CONTEMPORARY LIFE AND THOUGHT IN

TURKEY.

CONSTANTINOPLE, January 12th, 1880.

F thought or talk could save the Turkish Empire from impending ruin we might regard the past four months as a pledge of future prosperity. There has probably never been a time in the history of the Empire when the whole population has thought so much, or talked so much, of political affairs as during these months. Neither the deposition of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz, nor the proclamation of Mithad Pacha's Constitution, excited such general interest as the sudden and unexpected intervention of England in October last. Never have financial questions been so eagerly discussed as since the Sultan's palace went a day without meat, and the Courban Beiram was postponed a day because there was not a para in the Treasury to distribute among the officers of Government. At the same time, we have had our usual allowance of assassinations, rebellions, Ministerial changes, religious controversies, diplomatic quarrels, and other perennial infelicities, such as generally occupy the attention of the people to the exclusion of more serious and important subjects. In one respect there has been real progress, however. Formerly, all political discussion was confined to dark corners of the coffee-shops, and, going still further back to the days of Sultan Mahmoud, such discussion was forbidden, and, on one occasion at least, an Imperial Hatt was issued forbidding discussion altogether, even in regard to the weather. The multiplication of newspapers at Constantinople, especially in the native languages, has changed all this, and the Turk is now as anxious to get his morning paper as he is to smoke his first pipe. Newsboys come up the Bosphorus, distribute their papers at the houses, and meet the early steamers. During the past few months the censor has apparently been asleep, and the press has been allowed the utmost freedom. The organ of the Porte has been allowed to contradict and abuse the organ of the Palace, and, while both these

have made violent attacks upon England, the English organ has been permitted to abuse the Palace and the Porte in such language as has never before been read in Constantinople. This licence has, no doubt, resulted from the weakness of the Government, and the lack of harmony in the Ministry; but it has had at least one advantage. It has made the people familiar with the corruption of the Government, and the determination of Europe to support this corruption no longer.

The Intervention of England.

In September last Sir Henry Layard made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and visted Beirut and Damascus. When he left Constantinople his relations with the Palace were as friendly and intimate as possible, and, if we can depend upon the reports received from Syria, his speeches there were loaded down with praise of the Sultan and his Government. A correspondent writes:

"Mr. Layard has spoken many times. He has informed us that England itself is a Mohammedan Power, and consequently the most devoted and disinterested friend of Turkey; that the Sultan is more devoted to the happiness of his people than any other sovereign; that the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire is the most perfect of Constitutions; that the Ottoman Parliament was superior to many European Parliaments, especially to that of Spain," &c.

When he returned to Constantinople he found Mahmoud Neddim Pacha in office again as Minister of Interior; but he seemed to have no difficulty in reconciling himself to this, for he called upon him and established friendly relations with him. There was no reason why he should not. He might have rebelled months before at the appointment of a man as Minister of Police whom the English Government had invited the Sultan to hang; but after having accepted Hafiz Pacha there was certainly no reason why he should object to Mahmoud Neddim, whose great crime was that he stopped paying the interest on the Turkish debt when there was no money in the Treasury. He seemed to take the common-sense view of the case, and the public commended him for it. No one suspected that a storm was gathering beyond the horizon which was soon to fill the air with its thunders. When it came, on the 1st of November, the Turks were thoroughly frightened. They were filled with consternation, and on the next day it was generally believed that Sir Henry Layard had spoken to the Sultan in such a way as to cause him to faint, and had then left the palace, that the Sultan had sent a chamberlain after him begging him to return, and that he had refused. It was said that the British fleet was on its way to Constantinople, and that the English Government was prepared to take possession of Asia Minor. The Embassies were anxiously inquiring of each other what this could mean, and one current explanation was that a secret treaty of alliance between Turkey and Russia had just been discovered by a secret agent of the British Government. The wiser ones shook their heads, looked unutterable things, and said nothing. The excitement was almost as great as when the Russians crossed the Balkans.

