Ci)e 0vttk Committee. Papers of the Greek Committee.— No. 8. ADDRESS CLAIMS OF GREECE, ARTHUR ARNOLD, M.P., CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE. DELIVERED AT WILLIS'S ROOMS, MARCH 2eth, 1881. LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE, M.P., IN THE CHAIR. PUBLISHED BY THE GREEK COMMITTEE. (Price Sixpence.) THE EARL OF ROSEBERY. g^^airman of t^e §xecutxvc, ARTHUR ARNOLD, M.P. F. ^Y. CHESSON. Executive §.oxntnxttee. The Marquis of Bath. Baxter, Right Hon. W. E., M.P. Bryce, J., M.P. Campbell, Hon. Dudley. Clayden, p. W. Howard, G., M.P. James, W. H., M.P. Rylands, p., M.P. Samuelson, H. B., M.P. Sandwith, Dr. Humphry, C. B. Thompson, H. Yates. Sergeant, Lewis {Hon. Sec). ^cnerat ^oxnxnittee. The Duke of Westminster, K.G. Viscount de Vesci. Lord Lawrence. Adey, M. S. More. Agelasto, a. S.., Liverpool. Ainsworth, J. S., Cleator. Anthony, Charles, Hereford. Arch, Joseph, Warwick. Bain, Dr., Aberdeen. Barclay, J. W., M.P. Barran, J., M.P. Barrett, Professor W. F., Dublin. Bartlett, R. E. Bazley, Sir T., Bart, M.P. Bell, Major Evans. Bell, J. H., Darlington. Bell, Rev. G. C, Headmaster of Marlborough College. Alford, R., Marlborough College. Beesly, a. H., „ Bull, C. M., Drury, H. D. ,, Furneaux, Rev. W. M., Harding, T. 0., „ Horner, H. B., „ KuNDALL, G. W. Marlborough College. Leaf, H., „ ,, Mansell, W. „ ,, Masterman, N., „ „ mullins, w. e., ,, ,, Richardson, H., ,, ,, RODWELL, G. F., F.C.S., Sharp, G., ,, „ Thomas, Rev. T. S., ,, Thompson, F. E., ,, ., IJPCOTT, L. E., ,, ,, Benachi, L. a., Liverpool. Blair, W. S., Twickenham. Blennerhassett, R. p., M.P. Blind, Karl. Brassey, T., M.P. Brett, Reginald B., M.P. Bright, Jacob, M.P. Bromfield, James. Brooke, Rev. Stopford A. Brooksmith, J., Cheltenham College. Burt, T., M.P. Buxton, Sydney C. Caine, W. S., M.P. Calliphronas, Rev. Dr. Campbell, Lord Colin, M.P. Campbell, Sir George, K.C.S.I., M.P. CaKR, J. COMYNS. Causton, R. K., M.P. Chambers, Rev. T. W., City of London School. Charles, R. F., „ ,, TowsEY, Rev. A., ,, ,, Wooding, Rev. W. „ „ Chatto, Andrew. Cheetham, J. F., M.P., Manchester. Chrysoveloni, M. J., Liverpool. Clark, Sir J. F., Bart., Aberdeen. Clayden, a. W., Bath College. Cobb, J. F., F.R.G.S., Torquay. CoDRiNGTON, Gen. Sir. W., G.C.B. Coleridge, Hon. Bernard. Collins, Eugene, M.P. CoLviN, Professor Sidney, Cambridge. CORGIALEGNO, M. Cornish, F. W., Eton College. CORYN, "W. J. COSTELLOE, B. F. C. Cotton, Alderman, M.P. Cox, H. F. Crane, Walter. Crompton, C, Inner Temple. Desmond, Rev. H. M. Egan. DiLKE, A. W., M.P. Douglas, Rev. A. G., Blandford, Draper, John. Dunn, Andrew. Edmonstone, George, Torquay. Ellis, J. E., Nottingham. Ellison, J. E., Liverpool. Errington, G., M.P. Evelyn, Col. George P., Dartford. Falwey, Timothy, Southampton. Faulkner, C. J., Oxford. Ferguson, Robert, M.P. Fox Bourne, H. R. Fox, J. H., Wellington. Freeman, E. A., D.C.L., Somerleaze. Furnivall, F. J. Garry, Rev. Nicholas T., Reading. Geddes, W. D., LL.D., Professor of Greek, Aberdeen. Gill, J. C, Lee. GowiNG, Richard. Gladstone, Dr. J. H., F.R.S. Grahame, James, Auldhouse. Green, B. L., Manchester. Gregory, Right Hon. Sir W. H., K.C.S.I. Grey, Albert, M.P. Griffith, C. Dabby. Grimley, Professor H. N., Aberyst- wyth. Grosvenor, Hon. Richard C. Hall, William, Shoreham. Hamilton, A. Hancock, Charles. Hardcastle, J. A., M.P. Hardy, A. L. Harris, J. Rendel, Cambridge. Herford, E., J. p., Manchester. Hodgkin, T., Falmouth. Havelock- Allan, Sir H. M., Bart., M.P. Hollond, John R., M.P. HoLWORTHY, Wentworth. Holyoake, G. J. Inderwick, F. a., M.P. loNIDES, L. A. Jackson, St an way, Manchester. Jebb, Professor R. C, Glasgow. Jenkins, E. Jerrold, Blanchard, Jones, Mrs. Inwood. Kennedy, Rev. Canon B. H., Regius Professor of Greek, Cambridge. Laing, S., M.P. Lambert, Rev. Brooke. Lawrence, Rev. T. J., Tadlow. Leake, R., M.P. Leary, Rev. Dr. T. H. Lee Warner, H., Rugby School. Macaulay, G. C, ,, ,, MoBERLY, Rev. C. E. ,, ,, MoRicE, Rev. F. D., ,, ,, NUTT, G., ,, ,, Smith, Rev. P. Bowden, ,, Mackenzie, Lt.-Gen. Colin, C.B. Mc Arthur, Alderman W., M.P., McCarthy, Justin, M.P. McKenna, Sir J. N., M.P. r'^ MacColl, Rev. Malcolm. McLaren, Duncax. McLaken, J., M.P., Edinburgh. McTiER, F. Macdonald, a., M.P. Macmillan, a. Macmillan, George A. Marling, S. S., M.P. Mason, Hugh, M.P. Massie, John, M.A., Leamington. Mavrogordato, E. a. MiNTO, Professor, Abex'doen. Moggridge, M. W. Monk, C. J., M.P. Montagu, Capt. Hon. Y., E.ISr. MoRFiLL, W. R., Oxford. Morley, S., M.P. MoRisoN, J. Cotter. Morris, Lewis. Morris, William. Muller, Professor Max, Oxford. Mundella, a. J,, M.P. Myers, Ernest. Newman, Francis W., Weston-super- Mare. Noel, Ernest, M.P. Noel, Hon. Roden. Ogle, John, F.C.P., Sevenoaks. Oxenham, Rev. H. N. "Jwen, Rev. J. A., Cheltenham Col- lege. Patterson, John, J. P., Liverpool. pATTisoN, Rev. Mark, B.D., Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford. Pease, J. W., M.P. Pennington, F., M.P. Philpotts, J. SuRTEEs, BodfordSchool. Playfair, Right Hon. Lyon, C.B., MP. Potter, T. B., MA\ Powell, T., Taunton. Price, Capt. W. E. Probyn, J. W. l^ROUT, Rev. E. S., Bridgwater. Pulley, Joseph, M.P. Kalli, a. A. Rathbone, W., M.P. liATiiBONE, S., Liverpool. Rawlins, C. E., Liverpool. Richardson, Rev. G., Second Master, Winchester College. Butler, A. J., Winchester College. Cook, A. K., ,, ,, Morshead, E. D. a., ,, ,, morshead, f., ,, ,, Were, E. A., „ ,, Riviere, Briton. Roberts, John, M.P. Robertson, Rev. J., Harrow School. colbeck, c, ,, ,, Hart, H. G. ,, ,, Marshall, F. E., „ „ Watson, A. G.,D.C.L., „ Robins, E. C, F.S.A. Robinson, E. P., Manchester. Rogers, J. E. Thorold, M.P. RoLLESTON, Professor George, Oxford. RusHBROOKE, W. G., City of London School. Russell, Lord Arthur, M.P. Russell, Hon. F. A. R., Richmond. Russell, E. R., Liverpool. Sala, G. a. Samuelson, James, Claughton. Sclavo, p. C. Shaen, William. Shaw, James. Sheridan, H, B., M.P. SiDGWiCK, Arthur, Oxford. Sime, James. Sinclair, Sir