CHAPTER III.

The inter

vention of

SAMOS AND CRETE.

1830-1878.

Prince Leopold, in his letter of 11th February, 1830,

the Powers accepting the throne of Greece, submitted to the Conference requested. of London his hope:—

The reply of the Powers.

That the Greek inhabitants of the Islands of Candia and Samos, who are to be restored to the Porte, may have their civil and religious position fixed and ameliorated by the intercession of the High Powers, as well as by a liberal application of the Treaty of the 6th of July, that they may be secure from all vexation, and protected against all acts calculated to lead to an effusion of blood 1.

The reply of the Conference is contained in its Protocol of 20th February to the following effect:

The allied Powers cannot admit the right of intervention of the Sovereign Prince of Greece, in regard to the manner in which the Turkish Government exercises its authority in Candia and Samos. These islands are to remain under the dominion of the Porte, and are to be independent of the new Power which it has been agreed to establish in Greece. However, the allied Powers hasten to declare to Prince Leopold, for the personal satisfaction of His Royal Highness, that in virtue of the engagements which they have contracted by common agreement, they consider themselves bound to assure to the inhabitants of Candia and Samos security against all molestation, on account of the part which they may have taken in antecedent troubles. În case the Turkish authority should be exercised in a manner offensive to humanity, each of the allied Powers, without however entering into a special and formal engage

1 Prot. No. 26; Annexe B.

ment to that effect, would deem it its duty to interpose its influence with the Porte, in order to assure to the inhabitants of the above mentioned islands, protection against arbitrary and oppressive acts1.

These views were communicated to the Porte in a note Note of the Powers to signed on 8th April, 1830, by the representatives of the three the Porte. Powers at Constantinople, to the following effect :

The allied Courts feel themselves bound to secure the inhabitants of Candia and Samos against any molestation whatever, on account of the part which they have taken in the late disturbances. This security the allied Courts claim for them from the Sublime Porte, requiring that it shall be founded on specific regulations, which either recognising their ancient privileges, or granting to them such others as experience shall have proved to be necessary, will afford to the people of those islands an efficient protection against arbitrary or oppressive acts. The three Cabinets trust that the Sublime Porte, in its enlightened wisdom, will itself be convinced that, considering the relations of near neighbourhood and religion which connect the subjects of the new State, a mild and equitable administration will be the surest means of establishing its dominion upon a firm basis 2.

The subsequent fortunes of the two islands have been somewhat dissimilar.

SAMOS.

Porte to

The Samians, having, on the advice of the three Powers, Note of the submitted to the Sultan, the Porte, on 10th December, 1832, the Powers. addressed to the representatives of those Powers a note setting out the terms of the constitution which it was proposed to grant to the island3. In February, 1833, Stephen Vogorides was sent to Samos as prince under the new constitution; but the insurrection broke out again in the following May, in spite of the exhortations of commissioners sent by the three

1 Prot. No. 26.

2 Prot. No. 29; Annexe B. The Porte accepted generally the terms contained in this letter, in a note of 24th April, 1830, q. v. Prot. No. 29, Annexe C. Cf. Prot. No. 37.

3 Infra, Texts, No. I.

The

Organic
Law.

Powers to advise submission, and was suppressed only by the appearance of the Turkish fleet off Vathy. In December, 1834, the Porte issued a Firman in accordance with the terms of the note of 10th December, 18321, and the three Powers announced that, should it not be accepted within three months, their mediation would be withdrawn, Samos would lose its right to a separate flag, and its inhabitants would be exposed to 'the disastrous consequences of a rash resistance to the commands of the Grand Signor 2.'

Disturbances again occurred in the autumn of 1835, but resistance soon ceased, and the island has since lived under the constitution which had been secured to it by the intervention of the Powers.

Crete under

Mehemet

Ali.

CRETE.

At the time when it was decided by the Powers that Crete should remain a part of the Ottoman Empire, the insurrection was still in progress, and its suppression was by no means an easy task. The Sultan was therefore not sorry to hand over the business to Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, who was accordingly invested with the governorship of the island, partly by way of reward for his services in the matter of Greece, partly in consideration of a present to his suzerain of 20,000,000 Turkish piastres. In October, 1830, an Egyptian army landed in Crete, and by the spring of the following year had reduced it to subjection. It has since remained a discontented Turkish province, breaking out into revolt in 1833, in 1840, after the forced resignation of Mehemet Ali, in 1859, and notably in 1866-8. On the last mentioned occasion the

1

q. v. infra, Texts, No. II. A Regulation was issued at the same time with reference to the Samian flag.

