New-York tribune., 1878-10-12
TURKEY AND GREAT BRITAIN.
HOW THE OTTOMAN REsTsTs REFORM.

HOW THE OTTOMAN RESISTs REFORM.
THE BRIT1sH AMBASSADOR THwARTRD-PoPULAR
SENTIMENT AGAINST THE PROPOSED CHANGES
TURKISH sLOIH AND IMMOBLITY.
lFRoN A REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE rRIBUSE.I
CoNsTASTINoPLE Sept. 19-Sir A. H. Layard has
found Turkish delay too much for bis patience
He has spoken harshy Of Pachal The Porte has
been considering reform in Asia Minor ever since
the 4th Of june. but finds the subject still novel
enough to make defniteness impossible. Hence
the impatient furry the part Of the English
Ambassador. Either because Russian influence
thwarts the English plans or because Of unalded
Turkish ineItir, the plan for reforming ASIA Minor
seems further from taking practical shape than
| thought two months ago. Ramazan has come on
with nocturnal revcls, that forestall durnal
negotiations Officials come to business half
bind from loss of sleep, with nerves unstrung
from over-smoking Through two or three hungry
hours they do routine work Then they begin TO
think about the nights feastng. and they slip off
to market, abandoning piles Of unsettled business
Pacha or clerk, all the people at the Porte feel that
the intimatiOn that RamaZan has set in is ample
excuse for postponIng questions Of the greatest
gravity. Aside from this there is among the people
a universal opposition to the reforms proposed
by England. They do not know what the word re-
form MEANS and being told that it is to result in
the appointment Of foreign officials they at once de-
clare against II. The II this is that the com
mon people are yet unconvnced that Islam has
been reduced TO the point where it must
accept the supremacy Of European civiza-
ZION. The English project of reform in ASIA
Minor falls on ears which are quite unpropared to
hear propositions for the transfer TO foreigners Of
the tax-collectlon, the Judiciary and the police
forces of the empire. Yet these propositions have
been drawn up on tho theory of the tOo-hopcfu
Euglshmcn Of the Foreign Office. which pictures
Turks "a craving opportunity TO reform. The Eng
lish ultra-COnservatycs have never heard the con-
versation of the common people of Turkey. The c
people are always before the minds Of the Pachas
and sooner or later, control their action. They
think that II their Government has been conquered
Its dignity should not allow 1t to aid Europe the
work Of reforming the administration Of the coun-
try and II il has not been conquered it has need
to listen to the European proposals for reform.
That Ministers listen TO such sentiments and in
cline tO them after their recent avOwals of warm
affection for reform, periidy. Mr. Boxer, for
mcrly Minister here, used 10 compare the Turkish
Pacha 10 one II those respendent OF crimson
Jelly with which female relatives tempt the appe-
tites Of sick men. You touch the jelly, and the
mass quiyers and yields. So with the Minister at
voice. and he yields your every demand. You think
you are moulding the man at will. But after you
have gone away you vainly await results Then
Won 90 again to the Presence, and find that the
ielly-lke mass has returned TO its former
po.tIOn, obliviOus OF your former pressure.
You are forced tO TrCOmmence your operations. We
call tins inertia lt is more than mere inertia.
There il naturally much inbred sin Of deceit at the
foundation Of the deeds Of Pachas and less mighty
turks Bnt there also other causes for the for
fcitcd pledges Of the Turks. These deserve to be
better known because they add an element of hope
lcgsness TO the problem and afford ground for inn
patience greater than that Of Sir A. II. Layard. In
the first place Eastern minds attach meaning 10
many c.InmOn words which hopelcsSly dltfrr- from
the meaning which the same words carry to West
Cru minds, and Eastern eyes see the relations of
cause and effect IN form widely different
from the only one apparent Ia Western eyes.
All the science Of astronomy cannot convince an
Oriental that noon Is fixed point and sunset
variable. lIs whole experience from Childhood has
tanght him that noon Is sometimes halt past
o'clock and sometimes half past z. while sunset IS
constant at II o'clock the year round. You write
half dozen pages TO yOur letter, ana the lurk
scrawls his painful backhanded curves oyer ] one
You reflect on the advantages of the Latin alphabet
with cOmplacency Al the same moment the lhrk
IA thinking that he European habit OF writing out
the yOwcls Is wastetu since il ma kcs man use six
pages for a letter while a Turkish unVOwelled mis-
siye Is finished IN one.
Besides All ObliquIty and vagueness ot mental
operations another cause of the difference between
Turkish promises and Turkish execution is the dual
life led by all Turks Of any wealth. For five or six
hours in each day q Turkish gentleman is dressed
in black brOadciOth, and is of courteous European
manners, amenable to European influences. But
the moment he returns to his home he puts of his
broadcloth and his tight boots, arrays himself in
buttonless shirt loose trousers ucks his bare feet
into sandal slippers and establishes himself on
the sofa in his harem. The harem is simply
the living room where the man may rest
and read. wrto or talk with the ladies Of the house.
But its atmosphere and its traditions are those of
pasr centuries handed down by word Of mouth for
hundreds of years. The women are even more CON
seryatiye than their sex at large. They know moth
ing of the world, they do not read cannot study,
will not reason They are bitterly hostile To all
that the most obstinate Of the people would oppose
for they are of the people. Ihey are chosen lOr
physical qualifications alone, and there is no sem
blance OF class rank in the majority OF luTklsh
barems. They keep up their connection with All
their poor relatives, and furnish the people
with all the materials Tor active coall-
tions against whatever they hate or can be
made to hate. The man who undertakes wnat
ms women do not approve has to face an opposition
that NAV rally AL the ignorant masses against h'
The lmprobability that Turkey VIII % Iuopi
occupied by all well-tO-dO Turks, that III Dy thOse
i'm whom Europe has any direct interest Durng
six hours out OF the twenty0ur they eau DC reached
Dnrlng all the remainder of the time they are shut
i'm by high walls while they enjoy the society OF
mother sisters and wives-womeD ancient III lucas
and Interchangeable in Obstlnacy. Ihe power that
urpes the Pachas into opposition 10 reform 10
greater than interest and as unyeldlng as principle
---=
CoLp.-Fltz Hugh Ludlow, in his narrative
A, o.. TIM Hear nj