J. G. T., Bart., M.P. Simon, Serjeant, M.P. Skinner, J. Hilary, Temple. Slagg, John, M.P., Manchester. Smith, G. Barnett. Smith, Professor H. J. S., (Oxford. Smith, Prof. Robertson, Aberdeen. SouvAZOGLu, P., Manchester. Spence, Peter, J. P., Manchester. Spokes, Sir Peter, Reading. Spokes, A. H., B.C. L, , Middle Temple. Stansfeld, Mrs. Stennett, J. H., M.A., Boston. Summers, W., M.P. S WAYNE, Rev. G. C, B.D., Havre. Taylor, P. A., M.P. Thomasson, J., M.P. TozER, Eev. H. F., Oxford, Tkevelyan, G. O., M.P, Trevelyan, Sir C, Bait. Vagliano, p. a. Valetta, J. N., D.C.L. Valieri, OcTATirs. Verney, Capt., E.N, Verney, F. Walter, John, M.P. Webster, John, M.P. Webster, Thomas, Lincoln's Inn. Webderbxjbn, Sir David, Bart., M.P. WE8TLAKE, J., Q.C., LL.D. WicKHAM, Eev. E. C, Wellington Coll. Wilde, Oscar. Wilkinson, J. Fenwick, Eamsgate. Wilkinson, J. Eennie. Wills, W., Inner Temple. Wilson, H, J., Sheffield. Wilson, Eev. J. M., Head Master of Clifton College. Bartholomew, F. M., Clifton College. Dakyns, H, Gr,, Fairbanks, Walter, Grenfell, J. G., Heymann, B., Irwin, S. T., MacGregob, J. G., D.Sc, Mansfield, G. D., Marks, E., Clifton College. Miller, E,, ,, Moberly, W. 0,, • „ MooK, E. N. P., Newhoitse, E. p., ,, Oakeley, E. M., „ Pelissier, E. „ Shawe, E. F. W., Sheldon, C, ,, Steggall, J. E. A., ,, Stevens, F. H., „ Tait, C.W. A„ Vaughan, C. E., ,, Walters, F. W., Wiseman, Eev. H, J., ,, WOLLASTON, G. H., „ WiNTON, Major G. de. Wood, E. P., Waterloo. Wood, Eev. Canon, Newent. Wordsworth, William. YovNG, Eev. E. M., Headmaster of Sheiboi-ne School. Blanch, J., Sherborne School. Park, Mvngo T., „ Parker, L. N. ,, Tancock, 0. W. ,, Whitehead, C. S. WiLDMAN, W. B. ,, Wood, A. ,, Zigomala, J. C, Manchester. THE GREEK COMMITTEE. In the afternoon of Saturday^ March 2Gth, a meeting of the Greek Committee and its supporters was held in Willis's Rooms, Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, M.P., in the chair. There was a numerous attendance of the general public. Among those present were the Right Hon. W. E. Baxter, M.P., Mr. Hugh Mason, M.P., Mr. George Palmer, M.P., Mr. Alderman Cotton, M.P., Mr. W. H. James, M.P., Mr. R. Leake, M.P., Mr. Inderwick, M.P., Mr. W. Summers, M.P., Mr. Thomasson, M.P., Mr. Litton, M.P., Mr. Lewis Morris, Mr. E. A. Mavrogordato, Mr. O. Valieri, Mr. P. Sclavo, Mr. John Ogle, Mr. J. Probyn, Rev. H. N. Oxenham, General Lowry, Rev. Mark Pattison, Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, Mr. Chesson, Hon. Treasurer, Mr. L. Sergeant, Hon. Sec. of the Greek Committee, and others. Lord E. FiTZMAURiCE, in opening the proceedings, said he thought they would deem that a favourable and proper moment had been chosen for the gathering, because a very critical moment had arrived in the negotiations which were now progressing at Constantinople in regard to that subject in which all of them felt so deep and so increasing an interest. It was considered advisable by those who had from the beginning: interested themselves in the claims of Greece to choose this moment to show to the Greek people that the interest of the English public in their case was not diminished. They did not hold out hopes of armed intervention on the 8 part of England^ or indeed any hopes which they themselves would not be justified in holding forth. The object of the Greek Committee was to show their deep and strong moral sympathy, which they believed, as often as not, had been as powerful in the cause of oppressed and suffering nationalities as the armed intervention, the blood and the treasure of other Powers. They believed, for example, that in times past the moral support which Lord Russell and Lord Palmerston were able to give to Italy contributed as much to the unity and consolidation of the Italian kingdom as the armed intervention of France in the war of 1859 — because then, as now, it was known and patent to the world that England was acting from a sense of right and of justice, and had no selfish objects of her own to pursue. She acted entirely without arriere pensee, and did so now with regard to Greece. He had mentioned Lord Russell and Lord Palmerston as states- men who in their day contributed to relieve oppressed and suffering nationalities. Let him remind them that they had now at the head of affairs a statesman whose name was not second even to theirs in his zeal for the cause of justice, in his zeal for the defence of the oppressed in every quarter of the civilised globe. The name of Mr. Gladstone was one which was known in every town, indeed, he might say, in every village in the East as that of one who had contributed as much as any living man to the development of the freedom and of the culture of those nations. Let him remind them also that in this Greek question Mr. Gladstone had a double claim upon them, because there was no statesman in England who had so genuine an acquaint- ance, so real and living an admiration for those great works which Greece from her past ages had handed down to us, and which had enabled Greece to say, even in the moments of her greatest political degradation and deepest political servitude, that though in one sense dead, she was still living, and could still look forward to the time when she would again arise and take her place amongst the nations of the world. He had mentioned Mr. Gladstone's great knowledge of Grecian antiquity. Of course he was alluding to Mr. Gladstone's great knowledge of the works of Homer, and that made him think that they to-day were arrived at a moment in the history of this question when, to a certain extent, their feelings were those which were pourtrayed in the 10th Book of the ^^ Iliad.'