The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-11-06


iO'nh Pasha was Frustrated for i've
'nohens with palpitation of the heart.
"a noener of his Ministers died in the car
riase That was taking him home after q
stormy scene with Abdul Hamid, liter
any crushed by his wrath. In brief,
Apuui Hamid is made up of extremes.
Nc IL audaoious and coward, dreamer
anu man of business, miser and
prodlgal, tactful and brutal, loving
lasher and sanguinary monster. In a
single day he condemned a nation to be
pu0cnered, signed a decree regarding
decorations for some ladies, and speculat
ca IN stocks, all with the same equanim-
l'y. Gladstone calls him the Great AS
sassln, and NJ. Hanotaux has written of
the Whlteness of his small hands, which
lhIgnt cause envy to woman.
Inc Ambassadors at Constantipople are
simply instruments for him. TIC. play upon.
he works his will upon them, and
through them upon the great powers by
dangling projects before their eyes as a
nurse amuses a child with toys.
besldes," asks the writer "what fear or
respect can be inspired in Abdul Hamid
by men who receive from him presents
OF horses, carriage, parks, villss, snuff
boxes, rings and plaques enriched with
diamonds for themselves, their wives,
chlldren, relations, and relations Of their
wlvesf The Ambassadors at CONSTANT
nople are the most honest folks in the
world uhou oI,1 IN
toward gifts offered with exquisite deli
cacy the GOODNESS of Mr.. Chamberlain,
who refused decoration offered by
Abdul Hamidiwith the remark that such
things were not worn In England. But
to his Asiatic way of thinking the Sultan
none the less classes them with those OF
whom he says, L buy their souls like
merchandise have collection Of sur
prising phrases Of impertinence and con-
tempt which he has uttered about all the
diplomatists who have. passed through the
Yildiz Kiosk in the last ten years. Play
things of man who manages them like
sosmany puppets Jealous of one another,
surrounded by spies, boasting of petty
victories, made INDECENT by their volup-
tuous life in PARKS confiscated from Ar
menians, dazZled by the state which sur
rounds them, FILTERED by the respect that
is shown in court-that is the lot to
which are condemned the grave Ambassa-
doris who are thought by public opinion
in Europe to bn protecting the Christians.
Their only function in Constantinople is
to watch one another. Their influence
upon the Sultan is null.
Abdul Hamid's great idea, according to
this writer, is to rel onstitute the Mussul-
man empire as it was organized by the
Caliph Omar. There would be two class
es, the true believers, who would consti-
tute the Government, and the common
herd, whose duty would be to toll for the
support of the former, and every true be-
lever would be a soldier. So A bdul
Hamid butchers, exiles, and corrupts; ar
rests all progress and industrial develop
ment, gives excessive attention to the
army; dreams amid the memories of
PIevna, the Armenian massacres, and the
victories OF Edhem Pasha, of being vic
torious Ca.iph, and weeps with joy at the
news that the Mohammedans OF Bombay
havs illuminated their houses in his
honor.
The final effect of Abdul Hamid's policy
seems clear enough to the writer. All
Turkey is disorganized and corrupted;
nothing remains but the army, and when
the army shall be- crushed by Christian
power Turkey will cease to exist.