The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-12 00:00:00

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sumption ; Upper Roumelia, the right bank of the Danube,
the Moldo-Wallachian Principalities, Anatolia, Kurdistanf
Georgia, &c.
As regards the maritime movement, the position of Con-
stantinople, the key of the world, is so marvellous that this
city is at the present time the third commercial port in
Europe—a fact too much ignored. From its importance
it ranks immediately after Liverpool and London, just be-
fore Marseilles.
It is known that the port of Liverpool shows an annual
movement of about 30,000 vessels, measuring 8,000,000 tons,
including the coasting trade.
Well, in 1859, a normal year, in which there was no ex-
traordinary movement of transports, the port of Constanti
nople had an ingress and egress of 27,029 vessels, measur-
ing 5,060,526 tons. This is almost double the movement at
Marseilles in 1858. wlll
The value of such maritime activity in Turkey be
better understood on considering that the total movement
of the navigation in all the French ports does not exceed
8,600,090 tons.

•
111.
FINANCIAL ,ORGA.NISA.TIO.N q} TILE OTTOMAN I:3IPIRE.
If the political and administrative system of the Ottoman
Empire offers a curious physiognomy, its aspect becomes
still more surprising when the condition of this vast em-
pire is examined from a financial point of view, particularly
with respect to taxation.
It 'may be said, on this. head, that far from being an ex-
hausted country, the Ottoman Empire is the least bur-
dened of all states.
In fact the taxatiotivaries from 5 to 21 per cent., and, in
fine, its importance is but from 275,000,000 to 300,000,001
for a population of 30,000,000, or 10 fr. per head. Now, the
taxation in England is 55 fr. per head ; and in Austria,
30 fr., &c.
Moreover, • the Ottoman Empire is exempt from those
enormous debts which encumber other states.
Without wishing to enter here into the detail of the dif-
ferent taxes, it will be sufficient to make known with what
equity and moderation they are imposed. The principal of
these taxes, the verghi, or direct land tax, which forms,
after the tithes and the customs, the most Important part of
thepublic revenue, is apportioned by the principal inhabi:.
tants of the localities without the intervention of the go-
vernment, and according to the position, the means, and
the fortune of each, as well as according to the revenue
from the property.
Agriculturists have the right of discharging the imposts
either in money or kind. They may pay the impost on
cereals according to the number of sheaves, or by weight,
as they prefer.
The tax-payers in this strange country thus possess faci-
lities and immunities for the acquittal of the imposts that
no European government either could or dared grant.
In order to simplify the administration and reduce the
charges of the state, the greater part of tke revenues are
farmed to some of the inhabitants of each district. This
farming privilege is publicly awarded at the Ministry of
Finance on the Ist (13th) of March in each year. Every
farmer is bound to have securities at Constantinople of un-
doubted solvency, and who are responsible for punctuality
of payment.
This payment is thus effected. The farmers regulate
their accounts during their year of office by means of
monthly bills, delivered and signed by their securities at
Constantinople. No instance has ever occurred of one of
these bills having been dishonoured.
Iv.

FINANCIAL CONDITION OP THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
The financial condition of the Ottoman Empire exhibits
the peculiarity of having during a period of four centuries,
that is to say, from 1453 to 1853, presented the phenomenon
of a state which discharged its total expenses with the ordi-
nary receipts without any increase of taxation. And let it
not be imagined that the yield of taxation was irregular.
On the contrary, the law is explicit on this point. It inter-
dicts any augmentation, and grants to all the members of
the Ottoman nationality the right of controlling and super
vising all the expenditure.
It is only from the date of 1854 that the balance between
the receipts and the expenses was disturbed by the extraor-
dinary expenses of the war in the East, and that, as a con-
sequence, the Ottoman Empire was obliged to have recourse
to the system of loans. And yet the sum total of all these
loans is only 325,000,000 f., an amount which indicates
neither prodigality nor disorder on the part of the Turkish
Empire.
Of all the states of Europe the Ottoman Empire is there-
fore the only one that is not loaded with a heavy public debt.
If its credit is not developed, it is because its loans are
of
recent date; because there has been no opportunity of
clearly exhibiting its financial situation; and finally, because
the banking-houses to whom the negotiation of the ILentes
(titres de rente) of this empire was entrusted have not paid
sufficient attention to the reorganisation of its finances.
This reorganisation, now in preparation, is really very easy
for a state which possesses such great resources, and which,
so to speak, has no debts, since altogether they are limited
to a total of 774,000,000 f.
The debt of the Turkish Empire, like that of most other
states, is divided into the exterior and interior debts, into
consolidated and floating debt.
The following is an exact statement of these debts as
obtained from sources which may be termed official :
THE EXTERIOR DEBT. •