-' The poet made the \visest of the Greek captains around the walls of Troy say, " Great is now the stress that lies on Greece, For on a razor's edge is balauced^now The chance of every Greek of life or death/' These feelings, they might depend upon it, were the feelings of those who formed the Greek army of to-day — an army which was the hope of their country. They could say that great was now the stress that lay on Greece, and it was plain to see that the chance of peace or war, of life or death, hung ^' upon a razor's edge." All of those present were friends of peace, and entertained a hope that a peaceful solution of the present difficulties might be found, trusting as they did in the skill, patience, and temper which Lord Granville and Mr. Goschen had displayed throughout. The Committee desired to excite no unjust expectations — no hopes which they might be unable to fulfil ; but they had full confidence in the temper and patience of the English Government, and they also had full confidence, with the record contained in the two Greek Blue-books recently published, that as it had acted in the past so it would in the future. Though perhaps it might be said that one other Power had not been quite so steady in her allegiance to some propositions which at one time were placed before the assembled diplomatists of Europe, yet no hesitation 10 had distinguished the course of Lord Granville in this matter The noble earl had been firm and consistent, and had held but one line from first to last. Again, those present were justified in appealing to the Porte not once more, by its ill-timed obstinacy, to be the cause of untold suffering, not merely to the particular populations of the territories in dispute, but perhaps to the whole people of the Balkan peninsula. If by such ill-timed obstinacy the flame of war was once more kindled, then it was almost certain that the conflagration would not be confined to the narrow regions of Thessaly and Epirus, any more than the Servian war was able to be confined to the Servian territory, or to the Turkish territory adjoining. The Porte should be made to understand that there is before Europe the risk of a great conflagration, and that if that con- flagration took place, the blame would lie at her door. (Hear, hear !) For more than two years the Porte had wasted time by making propositions, many of which could hardly be described as serious. It had applied that course in cases where it had proved fatal to itself in the long run — and indeed he could not recall a single instance in which this dilatory course had proved advantageous. Therefore, in the interests of Europe they had a right to appeal to the Porte not to allow the torch to be applied to the powder magazine, and so to prevent the great evils of a European conflagration. 11 THE CLAIMS OF GREECE. Mr. Arthur Arnold, M.P., said — My lord, ladies, and gentlemen : The Greek Committee, which was established with the object of obtaining an equitable settlement of the Hellenic claims, has endeavoured to be both active and faithful in the pursuit of that object. Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin the Committee accepted the basis indicated in the 13th protocol of the Congress as the legitimate foundation for that settlement. The Committee includes a considerable number of members of both Houses of Par- liament. It has representatives in all the large towns of the kingdom. Those who are at the head of the Committee have been received in Manchester and in Liverpool, where they have been greatly encouraged in their work, and now, in the supreme moment of the fortunes of Greece, when the rectification of the Greek frontier has become the most urgent question of foreign policy, when the assent of a representative audience, such as is gathered here to-day, may not be without influence in favour of the maintenance of peace, and ma}' do something to prevent that which is a grave peril — an arrangement which shall be no settlement, but rather an affliction, continuing, at least, many of the economic evils of war — the Committee has thought that its functions would be ill discharged if it did not at this crisis endeavour to lay before the people of this country the present position of the Hellenic claims, the grounds for the belligerent attitude of the Greek people, and the hopes which the Committee entertain of a satisfactory solution. I shall not question the willingness of the British Pleni- potentiaries at Berlin to accept that which is recorded in the 13th protocol of the Congress ; nor shall I strive to give that which was then agreed upon authority and force it does not 12 possess. As tliis is^ however, the diplomatic foundation of all that is now in question, it is well to remember that in the treaty to which Turkey was a party together with the six Powers of Europe, it is stipulated that in the event of Turkey and Greece being unable to agree upon the rectification of frontier suggested in the 13th protocol of the Congress of Berhn, the six Powers — Great Britain, Germany, 'Austria, Hungary, France, Italy, and Russia — reserve to themselves to offer their mediation to the two parties. You will observe that the Powers were not to wait until they were asked to interfere ; they reserve to themselves the right oE interven- tion. Now, what was the line of rectification suggested in the 13th protocol of the Congress? It was the line of the " valley " of two rivers — the Kalamas on the western or Ionian side, and the Salamyrias on the eastern or the ^gean side. Tiie employment of the word " valley " by the Con- gress left something at all events to be determined. It was capable of three interpretations. When we speak in general terms of the valley of a river, we are held to mean un- doubtedly the whole basin of that river. If we speak of the valley of the Thames, or of the Rhine, there can be no question that we are alluding to the drainage area of the river. U])on that plain and simple view of the matter there were, in the first place, two interpretations to be considered by Turkey and Greece, or if they failed to come to agreement, by the mediating Powers, namely, whether the intention of the protocol was that the northern or southern watershed of these rivers should be the new line of boundary between Greece and Turkey. There was also the third consideration, whether the reference to the ^' valleys '' of the rivers meant the centre hue of the watercourse. In diplomatic language there is a German word much in vogue which has not the ambiguity of the word ^Walley.