The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-30 00:00:00

TURKEY.

On the motion for going into committee of supply,
Mr. GREGORY rose to call the attention of the house
to the condition of Turkey and its dependencies; and to
move for papers. Having referred to the importance of the
qruestion, and the inability long to shirk it with propriety
o
he proceeded to say that the fear of Russia had
been safety,t mainspring of our policy in the East. He was not
prepared to say that apprehension had been exaggerated, or
that the old spirit of Russia had died out , but he con-
tended that the Russia of 1863 was different from the
Russia of 1853. The Crimean warThe7du dup
would
its mate:
rial strength and destroyed its prestige, and
hear little more of it, if once it were made known to the
countries in the East that England was not indifferent to
their fate, and that she was anxious to see them emerge
from the prostration of centuries and take their place in
the family of nations. He was at a less to know how
we could justify the continuance of our policy towards
the East, which was not only illogical and inconvenient,
but also inexpedient. In all the other quarters of
the world England supported nationalities; but when it
was attempted to redress a grievance in the East, then
we entrenched ourselves behind the stipulations of the
treaty of Paris, which was in favour of the Turk, although
it was notorious that the lurk had violated, and was
violating, every one of them. All he advocated was that,
when the sick man died—as die ho should before long—
there might be found some free, self-governing community
ready to take his place. At that moment hardly a post
arrived from the East that did not bring amounts of
mutinies, of threatened massacres and insurrections.
l'h"eee were premonitions of far more terrible things to
C.
v. 61
"lid) therefore, what he wanted was, that timely
..recautiota
Aram,. _should be taken to render the break-up of the
reoutto.,.,:rire as innocuous as possible. Similar pre-
where -,:._)"".4oras had been long remarked in Italy.
was nowv"ulelY similar state of thins existed to what
came, let Turkey. . I •
decrepit i2_''!an. raet fAnd when the day of reckoning
„d use:"itutieb be a found fighting on the side of old,
th ‘a7 ge4avt.ti Iher than
at wee in fevotm ea...the
on, On the side of a young
Christian civilieatie"Wometelx try except Austria
the right honourLet. Mee.; hetarbariem rather than of
Emehecom were treadle gentleman tlie believed that if
would be found tekinft 4°.hi.ra theChaaeoltor of the
quite sufficient to ebA; t
hat 614 °t °face, he
gained by escaping t7era—ti," much gaping. It was
say that they were now a ir,em,gre4P oftLT Ttu°,,„.,had
Any honourable member wh`ae}?l tented to
Htstory of Servia would see wl-w.---aemt° readt44ll,'
country under the Turks. It was ha of
bloodshed; the people were depreesedannedofbulaseacreenta
there was no security for life or property. inltalised, and
country was in precisely the same condition a:thaewarid' the
dependencies of the Porte now surrounding Servia, -trie
How-
ever, there were now happiness and contentment *-c'w.
country, and the work of improvement was going on. in the
were more roads than in the whole of Turkey, all of which ,
had been formed since its formation into a separate king_
dom. 'I he clergy, unlike the clergy in the Ottoman empire,
were respected ; the popular Assembly was elected by uni-
versal suffrage, and it exercised a sufficient control over the
public purse, while its deliberations were conducted
one
with
great prudence and moderation. Well, seeing all
would have supposed that the policy of England would be
to promote the advancement of Servia. She adopted, how-
ever, a different policy. Two years ago, when an insurrec-
tion broke out in the Herzegovine, brought about by the
horrible tyranny of Turkey, information was conveyed on
the part of oar Government to the Italian sympathisers of
the movement, that, although they might conduct whatever
operations they choose in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies,
if they attempted to cross over to the other side of the
Adriatic into Turkey, English vessels would meet them
Inif-way. That insurrection was suppressed ; and his hon.
friend the
for Turkey which enabled her to do so. Six

friend would no doubt tell them that these people were
miserable rebels, and that they were unworthy of comae-
ration; but on the other side of the Adriatic, e here the
wrongs of Rely were in the balance, his hon. freer d was the
vociferous asserter of the divine right of it eurrection.
(Ironical cries of "Hear, hear.") The ho 1. 1, ember then
referred to the bombardment of the l'Oev t e Belgrade in
the month of June last by the Turki3 t garrison in
occupation of the citadel, speaking in strong terms of
that
of the conduct of the Turks upon
occasion. In the papers that had been laid be-
fore Parliament there had been an attempt made to
whitewash the Turks, and an endeavour to give a false im-
pression in this country of what they had really done. The
protest of the consuls, headed by Mr. Consul Longworth,
in connection wfth the barbarious outrage of the Turks, had
been withheld. (Hear.) Had the noble earl at the head
of foreign affairs seen that document, or known of its exist-
ence, he never would have written his memorable letter of
expostulation to the Prince of Servia, because if he had the
noble earl must have seen that compensation was offered.
