Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-11-04
TROUBLE MUST COME,
empire OF TURKEY READY FOR
AN OUTBREAK.
The Sultan Is Still Evasive with the
Powers - Protest Against Aiming
Mussulmans Replied to in Round
about Fashion.

Constantinople, Oct. %, via Sofa,
Bulgaria, Oct. 26.-The report that
trouble of serious nature is brewing
here has SO often been sent out that
any fresh announcement to that effect
is looked upon as having little or no
foundation in fact. But, in spite of
this, it is but right to state once more
THAI everything points to further and
more serious trouble preparing on all
sides throughout the Turkish empire.
The ball was set rolli,g Wednesday
last when the sultan signed two trades,
which were issued the next day, levy
ing poll tax of piastres per head on
all Mussulmans and increasing the
taxes on,sheep, public works and educa-
ton by / to ~ per cent, the funds so
raised to be devoted to military pur-
poses. This caused the representatives
of the powers to send a collective note
to the porte couched in the strongest
language, calling attention to the dan
ger that the arming Of the Mussulmans
was certain to create and pointing out
generally the critical situation Of af.
fairs in the Turkish empire. But large
purchases o farms have already been
made and the danger increases hourly.
The porte sent repl yto the collec-
tive note of the ambassadors. AS usual,
however, it was an evasive answer, and
in substance simply stated that the
money derived from the additional
taxes was only. intended to complete the
armament Of the mustahfuz or lands
trum, the third and last class of the
Turkish army reserves, and to
strengthen the armament of the other
land forces OF the sultan, which consist
of the Nizam, or regular army, and its
active reserve, the redif, or landwehr.
Conscripts in Turkey serve six years
in the niZam, four with the col0rs and
two in the reserve; they then serve
eight years in the edit, four in the
first class and four in the second. Then
they complete their twenty years SER
vice by serving six years in the mus
tahfuZ.
The action of the Turkish govern
ment in completing the armament of
the mustahfuz indicates that the en-
pire is facing asituation which may ne
cessitate calling forth all the military
forces at its disposal and it also indi
Gates that the situation is the gravest
since the Russo Turkish war; Under
that considerable uneasiness prevails.
OF course there is always in view the
probability, at least, that the sultan,
by these movements, is simply seeking
to distract the attention of his subjects
from the actual state Of affairs brought
abotu by his NAL administration, and
that seeing that the powers are really
earnest and that an understanding be-
between Russia, France and Great
Britain means decisive action, he is by
these ornaments practically threaten
ing wholesale massacre of the Chris
tians, and announcing that Turkey will
resist to the utmost any attempt at
armed coercion.
Happily there is one feature OF the
crisis which has a soothing influence
upon Abdul Hamid. This is the finan-
cial situation. 1t is about as bad as 1t
possibly can be. All negotiations upon
the part of the Turkish government for
q temporary loan have failed and the
condition of the treasury is one of ut
ter helplessness. On top of this the
price of bread has risen 40 per cent and
bids fair to rise still higher as the price
Of wheat goes up. This has decidedly
aggravated the prevailing distress and
its consequent discomfort. The police
continue making arrests and it is I'M
derstood that many more bombs have
been found. In Armenia the greatest
apprehension exists. The echoes OF
the recent massacre in the city of Egin
are just reaching here, in spite of the
efforts made by the porte to suppress
oyaryf n m hIpt tho .affici al poWc