2 Recueil des traités de la Porte Ottomane depuis 1536 jusqu'à nos jours, ii. p. 399. The privileges of a Christian governor and of a separate flag had been granted in 1830. Cf. Rosen, Geschichte der Türkei, p. 129; Herzberg, Geschichte Griechenlands, iv. p. 664.

Law of

Great Powers took some steps towards mediating between the Porte and its dependency, and though they eventually declined any further responsibility in the matter1, it was through The Organic their influence that the Sultan was induced, in the course of the autumn of 1867 and the spring of 1868, to grant to the island, 1868. by way of constitution, an Organic Law, which in its completed form was read to the General Assembly on 15th February of the latter year2.

The Cretans remained dissatisfied, and stated their grievances to the Conferences held at Paris in 18693, and at Constantinople in 18764.

of Berlin.

By Article 23 of the Treaty of Berlin, 'The Porte under- The Treaty takes scrupulously to apply in the Island of Crete the Organic Law of 1868, with such modifications as may be considered equitable 5.'

modifica

A Firman embodying certain modifications of the Law was The accordingly drafted, after conferences between the Sultan's tions of Commissioners and the Cretan Assembly, and was taken out 1878. to Crete by the new governor-general, Carathéodory Pasha, towards the end of November 18786. On the 14th of that month it had been laid on the table of the Commission for framing a constitution for Eastern Roumelia; a step which was, however, thought by the representatives of the Powers not to be required by the Treaty7.

1 Parl. Papers, 1867, Crete. In January 1868 the representatives at Athens of Great Britain, France, Austria, and the Porte, successfully protested against the admission of Candiote deputies to the Greek chamber.

2 Parl. Papers, 1868, Crete, pp. 66, 97; Législation Ottomane, ii. 169 (infra, Texts, No. III).

3 Parl. Papers, 1869; N. R. G. xviii. 80.

Parl. Papers, 1877, Turkey, No. 2, p. 203.

5 Infra, chapter VI.

Parl. Papers, 1879, Turkey, No. 3 (Texts, No. IV).

7 Ibid.

1882. 10th Dec.

Administrative Council.

Prince.

his powers.

TEXTS.

No. I1.

Note of the Sublime Porte to the representatives of France, Great Britain, and Russia, with reference to the organisation of a local administration for the government of the island of Samos, 10 Dec. 1832. La Sublime Porte accorde aux habitants de l'île de Samos, qui fait partie des États héréditaires de S. M. le Sultan Mahmoud Khan, à condition qu'ils soient dorénavant sujets fidèles de l'Empire Ottoman, les concessions suivantes :

1. S. M. accorde aux Samiens amnistie pleine et entière. Aucun d'eux ne sera recherché pour sa conduite passée, et leurs personnes ainsi que leurs biens sont assurés.

2. L'autorité intérieure de l'île résidera dans un Conseil composé de membres choisis, suivant l'usage, parmi les notables du pays. Ce Conseil aura l'administration générale de l'île; il réglera les diverses branches de cette administration, et décidera librement les questions relatives à l'exercice du culte, au commerce et à la réparation des églises.

3. La présidence du Conseil appartiendra au chef nommé par la Sublime Porte avec le titre de prince de Samos, qui sera de la religion des Samiens, et qui pourra nommer un substitut professant la même religion que lui. Mais, lorsque ce chef sera dans le cas de se rendre en personne à Samos, il lui sera adjoint, pour l'y accompagner, un efendi choisi parmi les employés civils, afin de constater la manière d'être des habitants et l'état du pays, et d'en faire un rapport à la Sublime Porte.

4. Le chef de l'île délivrera aux bâtiments et aux bateaux Samiens les expéditions dont ils auront besoin pour naviguer, et les revenus qui en résulteront seront considérés comme

1 Législation Ottomane, par Aristarchi Bey, ii. p. 145; Baron de Testa, Recueil des traités de la Porte Ottomane, depuis 1536 jusqu'à nos jours, ii. p. 399.