But the Turks never act hastily. The policy of doing nothing and waiting for something to turn up has, for many years, been the one refuge from all diplomatic difficulties. The Ministers held long sessions at the Palace, they telegraphed to Mussurus Pacha, they asked advice in all directions; but they did nothing. For several days the officials went about the streets like mourners, and the Christians could scarcely conceal their joy. Englishmen stopped to congratulate each other in the streets, and even the most radical Liberals had a kind word to say for Beaconsfield.

But before a week had passed it was noticed that the Turks were smiling again, and the Turkish papers came out every day with violent attacks upon England. The Turkish Ministers confidentially informed their friends that everything had been explained, that the threatening attitude of England was simply designed to throw dust in the eyes of the English people and influence the coming election, and that Turkey had nothing to fear. In public it was said that the firm attitude of the Sultan, his determination to maintain his independence, and his threat of an alliance with Russia, bad alarmed the English Government and led to ample apologies. Every effort was made to stir up the enmity of the people against England. Heretofore the unofficial Turk has been inclined to look upon England with very friendly eyes as the Power which was more Mohammedan in its sympathies than any other, and most travellers in the East are familiar with the ludicrous pantomime by which the unlearned Turk is accustomed to express the brotherhood of Turks and Englishmen. But the official Turk has always hated England, has always detested the English Ambassador, and has always held to the theory expressed by Mithad Pacha, that England would be forced to defend Turkey by her own selfish interests, however much the Turks might despise her advice. They have improved the present opportunity to bring the common people into sympathy with their views. The following is a specimen of the opinions of the Turkish press from a paper which claims to be the special advocate of reform, the Terjumani Hakikat. The article is entitled "The End of the English Demonstration":

"We are surprised at the countermand by the English Government of the departure of the fleet from Malta being attributed to new assurances given to that Government as to the immediate execution of reforms in Turkey. What need was there for the Ottoman Government to give fresh assurances on this subject, when everybody can see that the reforms are in full course of execution? Our opinion is that the English Government has taken up an armed diplomatic attitude, but they found they had made a mistake when they witnessed the acts of the Ottoman Government, and observed the cold demeanour of Europe. Yes! the acts of our Government tended to show them their error. For they had expected that the threat of sending the fleet would have so struck us with terror as to lead us to comply with England's caprices. But quite the contrary; they received the following reply, worthy of our Sovereign: 'I will suffer no infringement of the maritime rights of the Ottoman Empire. I will at once take the necessary measures to protect my sovereign rights!' England saw that it was time to retreat!"

In another article, commenting on the speeches of Lord Salisbury and other Ministers, it says:

"Is it possible for an Osmanli to read such statements without a burst of laughter? Were not the English Conservatives in power at the time when Russia was seeking a pretext for the last war? Were not the Russian pretensions passed through the crucible of the Conference? Why were the eyes of these statesmen not opened until Turkey was revived? The world laughs now with a tragic laugh at the sentiments which they express. After giving up the line of defence of the Danube and the Balkans, after the loss of Kars, Ardahan, and Batoum, for England to come now and ensconce herself at Cyprus by way of being a protection to us is an act so little heroic that one is surprised to hear them expatiate upon it. If shame is to rest anywhere, let it rest on those who allowed themselves to be hoodwinked by Russian intrigues and are now groping about to repair the faults they then committed. Turkey will ponder a long time before she again sends 600,000 of her sons to fight for the interests of Europe."