^^ If the Congress had em- 13 ployed the German word " thalweg ,' which,, as you know, means the valley- way^ or the water-way, there could have been no question that the centre of the watercourse was the line recommended. The Congress, however, was composed of — at all events, it included — illustrious statesmen of ripe experience, who may be assumed to know that a river which is navigable, or which, whether navigable or not, passes through level and cultivated lands, is perhaps the least satisfactory boundary that can be suggested, and they must be supposed to have known sufficient of the facts of the case to be aware that the latter is the character of the Sala- myrias in Thessaly, and further, that if the southern water- shed of that river were adopted as the new boundary, while it is doubtful if it would give Greece iyiy appreci- able increase of territory beyond that she now possesses, it is certain that it would withhold from her possession a country which is the most exclusively Greek of all the lands in the dominions of Turkey. Indeed, this interpretation of the reference is so utterly prej)osterous and absurd that it has never been suggested by the advocates of the Porte, and therefore the claim of Greece to have the northern watershed or valley-line of the Salamyrias adopted as the new boundary in Thessaly appears undeniable. With reference to the Kala- mas, which flows through a rugged district, not only is the case as regards the contour of the country more complicated, but the ethnological question is not so utterly one-sided as in Thessaly, which is a purely Greek province. My predecessor. Sir Charles Dilke, the distinguished Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, has happily explained, at meetings held under the auspices of the Greek Committee, by what crooked ways — at one time by the invention of places of meeting which had no real existence, by strategic delays, by diplo- matic delays, such as it is not in the straightforward nature of 14 English people to compass or perhaps to comprehend — the Turks defeated the efforts of the Greeks to engage in serious negotiations. Then followed the abortive proposal of Lord Salisbury, who threatened the Sultan with a naval demonstra- tion, and when Musurus Pacha begged him not to send Admiral Hornby to demonstrate the urgency of a settle- ment of questions connected with the Berlin Tre^y, Lord Salisbury said he could not promise that if the Sultan continued obdurate the British Fleet would not be sent to Turkish waters. Upon the change of Government, Lord Granville, in a despatch dated May 4th, 1880, informed the Powers of Europe that in the opinion of Her Majesty^s Government the delay Avhich had occurred in the execu- tion of certain provisions of the Treaty of Berlin should be put an end to, and that this could best be effected by the united efforts of the Powers. The proposal was at once accepted; the concert of Europe was happily restored, and has never since failed to be operative. Lord Granville^s policy was expressed in the following language : — " With regard to the question of the rectification of the Greek frontier, Her Majesty's Government have agreed with the other Powers, that the delay of the Porte in replying to the proi)Osal of the Marquis of Salisbury must be considered as a refusal, and that, there- fore, as it is desirable, in the interests of both Turkey and Greece, -o bring the matter speedily to an issue, the Ambassadors should xnnounce to the Porte that the Powers propose that a Conference of the Representatives of the Mediating Powers, assisted by officers possessing technical knowledge, should be held at Berlin, to be assembled for actual business before the end of June, to consider and determine by a majority on the pro])er line of frontier to be adopted, and that the Governments of Turkey and Greece will be invited to send Delegates to lay before the Conference the arguments of their respective Governments. "When a determination has been arrived athythe Conference, a Commission might proceed to the locality to settle the details." 15 This policy was adopted, and the Berlin Conference ensued. At that Conference, the rej^resentatives most properly confined their deliberations to the line indicated by the Congress of Berlin, and when they came to investigate the course of the Salamyrias, they found that it was a river fordable in many places, traversing a populated and cultivated country, peopled on botlv^ides of the stream almost exclusively by Greeks, who were especially congregated in the town of Larissa, the strong- hold and chief place of Thessaly. On the northern water- shed, the crest of the Olympian range — which I have seen covered with snow in the month of May — they observed a boundary such as all authorities admit to be the best pos- sible line of division between two countries, and, as I have already shown, this line being in accordance with the sug- gestion of the protocol, they fixed upon it, r^olving that upon the low land bordering upon the gulf of Salonica the line should be the shortest Avhich was possible and suitable to both parties. On the western side, their information concerning the Kalamas river was of a different character. If they haxl adopted the southern watershed of the Kala- mas, not only would large Greek populations have been excluded, but also the very important matter of termina- ting the presence of rival and possibly unfriendly powers in the gulf of Arta would not have been dealt with. At the Conference, the