see the strength of turkey tarkey exhausted on In internal terrial connul france england and italy are each interested in the matter for their united forces only twelve years ago gave a prolonged existence to the rule of the porte prussia that has so lately changed the map of central europe is keenly alive to anything that may alter existing boun boundaries darlis even though they should not be those of other her closest neighbors and greece is anxious to add orete crete to her already disturbed dominions if schleswig Sch leswig and holstein could give rise riso to a war that effected such important changes as that of last summer in europe following the brief struggle fuggle Eit elt bychich by which they were wrested from denmark there would be nothing astonishing in equally if not more serious results springing from the cretan insurrection the condition of turkey is rather rickety but she may yet prove a bone of contention for the dogs of warin varin that hemisphere to bo be let lot loose upon each other this gives to the struggle of the cretans caetans Cre tans a significance it otherwise would not possess however much we might sympathize with their sufferings admire their valor and desire their success and it is its connection with turkey and the international policy of europe that raises it to be one of the questions of the day |
