West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1884-04-11
The Turkish Government Service.


When passengers are landed at tho
docks customs officer is stationed who
opens his hand 10 receive the contribu-
tons oil the newcomers. a failure 20
meet this open demand for a bride in
variably brings on long and tedious
examination. Everything down to the
smallest articles is taken from the
trunks, and il is a "cold day for the
Official II he does not manage to find
enough that he can declare contraband
and coniis ate to pay him for not yet
ting his bride. The same system of or
ganizcd robbery runs through the whole
plan OF Government. cit was not my
property list that man wanted said n
merchant, speaking of a tax collector,
''but money!" and money will buy any
Official I'm Turkey. IL is worse i'm the
outlying districts than At CONSTANT
nople. These are under the control of
pashaS, who i'm turn farm them out 10
local magistrates, who grind and tax
the people as they choose. In the re-
mote districts cspc tally the oppression
IS so great that the lower classes have
lost all hope of getting on i'm the world
AT most, they raise only those things
that will give them a bare living, and
every day more of them lay aside all
idea OF honest work and take to beg
gary as profession. The Turkish
small farmer has absolutely no assur-
ance in planting a crop that he will
himself harvest ii. 1t is with fear and
trembling that he sees il grow green
and promise an unusual harvest, for
then he is sure thai il will be marked
Tor excessive taxation by the Govern
ment. The collector comes, looks at
the crop, assesses the land often at two
thirds of its value, demands instant
payment OF the tax, and, failing TO re-
celye 1t, seizes the cattle. implements
and whatever else he can lay his hands
on and leaves the proprietor with the
consoling remark that he ought TO be
thankful that the crop was not taken
too. And the crop-well, when If he
comes ripe the man has no tools, no
animals no money and no heart. He
generally sells il at n ruinous discount.
and even then is deprived of the luxury
OF swearing about it, for if he curses the
officials of the Government he is
promptly arrested for treason, the rest
OF his goods coniiscatcd and he is inn
prlsoned and publicly whipped Some
times man has the pluck and ready
money to try second crop. but it is
seldom that he risks it more than twice.
have seen hundreds of these ruined
men at Constantinoplc, who have
begged their way to the capital to
humbly petition the Sultan that they he
assigned, somewhere in the Empire,
some small portion OF the public lands,
together with monetary bonus TO
stock it, where they can begin their
lives anew. IL would seem that such
tyranny would rouse the people and
necessitate reform; but, like the Irish
man IN the storm ut sea who did not
want his comradc to pray for help. be-
cause his conviction was that if they rot
the Lords attention fixed on them per
sonatly he'd surely damn them, the in
dlvldual Turks prefer to suffer i'm
silence, in the hope that they will p.t
through somehow by this means. where
as they know they are ruined entirely
If the Government takes them i'm hand.
IL is safe to say that there is nothinr ex-
ccpt the Government that the Turks
dread more than Governmental reform.
There is too much certainty of its bein0
two-edged, and then, too, the Govern
mcnt forestalls the populace i'm the
matter. 1t never lets a month oo Inv
without public declaration of its will
lngness TO reform anything or ANYBODY
presented to il for that purpose. New
measures are always ON the tapis look
ing 20 this end, and to stranger their
working platform is as solidlv virtuous
rs the political planks of a National
party on the eve of Presidential cleo
ton. And they do reform in many
cases, but to every measure is tackled on
some condition or clause dictated bv
party interests that makes the new law
cut more stringently in n new quarter
than the abuse did in the old. - Com
SlGHt'nopIe Cor. Sun Francisco Chron-
tcie.