Russian representative drew attention to the discussions which have continued for many years be- tween the Porte and the government of Athens concerning the presence of their respective ships of war in the gulf of Arta. By an almost inconceivable stupidity, the actual boundary of Greece on the north is so arranged that both in the gulf of A^olo and in the gulf of Arta, Greeks and Turks are brought face to face on the same close waters. The Congress of Berlin, in resolving that the new line 16 should follow the valleys of the two rivers, may most rea- sonably be held to have employed that vague term with the intention of affording a wide range for the most suit- able line,, and no one has suggested that the southern water- shed of the Kalamas affords such a line. The northern watershed of the Kalamas is somewhat indefinite, and it happens that the area between the greater length of the stream and its northern watershed is inhabited by a Mussulman Al- banian population. Other reasons for adopting the thalweg , or waterway, in this case were, that the banks of the Kalamas are steep, that the river is a natural obstacle rather than a way of communication ; that it is a defence to the position of Janina rather than an exposed frontier ; and that the selection of it as a boundary would be an advantage to the Greeks in preventing a dangerous expansion of their forces in the ease of defensive operations. Moreover, the area to the north of the Kalamas contained not more than 970 square kilometres. I need not examine the technical reasons for the course of the Conference line across the mountains to its junction with the line of watershed of the Salamyrias upon the crest of the Olympus range. The line of the Conference passes to the north of Janina. Now, why did the Conference determine that Janina should belong to Greece ? The Con- ference had, among other documents, the report of Captain Sale, who had been engaged in making inquiries into the ethnology of Epirus, and who stated that while "in that part of Epirus which lies to the south of the Kalamas river, together with the districts of Philiates and Zagori, the proportion of Christian to Mahometan inhabitants is as five to one, in the town of Janina itself there are in round numbers 11,500 Christians, 5,000 Mahometans, and 3,000 Jews ;" and Captain Sale adds, with reference to Janina, " most of the property is in the hands of the Christians, who 17 are practically unanimous in their wish for annexation to Greece/' Then ag-ain, the Conference had the evidence of one of the technical representatives of Austria, Chevalier Zwiedenek, who has lived eighteen months in Janina, and who declared that the Kalamas was an ethnographical as well as a political and military frontier, for, said he, " in the district of Janina the population is exclusively Greek/' These observations serve to show that the boundary adopted in harmonious concert by the Powers represented at Berlin is a good boun- dary ; that it is a boundary selected with care and skill, with dutiful regard to the respective claims of the Governments and populations of Turkey and Greece, and to the obvious limits imposed by the Congress and the Treaty of Berlin. The territory thus " adjudged " to Greece — I uge that word because it was used by the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs in his first comment upon the proceedings of the Conference — and which the Powers are agreed should be ceded by Turkey,, is in extent 20,650 square kilometres — an area nearly equal to two-thirds of the original extent of the Hellenic kingdom, and it contains a population of about 500,000 people. As to the rights of the Mahomedan minority and of the Turkish Government, these did not escape the vigilant attention of Lord Granville. The Conference declared, T believe, at his instance, that complete religious liberty should be assured; that the full enjoyment of rights of property should be secured to any Mussulman proprietors ; that com- pensation should be given to the Porte for any lands or pro- perty belonging bond fide to the State or to religious founda- tions ; that people desiring to retain Turkish nationality should have ample time to quit the territory; that no ono should be prosecuted or interfered with in person or property on account of his political acts previous to the cession ; that 18 Mussulmans should not be excluded from public employ- ments, functions, and honours, from the full enjoyment of civil and political rights ; and that Greece should be charged with a share of the Ottoman public debt proportioned to the territory assigned to her. Thus the Powers of Europe performed their legitimate duty. I have shown that their action and their award were strictly based upon the Berlin Treaty. But all the world is aware that the claims of Greece did not first arise in the Congress of Berlin. These claims have been notorious for more than half a century. Greece has never ceased to protest against the narroAV limits to which she was confined after the successful insurrection which led to the foundation of the Greek State. This territory which Greece now claims with the assent of Europe is Greek by right of that insurrection. I do not care to argue more ancient claims — it is Greek in the opinion, from that time to this, of leading British statesmen, from Canning to Palmerston, and from Palmerston to Gladstone. I will not dwell upon words which have passed from the bitter tongue of the late Foreign Secretary concerning Greece ; my present aim is rather to unite all Englishmen as friends of Greece than to remind them that there are any among us, who, seeing the 2:)owers of light and order, of liberty and progress, on one side, prefer to range themselves with the power of despotism and slavery, with the blighting and oppressive rule of the Turkish authority. I know that lovely land of Thessaly; I have heard from the lips of the people