The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-09-14

essential value TO men.
----sa-------
Church Property in Turkey.
Tw0thirds of All the cultivated or set
Tied land n European Turkey is either
owned or held iva trust bv the mosques, or
by IohamucIan benevolent r.,iiult ons,
and as uch j. entirely cNcupt from t.Na-
ton. In tli.s respect II stands uu tll" same
plane with church prcpc5y iu the state ol
I Nov iott. ami Indeed, as Wcbcieyciua all
. the State OF the Iuiou
/ i'tor,r,y ~o held hy mosques o. other i'll
~'iut"ua OF the MohImmedm Church Is
/ o'uoulnulcd rdbUl, and it has increased
/ enormously m extent within the last con-
| uiy. 90 shield fhrir estates from the
/ lupncitN of the authorities. many
have sold their land for nominal
sum To- mosque or other pious
iouHdatYu, and thereby occurred lis
snle enjoyment to themselves and their
CniidtDu; for the actual alienation Of The
I property after It hns been once dedicated
a. the mosque does not commence until
after thD death of the Eivef and OF his chill
drou. The piNcr remains in the enjoyment
of the real estate during life, us his chill
drcn 90 Tor one generation after him; and
they can lease or farm it out. 1t cannot
be- lall % for his subsequently contracted
debts, noe can IL be cOnilscutcd o. bur-
dcucd in any way. lie can even sell il,
provided he gives other land Of equal
value ~ its stead.
TINS wide-cNtendcd immunity from tax
alton throws the whole burden of sup
pie. IL is generally conceded that aunbatc-
incut OF taxes must be the first step
toward concilltmg disafTcctcd Turkish
SUBJECTS. the Christian peasants of the
herzegovina and Bosnia; and in order
10 adopt such measure of relief II is
first necessary for the Turkish Govern
mrnt 70 obtain u large revenue from some
urw source. with this design the Porte
has been recently considering the proprc-
~ of sccularizing or coniiscating the i'm
mcnse landed property held by the
mosques aud other religious institutions,
and paying no taxes at all.
by the secularization OF the property of
the religious bodies, the Ottoman Empire
could raise n fund sufficient to relieve il
from all financial ombarrassmcnts. GER
iilhiN iifNt fIpuEll NJ least 10 pfoNltr Tor
The prompt payment OF the interest on
tn, national debt ana the formation OF n
sinking fund.
The scheme. however. has been given
up, for the present at least. ana It ADAM
Comment is said 10 be due to The opposi-
ton OF the mutovclis. or stewards of the
church estates. who arc selected bv the
donors Of the proporfy nj the time OF its
dedication. u is the business OF these
men TO receive the income control tho
expenditure. and manage the property.
They are generally 50 dishonest. however.
tlnt the income of the church estates
docs not cover wh1t is expended or
stolen But Notwithstanding their cor
and powerful class, and will not sub
mil 10 the wping out of their only
means OF livelihood. Their enforced re-
moval would be likely to lead to- blood
shed; aud the Ottomnns arenot sufficiently
numerous IN Europe 10 care to cut each
| OF eI'- throats.
| Instead, th'r fore, of couh.cntine the
/ vakuf property, tine Turkish Government
| ha- Just repealed the exemption from tax
| alton which II has hitherto enjoyed,
al the same time dofei1ine the actual
! alienation of the cs,atc-aftCr IS dc1i,'-
| ton 60 tic mosquc-to the third ccuDl-
Axiom O. the 40 raud1uts of III piyyr
Ihi- REFORM viii uld many millions to iuo
/ sultan Q treasury.