The Express.
London, England, 1858-04-29 00:00:00

TURKEY.

mow ova erecter. coaaserownssrea
CONSTANTINOPLE, Aram 17.
Scone months ago you published the details of an
Mwreme In the pay of the inferior regimental others
of the Turkish army ; within the past few days, the
sawn,, waich was not more generous than jest,
les hew extended to all the lower make of the ser-
vice. This act of tardy justice to the rank and Sle
of the army, which originated with the Sultan him-
se% had been in contemplation for some time past,
bat was delayed being carried into effect through
the adverse influence of • minority in the connal.
The opposition, however, of these extravagantly paid
eociotesists having been at length silenced, the im-
perial decree announcing the new scale of pay was,
on Saturday hurt, publicly read at a grand military
ceremony in the great square of the Saraikeriat.
The display was such as one area only on maxims
of this kind; and, the day itself being favourable,
a vast crowd of official and other spectators
was attracted to witness the ceremonial. Early
in the forenoon the various barracks of the capital
despatched the entire strength of their garrison,—
dtcds of the day excepted—to the spot, and, so-
o:
li% by mid-&y more than 12,000 men of all
arms were drawn up in the vast court of the Turkish
Horse Geards. Besides the whole of the officers,
staff and regimental, of this large force, a crowd of
sanitary pechas, es disposibilite and otherwise,
added to the brilliancy of the gathering, and in the
forefront of these last was my old acquaintance Zarif
Moustapha, the runaway at Kurukdere, and the
enemy of poor Guyon. Strong in the favour of
Alas, the ruY:er, this prince of cowards is now
President of the Council at the Ministry of War.
About one o'clock, the beat of drums announced
the approach of the Sultan, who was received at
one of the gates by the whole body of Ministers,
with the Grand Vizier and the Sheik-ul-lalam at
their head. His Majesty dismounted amid salvos of
artillery at the door of the little kiosk reserved for
his use on such occasions; and the imperial finnan,
decreeing the augmentation, was then read aloud by
the Under-Secretary at War, standing before the
window at which the Sultan sat. Loud cheers of
Padiskimuzbili-imshm (" May our lord live • thou-
sand years from the whole masa of troops greeted
the end of the reading; and, after the offering up of
mow by a mollah, to the several periods of which
do sway throat present responded with a loud and
=bieerie ! the squares broke into line, and,
b 1 palm at the head of the several arms,
ansumeadialling past the Sultan's window. This
latter operation occupied a long three-quarters of an
hour, at the end of which his Majesty received all
the general officers present at the ceremony, and
then returned to Seraglio Point, where he embarked
tor the palace.
Though I have more than once incidentally re-
ferred to the gross disproportion between the pay of
the upper and lower class of Turkish officials, both
civil and military, and have spoken of its resultant
abuses, I purpose, in an early letter, to give your
readers some detailed information on this head,
which will, I fancy, go far to account for mach at
the rottenness that pervades every nook and cranny
of the administration of this country. I shall be
able, however, to point to no one department of the
public service which mon strikingly exemplifies this
than the army, and • mere statement of the relative
scale of pay in force for that will be sufficient to ex-
plain mach of the often.reported demerit of the in-
imior regimental officers. Not, indeed, that high
pay is found to infuse courage or skill into its reci-
pients ; for, after a certain grade, these qualities
become visible in an inverse ratio to the rank and
pay enjoyed, till amongst the muchirs all trams of
both are lost to view. But in the lower ranks the
rate of pay has hitherto been utterly inadequate to
the maintenance of any properly distinguishing
state between the subaltern and non-comni,' Massa
officers, or even between the former and theca:mon
soldiers.