The exterior debt, contracted since 1864, to
meet the expenses of the war in the Crimea,
represents, after deducting the redemption Francs.
already effected, a capital of
THE INTERIOR DIM.
1. Essams Djed(lides (consolidated issue)
2. Balance of paper Money (Caimes) in circu-
lation, and which will be withdrawn
3. Galata debts, payable at different periods 127,000,000000
4. Ilazni Tahvili (treasury b011ds) ........ 56,000,
5. Essams Mamtuzees (scrip proceedingfrom
the conversion of stock) ....... • •
6. Serghis (bonds payable by fifths, coma.
mencing from the year 1865)
7. Floating debt, represented by the expenses
110,000,000
of several ministries

56,000,000

15,000,000

86,000,000

Total of the interior debt
The exterior debt reduced by the redemption
310,000,000
effected

The total of all the debts of the Otto-
man Empire thus amounts in capi-
. .
774,000,000
tal to
This sum represents claims, some of which bear no in-
terest, and others produce interest at different rates; so that
in short the annuities necessary for the total payment of the
debt only amount to about forty-fire millions, not including
the sinking fund, or about 16 per cent, of the general
revenues.
To appreciate the insignificance of such a debt for an
empire like that of Turkey, it is sufficient to remember that
the debt of England exceeds twenty milliards, that the
Austrian debt is about 5 milliards, &c., and that the propor-
tion between the amount of the interest to be paid by those
states and their ordinary revenues varies from 30 to 40 per
cent.

BUDGET OP RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES.
The administration of the finances of the Turkish Em-
pire is entrusted to a superior council, under the presidency
of his highness Mehemet Ruschdi Pasha.
The imperial government, desiring to effect great reforms
in its finances, has requested the collective information of
the European Powers. In order to satisfy this desire the
French and Austrian governments have entrusted the mis-
sion of studying and organising the financial administration
of the Turksh Empire to
The Marquis do Plosuc, Inspector of French Finances ;

M. Devaui, id. ; and
M. Lachanbacher, Aulic Councillor of the Austrian Em,

pire.
These distinguished functionaries have been attached to
the Superior Council of Finances sitting at Constantinople ;
and it is with their concurrence that the budgets of receipts
and expenditure of the Turkish Empire are being prepared.
This arduous labour will be concluded shortly. Meanwhile
an approximate estimate can be made of the receipts and
expenses as resulting from the present state of things. ,
Recent publications have already made known 1-11° "Tr
of these budgets, but some errors have
example, they have stated tbo amount of Pt
larePd6:ll:2 ;a:_lo;ls.;m6
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10.
millions, while it really reaches, as alread yse 774
'evidently
lions. But without stopping at these valuations,hcontra contractors
favourable to the Turkish government,
con-
sider a frank exposition due to the publtic,eand they cannot.
do better than here insert an extract from.i a note emanating
from a source that may be termed official .
" The explanations with which I furnish you on the finan-
cial situation and the budgets of Turkey, although not hav-
ing the official exactitude that I should have wished to give
them, are nevertheless sufficiently approximate to afford a
judicious estimate.add in a more positive manner,
that the budgets for. the years 1855 and 1856 are balanced
by an excess of receipts amounting to about six millions
of francs. In 184 the excess reached nearly 25 millions
francs. During 185 S and 1859 the results were different,
but the cause was principally due to financial operations
which did not produce the results that the imperial govern-
ment had reason to expect. For the future, however,
thanirs to the integral withdrawal of the paper money,
and in consequence of the development of public prosperity,
the budget will be balanced by an excess of receipts. Tho
receipts and expenditure of the Turkish empire are approxi-
mately as follows :
" The produce of all the taxes amounts to between
275,000,000 f. and 300,000,000 f.
" The budget of expenditure only amounts to about
258,900,000 f.
" If it is considered that the interest of all the debts only
amounts to 45,000,000 f., or about 16 per cent. of the total


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