New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-06-16

overv d,v more and more severe and oyerwhelm
,ng ard involve IN the same ruin people and
government.
Every province Is governed by Pacha, who
is IN general an enemy to the ruling power, since
the charge OF governing province is considered
bv all = sort of mitigated exile. Each Pacha
ba. under his control a certain number Of H'dr'
or Governors of Districts, who are either country
gentlemen. little different from the lowest peas
ant. ordisgraced courefs, fallen with their patron
the Pacha. Under each Midir you find nu-
merou, lot of Mostar,, or Chiefs Of Villages,
who are mere working men, and whose
chief care is the collection Of the taxes But
the Hortar does not conhne himself to raising
from the villagers the taxes that he transmits to
the Nidir, and the Midir to the Pacha. There Is
every wear sort Of public auction for the distr-
button Of the MogtarGt'. A man OF Grand Run,
let US suppose, offers 70 the Mldir to give siI
thousand piastres for the taxes, while his pre-
decessor only gave four thousand five hundred. OF
course the offer is accepted. As soon as he
ha. got his charge, he begins by eIactlng from
the people the tenth part Of all their goods,
or rather what he reckons to be such.
If his demand is exorbitant, what can the
poor peasant DO Nothing but complain 10 She
Hidir. or to the Pacha. The Mogtar answers
that he has to pay one-third more than has pre-
decessor, and that he must in consequence he
more strict in his exactions Who can say
whether he really gets more or less than he
gives There is no public register, no regular
administration and no supervision Everything
goes on in the patriarchal way, but without the
patriarchal virtues. There Is not man, peasant
or bey in ASIA Minor who is not in debt to the
Government for more than he possesses, How
can he hope ever to get out of trouble
Such system would not endure a fortnight,
were it not for the bankers of the Government,
or what is called the Company, who gre the uni
versaI money lenders At Constantinople there
are two Banks, one for European and one for
A.iatic Turkey These Banks have their agents
in every town and village Of the Provinces.
These agents are called the correspondents OF
the Company, or even the Company itself. 1t Is
their Office TO receive the taxes from the different
chiefs Of the Province, and forward the proceeds
to the head Of the Company at Constantnope.-
These bankers who have always ready money to
dispose of lend it to every owner OF land or 1--we
stock at the frightfu rate OF three per cent. per
month, or thirty-six per dnntm. When man
cannot pay his taxes, he goes to the banker and
asks him to lend him money or to answer for him,
and the one or the other favor is granted at the
same Jewish price. Can a poor man who has
once fallen into the hands Of these Shylocks,
ever hope to redeem himself Certainly not
Nobody is really possessor Of what he calls his
property, and the day never fails to come when
he is obliged to SELL and to sell for nothing, what
his father left him, and what he hoped to leave
to his children
know many sons Of those great feudal chiefs
who fought their last battle against llahmoud
and were conquered | see them turn pale and
their lips culver when they meet one OF these
terrible bankers; see them selling parcel after
parcel Of the beautiful but now deserted land
which their fathers proudly cultivated, and re-
thing further and further into the sterile noun
tains, far from the towns and villages IN the do
main Of poverty and solitude, where they can
live in rags, and eat their dry morsel Of broken
bread, without confusion or bushes
1t is a melancholy sight that OF these fields
deserted for want of hands, of money, and OF
energy the names of towns attached to barren
rocks, heaps OF stones betraying alone the former
existence Of inhabited places Mussulmans bend
ing under the weight Of the inaction which has
succeeded their conquests and Christians still
bearing in their looks and IN their manners the
sad expression Of a great people fallen and dis
per,ed, suffering an unmerited humiliation, under
an unworthy and inferior tyrant.
To live in these countries, and be gay, is tie
most impossible Of all things What can we
fecl--we, born so far of, come hlther from 80
far, who have lost our country and left her to
become, perhaps, what Asia Minor has become
under foreign rule Everything, and every
body here is fallen from proud elevation TO an
ablect level, and those we love, and the country
that was ours, are fallen likewise
CHRISTINE TRWuLzIo III BELGioI0s5.
THE FINE ARTS.