The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-07-21
THE WAR BETWEEN TURKEY AND
SERVIA.
The History of the Quarrel
New York Herald.


New York Herald.
The following brief review of the
causes which have brought about this
new conflict will be read with interest
in view of the declaration of war by
Servia against Turkey. The cause oi
the quarrel which now arrays the soldiers
of the Servian prince against those ol
his Suzerain the sultan was developed
toward the close of last year by the at
tempt of the Turks to collect the taxes
payable to the porte by the inhabitants
of Herzegovina and Bosnia, two de-
Tendencies of the Turkish empire, stu
ated on the western side of Turkey i'll
Europe. This imposition of tribute has
always been regarded by the christian
subjects of the sultan as oppressive, and
they have never failed, when the Oppor-
tunity presented itself, to protest against
it, either by representations TO the great
powers, or by an appeal to arms. The
overpowering force of the Turkish battal-
ians which supported the tax-gatherers
of the Padishah in their annual visi-
tatiOns to the tributary provinces had
up to recently suppressed every at
tempt at resistance, and the most terri
bic cruelties are charged against the
Turks during the times of this forced
collection of taxes. This state of things
could possibly have no other termination
than in an armed revolt of the oppressed
people of Herzegovina and Bosnia, which
took place, as we have stated, during
the summer of 1875, and has progressed
with varying fortune for the insurgents
during the past ten months. By a series
o? onslaughts on detachments of Turkish
troops, the Herzegovinians and Bos
mans have inflicted great losses on their
ancient enemy, forcing him to organize
large armies against them, and often to
retreat before their daring attacks. The
enterprise of the Herzegovinians and the
vigor of their resistance to their enemy
is illustrated by the several Intellectual
attempts of Mukhtar Pacha with pow
erful force to revictual the fortress of
Nicsic-a strong position on the north
ern frontier of Montenegro-and a tenn
pOrary armistice was declared between
the belligerents, and in violation of
which the Turkish general threw some
supplies into the town. This fact, which
has proved to be impossible in the pres
ence of Herzegovinian resistance, en-
ragged the insurgents beyond all hope of
peaceful settlement of the quarrel, for
they saw in it the evidence of Turkish
duplicity and bad faith, and prepared to
fight the war to the bitter end.
THE CoNTENDING ARMIES.
The forces that will open the Turkey
Servian war are so disproportioned in
relativ strength that we must soon ex-
pect to learn of Austrian and Russian
corps across the respective frontiers of
both countries. The former, as in the
time of the Crimean war, to protect her
interests, by occupying strategic points
in the Danubian provinces, and the lat
ter to watch the movements of the Aus
trian army. According to the law OF
1869, military service is obligatory on all
the male Mohammedan subjects of the
sultan. Recruiting is accomplished by
the engagement of volunteers and by
conscriptiOn. The term of service in
the Turkish army is twenty years, of
which four are spent in the regular active
army, two years in the first reserve, six
years in the second reserve, and eight
years in the militia or landwehr. The
army is divided into three parts, namely:
the regular army, the irregular troops,
and the auXiliaries. The law above
named fixed the strength of the army at
100000 men until 1878. OF this force
the regular army numbers 100000 men,
the first reserve 10000 men, and the
second reserve 100000 men, renderingan
annual quota of 81, 500 men necessary to
maintain the effective strength. In
time of war the effective army strength
of Turkey is as follows: