Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-01-31
RESOURCES.
,,s Great Industrial, Agricultural
and Mineral Wealth.

The Of Turkey proper, the
New York Herald says, are various, ana
would enrich any other nation IN Tue
world. and when we also take into ac-
count all the tributary nations ana de,
Tendencies. we wonder at the universal
povertv The country is large and
reaches into several climates. lnere is
scarcely anything that could not Do pro.
duced if the industries we're not subject
TO such unjust and outrageous taxation.
Wheat, coffee, grapes, raisins' n9o'
prunes, wool OF several qualities, topac-
co of the finest possible kind, NERDS,
medicinal and aromatic, such as
make the Serkys tea; rhubarb, mastic,
honey. corn, fish of all kinds, medicinal
gums, dates, opium, silk, cotton, flax,
petroleum, cattle, sheep, rugs and car
pets, altar of rose, tie beautiful Broussa
silks and embroideries, the exquisite
gold fligree work, which cannot be
equaled outside of Turkey, and many
other things. The Turkish dye stuffs
were always valuable and in large de-
mand, but the government effectually
killed the industry by handicapping 1t
with taxes and export duties, until now
the trade is nominal. Indeed the whole
policy of Turkey has been to 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 rlgor-
Gus winter is charcoal and wood, brought
from long distances on camels and horses
in enthusiastically small quantities, and
sold ly the chekkee or armful.
There are also large deposits OF gold,
silver, iron and copper in various parts
of both European and Asiatic Turkey,
but the government holds the owner
ship in them all, and will allow no one
to work them on their own response
bility, but let's out contracts TO different
individuals who have been silly enough
in times past to undertake the work.
AS soon as valuable Improvements were
mnde and the mines in working order.
the lcssees we're made to give up more
than they were actually taking out OF the
mines, let alone paying for the running
expenses. III they objected, they had
all their expensive machinery confiscate1
and themselves threatened with all sorts
of punishment; so that it is not q very
profitable undertaking to open and de-
velop the richest mine in Turkey. The
government, when it has confiscated all
the working powers Of a mine, does not
attempt to run it, but lets it fail into
ruin and decay. One Englishman un-
dertook to open an unusually rich mine
ut Bilikli, and that was worked a long
time, but at last the rapacity of the gov
eminent caused that to be abandoned.
An American also undertook to develop
some unusually rich mines in Anatolie,
but the government coolly gave him TO
understand that he had better leave.
He revenged himself by running the
machinery, SO that when the Turks went
to work there the mill would not work,
and then they abandoned that mine.
Besides the minerals mentionedabove
there are vast quantities of boracide,
limestone and Building stones, marble
and other natural wealth. With all
these natural u there is an ex-
treme poverty. All these
could be developed certainly a thousand
fold and Turkey be one Of the richest
nations. The person who travels through
the interior OF Turkey cannot fail to lie
struck with the wild, uncultivated APP
pearance Of vast tracts Of land, though
it is a productive soil and large harvests
are gathered with the imperfect system
of agriculture. As soon as the last
houses of the city are left behind, the
faee OF the country looks as barren and
desolate as if it was in the mountain sol
itudes of the Sierras, and one may travel
days without meeting one single thrifty
farm, unless one happens upon one of
the farms belonging to the Sultan,
which are all managed or overseen by
practical German farmers.
The land all belongs to the Sultan, and
no one owns a foot of ground in the
whole country but him. He lets others
live upon it and cultivate it, and for
they pay those enormous taxes.
And if the legitimate taxes were not
TO keep the peasant in a state of
poverty the Pacha and his sub
ordinates in each district would take all
the rest, leaving the unhappy farmer
enough to preserve his life. The I
result of this is that the poor peasants
III through Turkey and all her depen- {
do not work, plant no crops and ]
mise no cattle beyond what they actually I
for their meagre support, always,
however, counting the four-fifths for the
It would all be taken from them
IN one pretext or another il they did