LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
CYPRUS.
[To TER EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR :1 SIR,—Persistent rumours to the effect that Cyprus is about to be definitely made over by Turkey to Great Britain seem to indicate at least that a strong party of influential persons is in favour of such a move on the international board. The occasion certainly is favourable. It will be remembered by those interested in the island—although perhaps not by many others—that by the Convention of June 1878, made "with the object of securing for the future the territories in Asia of H.I.M. the Sultan," that potentate " consented to assign Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England," with a proviso that if Russia should restore to Turkey Kars and the other conquests made by her in Armenia during the last war Cyprus should be evacuated by England, and the Convention should be at an end. In the meantime a large sum, eventually fixed at £92,800, besides certain contri- butions in kind, was to be paid annually by Great Britain to the Porte as compensation for the loss of revenue alleged to have been previously derived from the island. Thus for thirty-five years past Great Britain has, in point of fact, rented the property under a conditional lease which was in many respects unsatisfactory and objectionable. No one in his senses can suppose that Russia will ever restore to the Porte Kars and the Armenian conquests. Yet, as long as the proviso in the treaty remains maabrogated, the title to land in the island cannot be regarded as one which a lawyer would call unimpeachably good. Those private capitalists who, in ordinary circumstances, might very well be willing to advance money for the development of its undoubtedly great natural resources have been largely deterred from doing so. The native inhabitants, and especially the Greek-speaking majority of them, have not even yet come to regard the British occupa- tion as definitive, and lose few opportunities of flaunting in the eyes of the officials and the public their aspirations to be annexed to another kingdom. Moreover, the condition as to retrocession to Turkey affords to the Colonial Office an ever- ready excuse for refusing to grant sums which are urgently needed for public works, on the ground that by doing so it would be effecting permanent improvements, of which an alien Power might reap the benefit. And of this pretext it must be admitted that the officials have made full use.
Accordingly, although there has been a marked recovery throughout the island from the effects of long Turkish misrule, and the condition of the inhabitants has been improved almost beyond recognition, the progress towards real prosperity has been lamentably slow compared with what it would have been had the Convention not contained the unfortunate condition making our tenure dependent upon the ostensibly uncertain future action of Russia. The money indispensably required for development purposes—much of which would long ago have been yielding a handsome return on the outlay—has been dispensed with a niggardly hand. The public roads almost all over the island are still in a deplorable condition. The work of reafforestation, by which huge tracts of now barren country might have been clothed with verdure, and the climate made less dry in the long, trying summer, has been pushed on in a languid and inefficient way for want of funds. Communications by sea with Egypt and with England—to say nothing of the near shores of Syria and Asia Minor—are still defective and uncertain. If a really progressive and patriotic policy had been adopted, a harbour or harbours might have been constructed which would have made Cyprus a far from unimportant base of naval operations in a part of the Mediterranean where it has long been, and now more than ever is, most desirable that we should possess one.
The present moment, when rearrangements are about to be made as to the ownership of the ./Egean Islands, and the situation of Turkey, territorially regarded, is to be defined afresh by international consent, seems as propitious as could well be imagined for settling in a more sensible and intelligible manner the whole question of title and occupancy. At the time when the stipulation as to Bars and Cyprus was embodied in the Anglo-Turkish Convention our relations with Russia were altogether different from those which happily now subsist., and the same thing may be said of our connexion with Egypt. Under present conditions there could be no difficulty in coming to a mutual understanding with the Tsar's Government as to the future of these two places. It is inconceivable that Turkey should refuse to assent to a commutation of the tribute for a sum of ready money ; and no other Power could raise objections to the revision of a treaty which concerns only these three nations. If the 2Egean Islands are to be annexed by a Power or Powers aspiring to maritime importance it is, of course, doubly necessary that we should strengthen our hold upon Cyprus, where our troops have so long been established, to the great benefit of their health, and where the benefits of British administration are now at last beginning to be evident. Only within the last two or three years have the revenues of the island become sufficient to cover the expenses and the indemnity. The last returns, however, show that they are increasing fast. The details of a new arrangement could be settled easily when once its bases are agreed upon. And as soon as the small existing blot on our title had been removed, capital would be free to flow from Great Britain and elsewhere into the island, where there is plenty of scope for it, and where its employment might very soon make Cyprus, economically as well as politically, one of our most valuable small colonies.—I am, Sir, &c., V.
[We hold that Turkey might now well be asked to give up her abstract rights over Cyprus. Our next step would be to refer to the inhabitants the question, " Will you remain in the British Empire, or will you join the Greek kingdom?" If the answer was for Greece we should hand the island over to the Hellenic kingdom. If the answer was for the British Empire we would at once take steps to develop Cyprus by the use of British capital. We agree that the present state of stalemate; is unjust to the islanders.—En. Spectator.]
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