The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-09-17

recognizable constitution TO govern by, so
there is none TO tronsgress; loose, Hide
fined body of customs and precedents takes
the place OF a constitution.
Next in authority to the Sultan IS the
Premier or Grand NiZier, himself FIRE
quently an adventurer of alien origin. an
pointed and removed by the rat of the |
Sultan. without reference to the wishes or |
necessities of the people. A crafty Ar |
menian, subtle Greek or fierce Albanian.
or a renegade from central or western |
Europe may hold this unstable appoint |
ment,always subject to summary dismissal, |
with or without cause. Associated with |
the Grand Vizier are certain other func-
tionaries, heads of departments, commonly
called in difference to the usage Of more
civilized countries Cabinet. Oftentimes
able, and generally INSCRIPTIONS men oc-
cupy TINS precarious eminence, but the
most able, and least scrupulous of them
all, are at all times liable TO find themselves
over weighted, outwitted, dismissed or de
graded by irregular and often unrecogniz-
able influences. During the reign of the
late Sultan, his mother, the Sultana, Vail
deh, herself born a slave, was the most
powerful parsonage in the realm.
Like master, like man. from the Grand
Vizier down to the remotest tax assessor,
every one, uncertain of his tenure of office,
makes it his main business to fill his peck
cts while the opportunity lasts. In vain
do the unfortunate taxpayers petition for
the removal or change of their assessors.
in vain do the people clamor with such
voice as they have, for the rectifcation of
their burdens and the audit of public &C
counts, tie Ministers rs long as the Sultan
pleases may laugh at them, or tell them to
pay their taxes, attend to their business
and hold their tongues.
From time to time, bad harvest, de-
probation of prices, an earthquake, or
what not, threatens whole provinces with
financial ruin, the Sultan to conciliate for
eign, rather than domestic opinion, issues
an edict commanding the strictest econo-
my and calmly goes on building palaces
and stables, purchasing expensive small
arms and field batteries, ordering yachts
and iron-clads, till every now and then,
announcement is made of the necessity of
fresh loan, followed invariably by the
reply from the exhanges of the world, that
no advances can be made but at ruinous
discount, and thus the debt of the country
Is always running up and its credit pro
portionately failing
The present Sultan will not live in any
palace used by his predecessors, and
spends on palace and stable-building sums
which If RENTED in taxation would 60 far
to enable the people to tide over hard
time.
Under such regime as this, it is not sur
prising that greedy and incompetent sub
ordinates not infrequently bring His Ma
jesty's Government into collision with the
various foreign Representatives accredited
to his Court; some intolerably absurd quar-
arantine regulations, some unjustifable
customs exaction keeps the Sultan's for
eign Office busy The Minister at the head
of that department may be found wrig-
Cling. contradicting, stultifying himself,
not always conscious of the obligations of
veracity, apologizing, regretting, forget
ting, explaining that black is not so very
black after all. nor white, white, that one
might almost pity him, but that one knows
that his estates are growing, and that if
he can only hold his post just little
longer, his purse Will enable him to vel
come an honorable Punishment" and his
conscience exactly agrees with his purse.
Meanwhile the Ministers agree in the ad-
visibility of keeping their master supplied
with palaces and probationary oliqa9,
tthi50Hks, etc, to solace his solitary grand
eur. The Sultan does not, like the sover-
eigns Of western Europe, appear frequently
in public; a weekly visit to his mosque
and an occasional reception to an Ambas-
sador or travelling prince is all that is
seen of him.
The Sultan has various methods of max
ing known his will to his Ministers and
their subordinates. On certain important
questions His Majesty holds what is called
Cabinet Council, though it may be at
tended by his Grand Vizier only, and per
haps a eunuch or other slave to add sig
nature for FORMS sake, to his Imperial
Iradsh as this is called.
On lesser occasions FirmaH is applied
for by any one in need of a special permits
sion to engage in some undertaking, a
railway, tramway, newspaper or any
thing that in other countries would re
quire charter of incorporation or a per
mission to commence some business of
importance. This FirmdR is issued or
withheld, or delayed until no longer likely
to be of use to the applicants, not on ac-
count OF any merits or dement's of the pro
position, but simply according to the liking
or dislikng of the minister for the pro
poser. This applicant may get his FiirmaH
at once and for nothing, another has to
conform to the well-nigh universal custom
in Turkey known as bdoksEish, a third is
worried and put off by ali the schemes of
delay, postponement, mislaying of papers,
etc, so available in tbs hands or on the
lips of Oriental administrators, while a
fourth never so deserving, cannot be
| granted his FirRaa, as we say, for love
| or money"
This then is the condition of the inter
nal administration in the Empire of the
Sultan, his foreign influence is RH, though
we frequently find him trying to thrust
his Representatives into International
| Councils and Conferences where they are
not wanted and will not be admitted.
Only two hundred years ago battering
at the gates of Vienna, and to-day unable
to maintain itself in its own Capital, its
very independence held only on sufferance
and that by reason of the jealousies of its
! great neighbors. Only seven year age
/ stripped of large fertile provinces, avow
eddy on account of ineurable misrule, such
| as Is family outlined above.