themselves the torments of government to which they are subject — a govern- ment which is imposed uj^on them by the presence of an overwhelming force of foreign soldiery. If the Sultan would remove his Asiatic forces, the people of this territory, which King George claims in Ejnrus and in Thessaly, w^ould imme- diately rise and proclaim it Hellenic soil. There w^ould be no 19 need to march a Greek soldier across the present frontier. Those patient j^easants of Thessaly wonkl sing a psalm of de- liverance. You have all heard of Volo ; you will hear more of it. The grandest natural harbour in Europe is the Gulf of Volo, and on the shores of that gulf you might see at this moment a true illustration of Greek and Turkish rule. Along the southern strand the Christian population have built their homes. The houses are clean and well built; well provided, with windows, wdiich are always an abomination to the Turks. Hard by is the town of the Turkish lords of the soil. The ditch which surrounds it is full of stagnant filth, in which frogs and water-rats abound. In the streets, the contrast is as re- markable, and Turkish seclusion is obtained at the apparent cost of much that makes life healthy and happy. Yet that Turkish stye gives the law to the sweet and wholesome town; and if you wish to know how that power is main- tained, you have only to glance at the white tents erected near at hand, into which hundreds of the stalwart peasantry of Asia Minor have been carried away from the neglected agriculture of their own land. It is impossible for English men or women to sympathise with a dominion of this sort. Imagine for a moment, if across the border, say, of Kent, or of Surrey, there were English people held down from joining us and our happier state by soldiers of Russia, or of any foreign power, would not your hearts burn, and would your hands be idle, when the hour of highest hope of freedom seemed to be drawing nigh? I assert, without fear of contradiction — because I am saying that which I believe to be true — that the highest hopes with which the liberation of Greece inspired Englishmen more than fifty years ago have been justified by the result. I say, looking back upon the history of that period 20 and upon what Greece lias achieved under her present cn- cumstances, that the character which was ascribed to the Greek people,, and the idea of their future which was formed, have received a justification which could hardly have been ex- ceeded by the most daring advocate of Greek independence. When I compare free Greece with Turkish Thessaly, when I think of the aspirations of these long-suffering people, when 1 want for them the sympathy, the moral — I do not ask for the military — support of the people of free England, I may, perhaps, be excused if I recall the words in which Mr. Canning hailed the coming liberty of their brothers of the Greek kingdom. He said : — " If a new world were to burst forth suddenly in the midst of the heavens, and we were instructed by angelic voices, or whatever kind of revelation the Creator might appoint, that its inhabitants were brave, generous, happy and warm with all our sympathies, would not pious men fall prostrate before Him for such a mani- festation of His power and goodness ] What then 1 shall these very people be the first to stifle the expression of our praise and wonder, at a marvel far more astonishing, at a manifestation of power and goodness far more glorious and magnificent ] The weak vanquish the strong ; the opprest stand over the oppressor ; we see happy, not those who were never otherwise, not those who have made no effort, no movement of their own to earn their happiness, like the creatures of our imaginary new world, but those who were the most wretched and the most undeservedly." The progress of Greece has been very remarkable. The stability of its constitutional Government deserves more attention than it has received; but the material progress of the kingdom has been, perhaps, not less significant. Fifty years ago, Athens, except its glorious ruins, was a mere collection of hovels, a place of small population, and of no importance ; and at the Piraeus a few huts of wood looked upon a historic port, then of no commerce and consequence. Within the 21 last ten years the j)opulation of Athens has increased by 21,000, or more than thnty-three per cent., and now amounts to nearly 70,000. The population of the Piraeus has doubled in the last ten years, and already numbers 22,000. There is nothing like this in the Turkish dominions, and yet the Greek State has laboured under serious disadvantages. It has never ceased from being troubled Avith the boundary question. There has not been, there could not be, under the circumstances, the reform which is most favourable to the development of agriculture and commerce. Now the opportunity has arrived, and I believe sincerely that not the interests of Greece only, but those of Europe, will suffer deep and lasting injury if it be not availed of to obtain a durable settlement of the claims of Greece. My lord, it is in the power of Europe to impose her will upon Greece. Europe can re-rivet or she can unbind the fetters of the Hellenic people in Thessaly and Epirus. If I could think that I had the smallest influence with a people whose cause and claims I have now for a good many years supported to the best of my ability, I would counsel them to take no step in opposition to the united opinion of the Powers of Europe. I am not so presumptuous as to counsel them to have confidence in Mr. Gladstone. No man in this world has or deserves to have such influence with the Greek people as that possessed by the Prime Minister. No Greek can doubt his sympathies with Greek people, nor is it possible to suppose that Mr. Gladstone is, or will be indifferent to the vast importance of the opportunity which has now arisen for effecting an abiding and a righteous