Before another week had passed the Turks discovered that they had made a mistake. There were more telegraphic orders from Lord Salisbury, the fleet was again ordered to be ready to start, and there was another interview with the Sultan. The Turkish Ministers then saw that even if this demonstration was intended for political purposes in England, it was necessary for the British Ministry to secure an apparent triumph at Constantinople or they would be in a worse position than before. To draw back after having presented an ultimatum was an impossibility. Having once seen the dilemma of the English Ministry, the Turks began at once to calculate how little would serve to humbug the British public, and thus satisfy the demands of the Beaconsfield Ministry. The correspondent of the Times has well described the resources of the Turkish Government under such circumstances:

"The Turks have three methods of dealing with diplomatic pressure in favour of reform. The first is to defy openly the Power which applies the pressure and to lean on some other Power for support. The second is to promise what is asked and do nothing in the way of fulfilment. The third is to make a show of granting what is demanded and then nullify indirectly what has been done. When the Sultan heard that the fleet was coming to Turkish waters he was evidently inclined to try the first method, and adopted a defiant attitude; but, finding that Russia was not disposed to do anything likely to raise serious complications, he changed his tactics, and is now waiting to see which of the two remaining methods can be employed with most advantage."

Since this letter was written, November 22, the Sultan has evidently fixed upon the third plan as the one best adapted to the circumstances. He has issued a Hatt declaring his intention to introduce fundamental reforms. It is not so liberal in its promises as the Hatt-i-houmayoum, or as the Hatt issued by Mahmoud Neddim Pacha at the time of the Andrassy Note, but it embodies many of the same provisions. In many respects it is a repetition of one issued last summer. It declares that the finances of the country will be placed upon a firm basis; that certain experiments will be tried in regard to new methods of taxation; that the forests and mines will be properly worked; that harbours

will be made, canals dug, marshes drained, roads built, bridges constructed; that native industry and public wealth will be developed in every way possible; that the police will be reorganized; that a certain number of foreigners will be employed as instructors of the police; that a Council will be formed to consider changes in the laws and in the vacoufs; also in regard to schools; that the Minister of War will see what can be done in regard to admitting Christians to the military schools.

This last provision of the Hatt, which has appeared in every scheme of reform since the Crimean War, is the only one which relates in any way to the emancipation of the Christians. So that even if we were credulous enough to suppose that the Sultan could execute this decree, we could not hope that it would satisfy the Christian subjects of the Porte. It would not modify the essentially Mohammedan character of the Government, or make it less a religious despotism than it is now. What is more, the execution of all these reforms would do nothing to limit the arbitrary power of the Sultan, which is the great weakness of the Government, and which was asserted in stronger terms than ever before in the report of the Ulema which resulted in the dismissal of Khaireddin Pacha. The only possible way of limiting the power of the Sultan is to force him to re-establish Mithad Pacha's Parliament. If Lord Beaconsfield had been sufficiently in earnest to send the British fleet to Smyrna to seize the place and hold it as a material guarantee until the Sultan had assembled a Parliament and emancipated his Christian subjects, one of two things would have happened: either the Empire would have collapsed at once, or it would have been reformed. Either of these results would have been a blessing to the people. it is, if this demonstration really had any serious object, except as a political move, it has utterly failed. We have gained nothing by it. The appointment of Colonel Baker as Inspector of Reforms is the only tangible result, and this is only a new illustration of Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. This is the feeling here. The Turks are indignant at the pressure put upon them, but are congratulating themselves upon having escaped from it without doing anything.* Christians are disappointed and less inclined than ever to put any confidence in England. Foreign residents here generally believe that the speedy downfall of the Empire is inevitable, and that this demonstration was in some way connected with a grand scheme for the partition of the Empire, possibly in connection with the new Austro-German alliance, which is here believed to have some reference to the advance of Austria to Salonica and perhaps to Constantinople.

As

The

The Terjumani Hakikat, in enumerating thirty-five great reforms carried out within two months by the present Ministry, mentions as No. 23, "The political progress attained by the rejection of the English proposals, without attaching importance to the remonstrances and to the naval demonstration of England." No. 35 is certainly too important to be omitted. It is "The reorganization of the finances of Turkey, which ensures the future stability and prosperity of the Ottoman Empire." There are many both in and out of Turkey who will rejoice to hear that this is already an accomplished fact !