New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-09-09
THE STATE OF TURKEY.
THE GOVERNMENT EMBARRASSED.

vyom AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRIBUNE.l
CoNsrANTINOPLE, Ang 1S.-Attempting to select
an authentic item of from the mass OF inforna-
'.;on volunteered TO a correspondent here at this
Elmo hears striking resemblance 10 trying to draw
a nrize in a lotterY-for one atom OF truth may be
found scores of Misrepresentation, If not positive
untruths II had not been prepared for this state of
things en- route, should have been under the I'M
prssion on arriving here, that the amount OF appa-
rently accurate information was so great that its
transmission to your readers would have been
heavy task A few hours residence, however,
.ounlel with the aforesaid experience to tho effect
that the journals Of Tendon. Paris, and Vienna pub
psh kilograms one day only to contradict then the
ext sufced to convince me that every item of news
M matter whether IL was stated under official au
tbority or not required confirmation. In this con-
nec+ion it may be mentioned that when vague ru-
,oors were floating around Constantinope to the
act that the Porte was about to take step toward
an,en;shipe its exhausted Golfers by issuing paper
,conev. they had at first TO be accepted with
Grain of SALT Now, however, all doubts
which existed have been removed, for the
nrintine of the notes has been commenced
a. the Imperial printing establishment, the
whole staff of the employees of which are engaged
upon the work. The issue the Government has de-
c;ded 10 put in circulation amounts to 100000
turkish pounds about 50, 0O0, 600, with reserve
Of 600 600 to be ISSUED should occasion require.
The issne is guaranteed by the revenues derived
from the Heracl6e mines and from the Imperial
farms. both of which by the way said TO be
.l,aadv mortgaged to q considerable extent. The
vaes of the notes will be as follows Five piasers
,o the amount Of 100000 Turkish pounds; 10
masters. 100000 pounds; 20 piasteys, 100000
Mounds; so piasters 100000 pounds, and 100
masters 500. 900 pounds. Tahr Efendi, the Direc-
tor of the Be-al-Mcl, supervses the impression of
The notes, and Fetah Enendi, "clief monetary
official of the Porte" has been Entrusted with the
auty of repairing the old stereotype plates in the
possesson of the Government. In this matter the
officials of the Sublime Porte knowing that the issue
of paper money VIII prolong, at least for short
Time the Sick Mans lease of life, have not shown
their usual apathy, for within the last few days
Tahir Efend has placed the printing establishment
in a condition to execute the work, while Fetah
Eendi has repaired the plates for the notes Of TO-
90 so. and 100 piastcrs, so that the printing Is
already commenced. The new plates for tine five
plaster notes are being prepared without delay All
the notes will be printed upon ligree paper of diff
ferent coloTs, supply of which has been ordered
by the Government expressly from Europe In
order that no time may be lost, however the notes
are meanwhile being printed upon paper somewhat
similar in character which was already in stock.
Finance and will also have the signature OF the I'M
perial Ottoman Bank.
Americans win easily comprehend the situation
here when they call to mind what followed theissue
of greenbaoks" during the war; We have to pay
very high prices already FOR provisions, and may
expect these prices to be doubled very shortly.
Neat is about francs pound, Vienna beer is 2
francs bottle, and sh--although the BosphOrus is
we'll stocked with various kinds-is a luxury in
which only the more afluent can afford to indulge.
1t costs about much to live at the hotels III Con-
stantinopleas at the Fifth Avenue OF Windsr,whch,
it must be remembered, is extraordinarily high for
Europe. These prices, together with the war, have
driven away ali tourists or peasure-seekers, their
places being filed by numerous newspaper cor
RESPONDENTS, who have in most arrived here in
expectation Of being allowed to go on to the 'front.'
but who have suffered disappointment, as the Turk
ish Government positively refuses to allow them
with the army-one exception only being made
and that in favor of tho representative
of one of the English journals. which
strongly advocates the cause OF Turkey
While speaking of this paper-money issue LET me
say that it has often been a matter OF surprise to
me that the public subscriptions for the war shoud
have reached so high figure in the space of a
month but the remarks of Que Of the COnstantl-
NOBLE Journals upon the latest step taken TO bring
grist to the Imperial mill seem TO throw some hght
upon the subject. The total amount of Subscriptions
as published yesterday is 12,773,4O2 piasteIs
tabOut 1875 O00) 1t is noticeable that nearly all
the subscribers government officials and
employees IN government bureaus, the customs de-
partment postoffices, &c. except where the amount
comes from the inhabitants of some village. The
remarks to which / allude as having appeared yes
teray we're strongly congratuatory OF the Porte for
having issued the paper money, as it would enable
them to pay up the arrears of salary due TO the en-
Moves of the Government" The question, there
fore naturally arises whether these subscriptions,
apparently flowing in 50 plentiously are really paid
in bard cash or are struck of from the arrears Of
salary due and are published by the Government
poHr eaooarGger les eglTes. 1t is well known that
there are considerable OF pay due TO the sol
diers also and vet there can be doubt that they
fight braveIy and to all appearances willingly, al
though they are probably actuated more by their
intense hatred for the Christians than by love for
their own Government, which is certainly IN very
bad condition when it cannot pay the men who arc
fighting for it.
Even the most blatant partisan of SeTvia ~ bonnd
to admit that the since the beginning OF
the war have almost without exception been on the
side Of the Turks, although the Montenegrins have
recently gained an important victory, and the
Turkish army in this part of the country is now III
8 very critical position. TIE reyerseS which the
army Of Prince Milan has suffered must DC more
dishearteung for the servisn people when il is
membeied that Gen. Tcheruayeff left Belgrade with
the object Of marcing-h not to Constantinople, at
least 30 Ear as Sophia. Hardly had he crossed the
SerVo-Bulgarian frontier, however before tho oppO
siti0n made against liis advance by tho Tuyis
30 great that he had 10 retire before them Then
followed the offensive movement OF the Turks tea