THE FUTURE OF CYPRUS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sta,—Although the collective opinion of the Cyprus Deputation. which includes the Archbishop of Cyprus and the Greek members of the Legislative Council, deserves all respect, I may perhaps be pardoned for suggesting that denial is not evidence. The long and somewhat vague letter which they addressed to you in answer to my article leaves unshaken the views I ventured therein to express. They are the result of studies made in 1914 into the economic and political situation during the seven months I spent in the island, and until Greek propagandists can persuade us that Cypriot peasants are so strongly attached to union with Greece that they are prepared to purchase it not only by submitting to a greatly increased taxation, but by the obligation to military service and the sacrifice of the obvious advantages which they now enjoy under British rule, these views will remain justified and well founded. To assume that the motives of the politicians in agitating for spce are purely patriotic must appear absurd to all acquainted with the facts. Meanwhile, since my article was published, the Turkish Cypriots have written to the Times protesting against cession to Greece. It is the view of the Deputation. that the Moslems " prefer for sentimental reasons the present administration." and that the support which Moslem-elected Members have given to the Government is due to their " docile submission." Is anyone living outside the influence of Greek Chauvinism capable of believing this?
Whilst we all wish to honour Greece, we need not treat her as the " spoilt child" of the Near East, nor forget that she "has not yet," as the Deputation touchingly admit, " com- pleted a century of free life." Greece has still to learn the elements of an impartial administration, and she will be wise if she defer to add to the Mohammedan population under her rule until her powers and experience are more equal to the task she is so eager to undertake.
The slip of the pen which made me write " Larnaca " for "Limasol" as the scene of Coeur de Lion's marriage, however regrettable, does not affect the general accuracy of my history, nor am I tempted, as Cyprus propagandists too often are, to Ind therein what they are looking for rather than the facts as
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