The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-02

places give the most sickening accour,. !.
the massacres of Christians by the sav.ut
Aloanlans, and horrible outrages on ~
women, the Turkish regular troops aia; 49,
and abettinc. aiuins
Neither will the Turkish local an,h...
ties interfere for the protection Of Ch.;ss
tlanS. Giving the sultan credit fo- -
pest intentions, how shadowy must 4 ~
eminent De, which can neither protect :.
own people, nor see justice done to such -
them as profess different faith9 III
two checks on the most despotic Enrors =
governments are the pressure OF ppb1s.
opinion and the revelations of the r-s.a
neither OF which are allowed to exist s
Turkey. AS to public opinion. Profess
Vapabery himself admits its absence -
regards the press, the most rigid cens,s
ship is exercised by the rovernmenss
ana no newspaper NATIVE or foreien.
can 90 aught but dance i'll q.
tiers. The press is forbidden To nris.
anything relating TO the sultan-the y
ministrations or their abuses, or on publ.
men. 1t is also forbidden to publish evss
news items from abroad without their an
being supervised by the censor; forbiddr
also to publish petitions to the sultan--S
fact, forbidden to publish anything hss
commonplaces and banalities under n,s
of suspension and fine.
AAN suitdu lEOUitItdlc pTeQec6SScr
used TO drive about Stamboul, and ~
the provinces; but since Abdul Hamid
cended the throne, he has never even "a.
up the Bosphorus; and his giving awayS
the German government, as a site 4
their summer embassy, most valrsK
and extensive property at Therapia. =
the Bosphorus, was apologized for by N
courtiers, on the ground Of his not knos.
ing what he was giving away-neyer hu,.
ing seen it.
He has squandered away the resource.
of his bankrupt government in many SIN
liar gifts TO other foreign powers. Will.
neglecting to pay the salaries of his oficisls
for months and years, not caring to be I'M,
before he is generous.
That portion of the army which protsst.
his person at Constantinople, alone il val
cared for, although unpaid: but tbs;.
brethren elsewhere present the most -.
ged and dilapidated appearance. beins
wretchedly housed, clothed and fed ~
not paid at all. The natural conseonsrr~
is they have to live on thieying, and ~
have to guard yourself more against IN
military in the provinces than against ~
professional bandits, of whom thew -
frequently allies. The Turkish armv Z
entirely out of proportion TO the posit;m
and population of the country and =
sources of the government in the inssn.
effort to ape European powers. 1t Is on
OF the locusts eating up the country.
Foreign claimants, or persons hayin,
business with the Turkish government
have terrible time of it. 1t is impossihs
either to approach or communicates win
the sultan, surrounded as he is bya rins
of thieves and shrouded in secrecy.
Nominally, the grand vizier may he IA
preached. but he will take no respouS
bility, nor will any other minister. m.
claimant may appeal to the tribunals. M
il will only be protraction of the agopr
and cost any amount of bribery with !
result.
Men have spent years in ConstantinsA
endeavoring to get their just claims ~
tied; others have gone or died under Ia
terrible strain of nope deferred; more, "a
despair, have abandoned the attemn
rather than waste time, money and healh
in the chase OF a mirage.
Such is the actual state of things Ii
Turkey, and such the real characler q
the ruler and his subordinates; and even
the half has not been told. 1t would
take a volume, not an article, to IA
so. But surely enough light has bean
thrown on the dark places to show nov
utterly unreliable are the Statements
made, and how misplaced the euloeia
lavished on the present sultan of TurkeY
by his foreign admirers.
EDWIN DE LEON,
Late United States Diplomatic Agent Ii
Egypt.