Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-01-17
SUICIDAL TURKEY.
q Country which Would BE Prosperous
Under a Wise Policy,

-
political economy is of that kind that
W 500 as il pereeives any industry 10
Be in a aourishing condition il begins
to levy unbearable taxes upon IT, and
thus the p~roduc;lon of this beautiful
wool vas practically stiled. In ad-
dition TO the usual four-ifths there
was placed an export tax of s per cent
upon il. besides the profit Of the mid
dlemen. The peculiar system of tax
alton made the goats taxable ms live
stock and their milk asa food product
Their hair was taxed when clipped,
and again when shipped abroad. Thus
the whole production of this beautiful
textile died out and other countries
r beginning 10 furnish the Angora
wool.
The culture of the silkworm and the
manufacture of those unique and al.
most everlasting silks from Broussa
might be made a source Of much rev
enue 10 Turkey, were il not for the
policy which taxes every mulberry
tree, every ounce of raw silk and
every yard Of goods manufactured,
until il is a matter of surprise how the
poor wretches who produce them can
live. Every fruit bearing tree is taxed,
as are also animals, fowls and worms,
and, lastly, labor itself is taxed, and
the wage worker has TO surrender all
that the tax gatherers can squeeze out
of him without actually starving him
10 death. The laborers in the interior
of Turkey and her dependencies are
so thin that they look like moving
mummies, and they all have the eX-
preston of utter dependency and
hopelessness on their wizened features.
The collection of taxes in all the in
terror of Turkey and Ter dependencies
upon farm produce, made by revenue
officers belonging % each particular
pachalik is made IN kind when there
is no ready money. When the crops
fail the amount which each one
usually pays must be given in money,
otherwise The soldiers, or evenue Off
GERS, seize the animals, implements,
copper cooking utensils, and, in fact,
everything Of sufficient value 10 carry
off, and these are turned into money,
leaving whole families utterly desti-
tute. II they make AN outcry they
receive the baStinado or are thrust into
prison.
Those farmers or peasants who live
within a distance Of fifty miles from
Consiantinople bring their scanty
stock of salable articles, such as small
vegetables, fruit, poultry, etc, and all
these roads converge in two, which
have stations for the revenue officers
at Mashiak, which is near the forestat
Belgrade, and another on the Taxime,
near the Grand Champs cemetery.
Here the trains of poor peasants pass
with their donkeys, with their bags
upon their shoulders or with baskets
containing a little salad or a few eggs
Oh chickens-in short, anything they
hoe TO sell. They are stopped and
their produce appraised. and the peas
ant must render up part Of his scanty
store, letting the otficialsta out what
they wish as tax. Then he receives a
bit of red paper which permits him
to go ON selling the diminished stock.
Money, however. is always preferred
when the peasant has il, but when he
has no money the officials help them
selves always 10 the best OF the stock.
II he complains, which he seldom
does. he receives the bastinado. No
other people in these days could be 20
submissive under such abject slavery.
All the drinking water is brought
from long distances in barrels and
bags on the backs Of men. and this
water is also taxed, with the exception
of that which is brought for the sui
tan's household.
The OF Turkey proper are
various and would enrich any other
country in the world, and when we
also take into account all the tributary
nations and dependencies, we wonder
at ,he universal poverty. The coun-
try Is large and reaches into several
climates. There is scarcely anything
that could not be produced if the in
dustries were not subject TO such un-
Just and outrageous taxation. Wheat,
coffee, grapes, IaIsins, figs, prunes,
wool Of several qualities, tobacco of
the finest possible kind, herbs. medici-
nal and aromatic, such as make the
Serkys tea; rbubarb, mastic, honey,
corn, fish Of all kinds, medicinal gums,
dates, opium, silk, cotton, flax, petro-
leun. cattle, sheep, rugs and carpets,
altar Of rose, the beautiful Brousss
silks and embroideries, the exquisite
gold fligree work, which cannot be
s9galcd outside Of Turkey, and many
other things.
The Turkish d~yestutfs were always
valuable and in large demand, but the
government effectually killed the in
dustry by h~andicapping il with taxes
and export duties, until now the trade
is nominal. Indeed, the whole policy
of Turkey has been 10 kill the goose
that lays the golden egg.
There are valuable coal mines in
many parts OF Turkey-one within
forty miles of Constantinople-and
they are not utilized, though the need
for fuel In that city is great. The
present supply for heating houses
through their very rigorous winters Is
charcoal and wood, brought from long
distances on camels and horses IN in.
fnitesimally email quantities, and sold
by the chekkee or armful. Cor. New
York Herald.