settle- ment of this question. Now, we must look to what the Turkish Government has offered. The present boundary is indefensible. Not only does it bisect the two gulfs of 22 Arta and Volo^ but in regard to the main land it follows no rational or convenient principle. We need not, however, argue the matter, for the boundary is abandoned by the Turks, who accept without protest the policy of an enlargement of the Greek Kingdom. The question is, where shall the line be drawn ? On October 3rd, 1880, the Turks made an offer of a line starting from the coast above Volo, leav- ing Larissa and the Salamyrias river three hours (that is, about ten miles) distant, crossing the mountains and ter- minating at the mouth of the river Arta, in the gulf of that name. This boundary is unjustifiable on any grounds. In the first place, it has no visible connection with the sugges- tions of the Congress, in \vhich Turkey concurred, because in Epirus it does not touch upon the basin of the river Kalamas ; it is indefensible, in that it retains the dual control of Turkey and Greece in the Gulf of Arta, and it is absurd, in that after accepting in principle the rectification of boundary, it offers one which has no natural recommenda- tion, and which includes so small a cession of territory that in Ej^irus the termination of the new boundary would not be more than ten or twenty miles from the old boundary. But before we look further to the question of an alternative to that boundary which has been laid dow^n with so much care in the Conference of Berlin, it is important to consider how very emphatic has been the verdict of Europe upon that particular line. The terms of the award are these : — "The negotiations between Turkey and Greece for the rectification of their frontiers having been without result, the Plenipotentiaries of the Powers, called by the provisions of the Act of 13th July, 1878, to exercise mediation between the two States, assembled in Conference at Berlin, conformably to the instructions of their Governments and after ripe deliberation, acting in the spirit of the terms of the 13th Protocol of the Congress of 23 Berlin, have adopted the following" line/' and then follows the description of the line which I have somewhat precisely indicated. Now, I do not hesitate to say that I could not understand the policy of any one of the six Powers, who after signing that award should recommend Greece to accept anything less upon the side of Thessaly. The crest of the mountains of the Olympus range is, in fact, the only boun- dary which can be an effective boundary upon that side. I cannot understand the introduction of Crete as affecting in any way the claim of Greece to the cession of Thessaly. Crete has suffered much for her faith in Hellenism. I have seen Athens crowded with refugees from Crete, who fled thither for refuge from the Turkish soldiery in 1867. The deliverance of Crete, very desirable at any time, and certain as it is sooner or later to happen, does not touch the northern boundary of Greece, except by way of what is called compen- sation. But I must confess I do not see how the Hellenic Government could consent to barter the hopes of the people of Janina and of Metzovo, and the strength of Prevesa, for the liberty of the people of Candia. I can, however, understand that if the Turks were to propose to the Ambassadors of the mediating Powers a secure and defensible boundary for Greece in Epirus, together with the only effective line in Thessaly, and were to accom- pany that offer by the cession of Crete, the Ambassadors might feel themselves justified in pressing the acceptance of such proposals upon Greece. I can well believe that their Governments would, in the interests of peace, accede to this recommendation ; and I am sure the Greek people could not expect to retain their present hold upon the sympathies of Europe if they refused to accept the unanimous recommen- dation of the Powers. At present there is but faint hope of such a solution, and among the possibilities of the future we 24 must reckon with an increase rather than with a dechne of the hostile attitude o£ Greece and Turkey. It cannot be denied that Europe has been accessory to the arming of Greece. She is a protected and a guaranteed State. She has, with great patriotism, with great dihgence, with enormous sacrifice, been engaged during the last few months in converting her manhood into soldiers in order to fight if that be necessary, this war of liberation. When she was challenged by the Powers in regard to this armament, she replied that, with her, mobilisation meant the drilling of un- trained men, and the Powers withdrew their objections ; the arming of the Greek people went on, and is now completed. The Greeks have, on their side, claims of more than fifty years^ standing ; in their ears there is the cry of the vast majority of the population of the territory they seek to possess, who are of their own Hellenic flesh and blood. They have an enthusiastic nation now assembled for the first time in military array, and they have the award of Europe — a unanimous award — in their favour. And there is something more. They have been reminded of the fact that they have not shed their blood, as others did who gained increase of territory. They have been reminded of this in the English language, in the French language, and, in fact, in all the tongues of Europe. What wonder then if they look eagerly towards England, hoping that from this island, which leads and must lead the opinion of the world upon the Greek Question, there will come no counsels of dishonour ? We are all in favour of the avoidance of war. I myself make humble profession of being in this matter a follower of Mr. Cobden. We are all, I take it, in favour of the principle of substituting international arbitra- tion for appeals to blood and gunpowder. But w^e recognise that arbitration cannot be available with those who will not accept its decisions. I have so much faith in the humanity. 