The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-07-18
THE TURKISH POSTAL SYSTEM


a Holy War Imminent Unless Its Ess,
cheney is Improved.
The crusaders of old, from Peter the
Hermit to Prince Methusalem, would
Si"d up their loins anew and raise again
the tattered banner of the cross,
II they could but know of the war now
IN progress between United States
Consul Selah Merrill, of Palestine, and
the Turkish Government, anent the
mail service of Syria. In one of his re-
ports to the State Department last fall,
MIR. Merrill took occasion to say that
Turkey is in the postal union, and in
Europe and America it is supposed she
is sufficiently civilized to deserve to be
thus admitted, but those Europeans and
Americans who reside here realize to
their sorrow often that letters in the
Turkish post are common property
when they see them scattered prOmis-
cuously about the single room of the
postoilice, on window lodges, and the
tops of boxes, on diyans and on the
door" This was worse than charge
of offensive partisanship" against the
postmaster at Jerusalem, and the State
Department of this country made up its
mind to investigate him. This it did
by requesting of Consul Merrill bill OF
particulars.
The Consul has made a lengthy re-
port, bringing extensive and alarming
allegations against the whole postal
service of Turkey, but particularly that
of Palestine. 1t seems that in Jerusalem
there are two mail services. the Turkish
and the Austrian, but no complaint is
made as to the latter. The only sea,
port of Jerusalem is Jaffa (the ancient
JOppa,) forty miles distant, and the
mail is conveyed across the country BY
almost anybody who will consent tC
carry it. The Austrian mail arrives in
Jerusalem about eighteen or twenty
hours after its reception at Jatfa, and is
distributed by seven o clock in the morn
ing. while the Turkish mail is seldom
open until six hours later. The Consul
says thai on one occasion the bag con
tanning the mail was given by the
Turkish officials at Jatfa to a common
peasant, who agreed to carry it to Je
dollar. The man took the bag, dis
appeared, and has never since beer
heard Of the authorities claiming they
could not be expected to find a man
of whose name and residence they were
ignorant.
The Consul declares the mailbag i,
sometimes taken from Jaifa and left fol
hours by the side of the street outside
the gates of Jerusalem, where crowd,
of men and animals are constantly pass
inc. Near this point there is a large
khan, where mules and dOnkevS are
kept, and here the mailbag is Otter
dumped on its arrival from Jatfa, re,
naming for the night or day, or unit
some official from the postoi1ice send
for it. In the meantime anybody and
everybody takes the liberty of opening
the bag and getting out hi
mail. 1t frequently happens, says tn
Consul, that during Ramadan (thG
great Mohammedan feast, whicl
| continues for a month"; the mudi loll
down to the postOifice at noon, open
the bag to give out Government mail t.
some official messenger, and then de
! liberately sits down to smoke, leavin!
the European patron to cool his heel
on the stone floor. When the mail i
finally distributed, the Christian j
quietly told there is nothing for him
when the fact is the letters are scattered
all over the room, and it is much easier
to say mo- than to ascertain who the,
are really for.
In this manner, says the Consul, valu
able letters are lost through the dis
! honesty and carelessneSS of the Turkish
| postal officers, and he advises all Ameri
! can mail for Syria to be sent by way o
! Brndisi or Trieste. instead of by Con
stantinople. Naturally enough, whel
| these charges were formally laid befOr,
the Director General of posts at Con
stantinople, supplemented by simila
| charges from the French Consul at Je
ruSalem, there was a great crashing o
| teeth and the Turkish anger wa
! kindled. After several months of wait
| ing, the Director General now files will
| the Government of the United States
| denial of the charges in language tina
would do justice to Kentucky duelist
| lie says he caused an investigation t
| be made of the mail service of Syrif
and that no complaints were hearC
from anybody but the American Consul
whose charges are ineXplicable anC
Intentionally untrue" Now the State
Department is scratching its head anC
wondering how long anybody but a
consul could live in Syria after daring
to complain at anything the Turkish
Government did, and Consul Merrill i,
roosting in the Mount of Olives with {
knife up his sleeve. There will be 6
holy war if Mr. Merrill doesn't get his
next loye-letter on time. Washington
Cor. 81. LOUIS Globe Democrat.