The hon. gentleman next contrasted the course pursued by
Earl Clarendon in despatch-writing when he was Foreign
Minister with that of the noble earl at present at the head of
foreign affairs, and observed that, whilst the style of the
former was not so offensive as that of the noble earl (Rus-
sell), the honour of England did not suffer from it. After
the outrage had been committed on the Servians, and they
had been bombarded within an inch of their lives, diplo-
macy stepped in to try what could be done ; and the hon.
gentleman urged that if the proposition of France had been
accepted, it would have produced an amicable settlement.
He charged the Government with having prepared and con-
cocted the consuls' reports for the purpose of misleading
public opinion in this country. None of the administrative
and financial reforms that were promised in 1861 had been
given, and the state of Turkey was as bad now as then; and
the hon. gentleman quoted at considerable length from the
despatches of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and Sir Henry
Bulwer, and the replies of Earl Russell, in confirmation of
his assertion. The house would remember that in the year
1860, Prince Gortschakoff had issued a diplomatic circular
complaining of the horrible maladministration of the Turkish
empire, and particularly of the cruelties inflicted upon the
Christian population. When that circular had been issued,
it became necessary, of course, for this country to con-
tradict those Russian calumnies and aspersions, and ac-
cordingly Sir Henry Bulwer addressed a circular to all the
English consuls in the Turkish empire, containing certain
queries, for the purpose of ascertaining whether there was
any truth in the circular of Prince Gortschakoff. But Sir
H. Bulwer did not content himself with sending the circu•
lar to the various consuls. On the contrary, he took up
his pen and prepared a document which was nothing more
nor less than a brief for Turkey. In this document it was
set forth that foreign agents were getting up discontent
among the population in order that intelligence of it might
reach the ears of the Governments of Europe ; that conspi-
racies against Turkey were rife among the Russian people ;
and that her Majesty's Government, foreseeing the conse-
quences that might arise from these sinister influences, were
desirous of showing the groundlessness of the charges
against Turkey. He (Mr. Gregory) could imagine the faces
of those unfortunate consuls when Sir H. Bulwer's brief
had reached them. (A laugh.) But he was bound to say
that, with one notable example, the consuls had shown
themselves to be men of trustworthiness and honour.
(Hear,) In their replies they had drawn a picture of mis-
government, insecurity, violence, oppression, misery, and
despair. Throughout their answers it was plain that they
were under the influence of the instructions sent them by
Sir H. Bulwer ; for while they alleged misgovernment, in-
justice, and oppression against the Turkish Government,
i they strove to make out some palliating causes. The hon.
gentleman then read numerous extracts from the different
consuls in the Turkish provinces, and said there was some-
thing extraordinary in the unanimity with which they all
testified to the misgovernment of Turkey, the hatred
which the Mussulman bore to the Christian, and the total
failure of the Porte to carry into effect any of the reforms
which had been promised in the Imperial firman. The
hon. gentleman then proceeded to argue that there was
very little hope of improvement from the effects of edu-
cation, because the Turks would not submit to be edu-
cated ; neither was there much prospect afforded by their
general tendency to progress, which was very tardy. In
fact, there were very few Turks engaged in any extensive
businesses, and the bulk of the large trade of the country
was carried on by foreigners. It was true that the Turks
had got rid of their ancient bays, but they had got instead
a bureaucracy, which was much worse. He could only
convey an idea of the Government of Turkey by supposing
that the Government of Great Britain had selected the
worst of the keepers of night-houses in the Haymarket, and
appointed them governors of our various colonial dependen-
cies. Every kind of vice was practised under their super-
vision, and of so bad a character were some of the vices of
the Turk that, on consideration, he felt he had done an in-
justice to the Haymarket night-house keepers in supposing
they would tolerate such infamous wickedness. The hon.
gentleman concluded by reading a long extract, speaking in
very strong terms of censure upon the whole policy of the
Turkish Government and its officere, and which extract he
stated was taken from a book of which the author signed
himself '. A. 11. L.yard." (114,0ut bear.)
Mr. B. COCHRANE proceeded to censure the report
upon Turkish finance prepared by Lord Hobart and Mr.