25 m the moral courage, in the loyalty to the counsels of Europe,, which I know influence the Government of Greece, that I feel sure, if war does come, it will arrive only through the blind and wilful obstinacy of the Turkish Power. If, unhappily, war should soon be imminent, the Government of this country, in conjunction with other Governments of Europe, will have to consider what should be their attitude. It will not then be forgotten — I am sure it is not now forgotten by Mr. Gladstone and Lord Granville, in whom this Committee re- pose full and firm confidence — that England has endorsed the claims of Greece, and, further, that this country is bound by the most solemn pledges to maintain the present possessions of the King of Greece. England is especially bound in this matter, together with France and Russia, as protecting Powers, and I believe it would not be necessary to remind Mr. Gladstone, who is honoured as one of the illustrious contributors to the liberties of Italy, of what was done by Her Majesty ^s Government in 1860. Nothing, I am con- vinced, would so surely tend to the maintenance of peace as the conveyance to Turkey of an assurance that just as the ships of England were stationed at Marsala, at Messina, at Palermo, and in greater force at Naples, in 1860, so would they be found in the waters of Greece if, by a mockery and disregard of the rights of humanity, of the obligations of a Treaty, and of the deliberate opinion of Europe on the part of the Sultan, war now ensued between Greece and Turkey. The claim of Greece is very much stronger than was that of Italy. It Avould be wrong to wait for an event parallel to that of the bombardment of Palermo. When that atrocity occurred, in 1860, Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell sent the fleet to Italy, and Lord John Russell, who was then Foreign Minister, remonstrated with the Neapolitan Power, and significantly said, in Parliament, that '^ Her Majesty's 2G Government had altogether refrained from issuing instruc- tions which would enable our naval commanders to act by force. ■'^ Europe was less liberal in 1860 than it is in 1881. There is more sympathy now Avith such well-founded claims as those of Greece ; more respect for the opinion of Europe^ and more desire that this opinion should be upheld, and should become the accepted law of disputing States. ''Englishmen/' said Mr. Mill, "beyond all the rest of the human race, are so shy of professing virtues, that they will even profess vices instead.^' Perhaps there will always be a cynical class in politics, who, having much themselves, think too little of the condition of others ; ])ut this is not so with the great body of Englishmen, who are now enfranchised, and who I believe do not hesitate to profess the virtue of being favourable to the claims of Greece. In a State such as ours the political action of free citizens should never be regarded as other than matter of grave and serious responsibility. Turn your thoughts with me for a moment to that scene, the action upon which it is your present purpose to do what you can to control. There, on one side, are ranged the youth and strength of an intelligent and friendly people, whose freedom your fathers helped to secure, and who are moved and governed, as you are, by warm and generous aspirations for the welfare and progress of humanity, which are the happy possession of an educated people. They have left home, and fields, and friends, to fight for a cause which is as dear to them as any cause which patriotism can ennoble. Against them, and against the people of the land which these Greeks desire to occupy, are marshalled those ever-obedient Asiatic subjects of the Sultan, who have been forced into the ranks of the Turkish army, and whose only idea of this quarrel is that which inspired the armies of Mahomet, and that which inflamed the soldiery of Saladin. In weeks, or days. 27 these forces may be engag-ed in the slaughter of each other, in order to determine whether the Greeks of Epirus and Thessaly shall be free,, or shall continue to be enslaved. Let the weight of your influence be given to the expression of a hope that^ in this supreme moment^ the counsels of Europe will be wisC;, resolute^ and united, that by such efforts peace may be preserved, the reign of liberty may be extended, and the principles which form the surest foundation of tranquillity may be honoured in their acceptance and fulfilment. Mr. W. E. Baxteh, M.P., said : In moving a vote of thanhg to Mr. Arnold for his eloquent and statesmanlike address, it is gratifying to every lover of liberty to observe so many evidences that the old feeling of sympathy with the Greeks, which encouraged and aided them in the War of Independence, which assisted them in obtaining free government, and ren- dered the cession of the Ionian islands comparatively an easy matter, not only still strongly existed in the British mind, but would back enthusiastically any statesman, who, recognising the hopeless condition of the Turkish Empire, saw at the same time who are likely to succeed to the greater portion of its territory in the Levant. Lord Castlereagh in 1821 missed a golden opportunity of winning the everlasting gratitude of the rising nationality, and Lord Beaconsfield committed precisely the same blunder in 1870. Had the armies of Greece during the late war invaded the frontier provinces of Turkey — and keep in mind it was the English Cabinet alone which pre- vented that — does any man doubt that she would have been in full and undisturbed possession of these provinces now ? At present there was another crisis in Grecian affaii-s. The representatives of the Great Powers at Constantinople were trying to obtain for her a substantial addition of territory. To his mind it was not of supreme importance what arrange-