117

CHAPTER VII.

CYPRUS UNDER BRITISH RULE.

Can Cyprus be colonized by Englishmen-Openings for EnterprisePurchasing power of money-Political aspects of the acquisitionAlexander the Great's opinion of Cyprus-What obligations are imposed by the Anglo-Turkish Convention-The annual bill, and what there is to pay it with-Important clauses of Treaty and Annex-Probable Cypriot feeling-Antiquities.

THIS

HIS chapter might be called the history of the future of Cyprus, and as we claim no prophetic faculty, it will be a brief one. One thing may be safely predicted: Cyprus is not likely just yet to become a colony for English people. The account given of the climate in an earlier chapter, will have demonstrated its unsuitableness to the lower classes of Europeans, and, as Consul Lang shows in his report in 1871, there is no opening for European labourers, although for farmers there may be. The great difficulty to be encountered by the latter would be in the employment of native labour, without possessing a knowledge of the language of the country.

"The climate," he says, "is not unhealthy, but demands simplicity in diet and temperance in habits. Everywhere, but nowhere more so than in the East, success is conditional upon practical knowledge, economy, and temperance. Capital administered with these qualifications would certainly find a handsome return in agricultural enterprise in Cyprus."

As an example of the purchasing power of money, he states that labour can be obtained at the following rates 1st class, 3s. to 5s. a day; 2nd class, 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d.; 3rd class, 11d. to 1s. 3d. Wheat cost, in 1870, 32s. a quarter, and meat 3d. a pound. In the necessaries of life £15 in Cyprus is equal to £25 in England; in luxuries £20 in England equals £30 in Cyprus.

We read in the newspapers of emigration from Egypt to Cyprus as proceeding upon a large scale, and it is stated that a direct line of steamers will shortly be started between Alexandria and Larnaca. This is a more natural and advantageous mode of colonization.

Into the political aspects of the acquisition it would be out of place here to enter at any length. Probably those people who exaggerate the acquisition of Cyprus into a feat of diplomacy of the first magnitude, and see in it a panacea for all the troubles

that have so long been the lot of Turkey in Asia, are not more incorrect in their notions than those who doubt if the British Empire is capable of paying the price for it.

As to the advantage to England of the island, Professor Eastwick reminds us that Alexander the Great said of his own day and Empire (Arrian, vol. i. p. 99) :—" And Cyprus being in our hands, we shall reign absolute sovereigns at sea, and an easy way will be laid open for making a descent on Egypt."

As to the now famous Treaty, we learn from Berlin, that upon the Cession of Cyprus the weighty remark was made there by a leading personage (the English Premier, probably), "With or without a Convention England would be obliged to fight if the Russians made a further advance into Asia Minor. The alliance with Turkey, therefore, imposes no obligation which would not have been laid on us by the force of circumstances, while it gives us the occupation of a military and naval post essential for our operations in any case, and enables us to prepare for the war, if it is to come, whilst still at peace. Moreover, it gives us the right to remove Russia's best pretext and only cause for war by regenerating the Turkish Government."

As to the already avowed pecuniary and other liabilities undertaken, we learn from Constantinople that "In virtue of the Treaty for the British occupation of Cyprus, England engages to pay to the Porte annually the sum of £150,000 sterling, whereas the present revenue from that island is only £120,000. She also binds herself to defend Turkey in Asia against all future aggression."

The most important clauses of the Anglo-Turkish Convention and Annex are the following:

CONVENTION.

Article I.-If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, or any of them shall be retained by Russia, and if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take possession of any further territories of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in Asia, as fixed by the Definitive Treaty of Peace, England engages to join His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in defending them by force of arms. In return, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan promises to England to introduce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two Powers, into the government, and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects of the Porte in these territories; and in order

to enable England to make necessary provision for executing her engagement, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further consents to assign the Island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England.

ANNEX. It is understood between the two High Contracting Parties that England agrees to the following conditions relating to her occupation and administration of the Island of Cyprus :

I. That a Mussulman religious tribunal (Mehkéméi Shéri) shall continue to exist in the island, which will take exclusive cognizance of religious matters, and of no others, concerning the Mussulman population of the island.

II. That a Mussulman resident in the island shall be named by the Board of Pious Foundations in Turkey (Evkaf) to superintend, in conjunction with a delegate to be appointed by the British authorities, the administration of the property, funds, and lands belonging to mosques, cemeteries, Mussulman schools, and other religious establishments existing in Cyprus.

III. That England will pay to the Porte whatever is the present excess of revenue over expenditure in the island; this excess to be calculated upon and determined by the average of the last five