4k - - -
vritk Ann .•

In the general absence of private means, the re-
sult has been an entire and absolute want of the
proper pride of station and esprit de corps wherein
Les so much of the superiority of officers of similar
nominal grade in the other armies of Europe. But
a bare recital of the pay of the various ranks will
be worth a column ofd us
Up till last
Saturday • private's pay was 20 piastres (about 35.)
a month ; a corporal's, 30p. ; a sergeant's, 40p. ; •
sergeant-major's, 60p. ; a sub-lieutenant's, 230 p. • a
lieutenant's, 300 p. ; a captain's, 400 p. ; • major's,
1,600 p. ; • lieutenant-colunet's, 2,000 p. • a colonel's,
3,000 p. ; a liver's (general of brigade), 10,000 p. • a
ferik's (general of division), 23,000 p.• and a mucliir's
(full general), 70,000 p. Besides this pay in ask ea
equally divroportionate number of rations is allowed
to the different grades—ranging from 2 to • captain
to 64 for • muchir—which may either be had in
kind, or their value be received in money, as is
usually done. In this scale, which suggests
its own comment, last Saturday's firman effected
a change up only to the rank of serjeant-
major ; the additions being 10p. to the private, 10 to
the corporal, 20 to the sergeant, and 30 to the ser-
geant-major; raising the pay of the first to 30, of the
second to 40, of the third to 60, and of the last to 80
piastres a mouth.
As I have said, the justice of this act of the
Sultan's is quite equal to its generosity, and if it be
attended by anything like proportionate improve-
ment in the punctuality of payment, even the small
increase mentioned will a& greatly to the comfort
of the troops—than whom, per se, no better soldiers
exist in Europe. But onewould be more disposed
to beland his Majesty if he had conferred this aug-
mentation in the pay of the rank and file at the ex-
pense of the preposterous emoluments of the general
officers. Had these last been reduced one-half, the
dignitaries in question would even then be paid far
aline the rate common in European armies, and
the already bankrupt Treasury would have been
saved a new charge , which it is ill prepared to
meet. Indeed, similar surgery might be employed
upon the salaries of every high functionary, civil as
well as military, in the service of the state, with all
the benefit in the world to the individuals so cut
down. But where all who have the power to pre-
vent such wholesome treatment would themselves be
the subjects of the operation there is small chance
of its being performed, as long as cash can be either
for, plundered, or borrowed.
Ilamssen began three days ago, and while it lasts
you need expect to bear of but little political activity
at the Porte. The ordinance naming Feed Pasha
Turkish delegate to the approaching riession of the
Paris Conference was published on Wednesday
and he is expected to start for France in the course
of next week, or early in the one following at latest.
Next to Aali, who represented this country with so
much dignity and ability at the former meetings of
the conference, Foul is the best man now in office
for the mission assigned him; but he, nevertheless,
sadly lacks the knowledge essential for a creditable
dupery at the coming diplomatic tourney. He has
very considerable natural ability, but little or no
accurate political information.
News from Persia to the 16th ult. briar intelli-
gence of new difficulties between the Shah. govern-
ment and our own minister, arising out of the
former's recurrence to meaning which amount to a
direct breach of the late treaty. In violation of the
provisions of this last the Persian troops had re-oc-
cupied a portion of the Heratee territory on the way
to Candatin • and the Prinoe-Commaudant of the
army of KhOrassan continued, moreover, to hold in
bondage some thousands of Affghans and Heratee
Jews, made prisoners during his recent occupation
of Herat. Besides these grounds of protest Mr.
Money had ascertained that the Persian party in
Herat still continued to maintain the Friday's
prayer and the coinage of the money in the Shah's
name, though both these tokens of sovereignty wens
apecially renounced by the Persian government at
the peace. In viewof these several causes of complaint
Mr. Merray was again at loggerheads with the
Bade Aram sod the King, when the eourier left for
re Tbisond. It is not likely that the Pennine will
venture to stick to the breaches of faith I have enu-
merated ; but their conduct in these matters shows
the difficulty of the pert oar minister has to play at
Teheran.

There is news from Bemis to the 2nd of this
month, but nothing of importunes is reported sine*
the dates to which my lut summag of events there
came down. The armed of the Turkish squadron,