Forster, and contended that at the present state of extrava-
gant expenditure on the part of the Turkish Government it
was useless to hope for any improvement. The civil list
was now £9,000,000 a year. The item for the royal kitchen
was £24,000 a month; 36 wives were put down at £70,000
a month; and 1,780 other ladies at £lB,OOO a month. There
was also £7,000 a month charged for a peculiar class of gen-
tlemen who were engaged to attend upon the ladies of the
harem, and LBO,OOO a month for other ladies connected
with the establishment of the seraglio. The Under-Secre-
tary of State laughed at that account of the Sultan's extra-
vagance ; there was, however, one authority which the hon.
gentleman would not dispute, and that was the authority
of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. Well, Lord Stratford de
Redcliffe stated that subsequently to the death of the late
Sultan's mother the discipline of the harem had become so
relaxed that the civil list became indebted to the extent of
£3,000,000 sterling. He admitted that the wealth of the
country was very great, but the powers of extortion of the
pashas were much greater. It had been asserted by the
Under-Secretary on a former occasion that there were only
2,000,000 of Greeks. Now, the fact was there were 3,000,000
of Greeks in European Turkey alone, and if adding to that
number the Greeks in Greece proper, in the lonian
Islands, and elsewhere, the total number of Greeks would
be brought up to 6,000,000. The fact was, Turkey at that
moment had no real existence. It was a country sup-
ported
by the will of three foreign Powers, who were fight-
ing amongst themselves for pie-eminence in her councils.
The pledges entered into by the Turkish Government had
never been fulfilled ; but if they had been it would have
been better for the Turkish empire itself, as well as for the
Christian population. He did not mean to assert that the
Turkish Government ought to be broken up, but simply
that England should demand that the pledges given in
favour of the Christian population should be carried out.
After the language which had been addressed by Earl Rus-
sell to Sir H. Bulwer in August, 1860, the Under-Secretary
of State must not feel surprised that such a demand was
pressed upon the Government. He did not desire to see
Turkey weakened if her affairs were administered upon pro-
per principles, but he did desire to see her Majesty's Go-
vernment abstaining from all interference in her affairs.
He would also impress upon the Greeks the necessity of ab-
staining from a policy of aggrandisement. At the same no
one could foresee what destiny was reserved for the people.
If it was true, as had been prophesied by the hon. member
for Halifax (Mr. Stansteld), that Turkey was infallibly des-
tined to decay, the country would be best fitted to fill her
Place which showed the greatest amount of civilisation and
the greatest development of moral influence. (Hear.)
Mr. G. DUFF then rose to continue the discussion, but
was interrupted by an hon. member suggesting to the
Speaker that there wore not 40 members present (at the mo-
ment there were only 10 in the house). However, after the
usual three minutes' delay, which allowed for an influx of
members from the dining-room, the library, and the different
approaches, the Speaker having gone through the process o
counting, was able to announce that there were 40 members
present, and so the discussion was resumed; but, as all the
hon. members who had come in to help to keep a house im-
mediately left on their object being accomplished, and as
their example was followed by somehh benches
htheaosweawahaotilwl elersespre
sent all through, the aspect of theevioeuacly
to the attempted
en-
couraging to a speaker than
count. p
proceeded
u ire
dto t
o contendw withdraw
tahwa tfrtohme
Turks
e. Duffvery properlythen
Turkey had not fulfilled her p
the Servian fortresses, which wasreagll thaiati de-
manded.thlaetSioenravitanowsardsthe conferences that, as Turkey had worked .
the Servians, and therefore England mighatuohmavuechinrasiis.atcehdiaatf
inbeServirecluira
ebdyttohgeonfourn ifhuelrfitlhniaenntthoef
threaratsitaispeuloamtipoetallse,dshheemr,ianghdt
t"vacuate the fortresses of Servia. It would be said that
byf doing so the prestige of Turkey would be diminished ;hat he
~..1,0 hail
that,
was. not so certain, for he was one of those
lore the
lu.....S,Orwing to the prestidigitation of the noble
at that moZenu! for Tiverton, the prestige of Turkey was
(Hear, hear.) ;Uttar deal higher than it ought to be.
toseilleg that En he Vans were entirely mistaken in sup-
dnonbtenedrawyhblethethre tehabiuueittoltii°flr:Er;
policy of the noble leotaa ty
0_
till,
Cabinet
autbhti
it
tyewt a
s shared certainlyvermuch
n
as the Eastern question
0 settlement of e. Tiverton.
W
to a
greatestgenerati
generation.
political Political lI
thead
Mr. L &YARD saidr til': znetaber for e
could
on get politiei in erP:owbaele::seantwrh.aftuninedco::i:al:failvioY
iziftbowhmawe
II! known
little bitterest -in
tell, with any degree of' eirhfiaPs' n° men lioln
jtahaetlTyuarkxicsihtedemthpeire.
deepest re lir
tThat wee a suentlirte of
neral, although it seemed tog:eel':
that house. (There was not more verY
giving that answer he rae
.
sent.) The statements that had been thanm 15
e braembe" pre.
hers required an answer, and in
sorry to have to say hard things of the ServiawnerGheo was
ment, but not of the Servian people. The hon. mevmeraber,
(Mr. Duff) was in error when ho said that the noble lord at
the head of the Government was an enemy of the Servian
people, and ho could assure him that the noble lord and
every other member of the Cabinet were friends of the Ser-
vian people. Ho wished his hon, friend the member for