The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-22
A BRACE OF SULTANs.

man Of the East must have recently srf-
fered a fearful attack Of dyspepsia. Else
why should he have caused several of
the ladies Of his commodious and lux
uriously appointed harem to be drowned
in the Bosphorus? Tied UP In weighted
sacks and dropped from the harem's walls
into the briny deep!
The ra1son d etat for this melancholy
and tragical occurrence appears to be as
follows: There Is in the domain Of the
sultan a political organization known as
the Young Turk party. OF late the MEM
bers Of 1t have been indulging In a cons
spiracy and cutting UP high jinks on
rather an elaborate scale. In the midst
Of these demonstrations the discovery
was made that number of ladies of the
haren had become compromised in these
petty revolts and had materially assisted
the Young Turk party in its iniquitous
Vaccinations. To drown a number of
erstwhile harem favorites in the Bos-
phorus has for several centuries been a
fad with various sultans. OF course, we
cannot reasonably expect that Abdul
Hamid should prove an exception. to the
weaknesses Of his shady predecessors.
Considered from both political and
economical points of view, perhaps, on
sultan may not appear so offensive to
the concert Of powers. AS previously
stated the slaughter Of superfluous odal-
isques has continued for years in that
locality, and with the almost single ex-
ception of Mr.. Gladstone no prominent
English statesman has elevated his voice
against the practice. No voice from
Germany has been raised in protest. I'm
til within the past eighteen months the
United States has rather felt that we had
all we could attend to on this side of the
water in jealousy safeguarding the Mon
roe doctrine. France had no time for the
sultan, and the car was ever a ready
and fluent apologist for all such san
culinary peccadiilos of Abdul Hand. The
latter has always had women to drown,
and he has continued to crafty his pen
chant for this sport unawed and unmo-
Tested. He has been In no immediate
danger of retribution In the past. He 10
in no danger at the present. The slaugi-
ter will continue so long as the Young
Turk party can inveigle rash and too
confiding harem habitues into schemes
against the government. It Is Turkish
law and custom, and who shall say the
sultan nay, with Russia showing her
teeth at every move toward interven-
ton?
But what of our own little 7x9 sultan,
who has lately craWled in under the
folds of Old Glory? 1t is true his harem
is not so numerously stocked as is that
of Abdul Hamid. Our sultan possesses,
we are told but thirty women. He is not
in position to drown any Of them for
the evident reason that he really cannot
spare them. It would be a great waste
of raw material. But, alas for poor hui
fall by the wayside and to sadly err at
the most unexpected occasions. What
would Mr.: Mckinley do should passion
for wife drowning suddenly seize the sui
tan Of Sulu? Our executive could not
brush the f1agrancy aside. The deed
would be brought home to him with ter
rible import. Under the Stars and Stripes
the crime of uxoricide is punishable with
death. Would Mr.. Mckinley kill our sui,
tan? Or would he raise his salary?
1t is difficult, under existing circum-
stances, to speculate on this problem. We
have seen so many lapses from the strict
text Of the constitution that any one
guessing on the probability of Mr. Nc
Kinley's action In the premises would
likely discover that he had another
guess coming.
For Mr.. McKinley's sake 1t is to be
sincerely hoped that the sultan of Sulu
will not kill any members Of his harem
Nor any Of his slaves. Our glorious
flag is now protecting these twin evils,
and it would be shame. deep, deep
shame to ask the Stars and Stripes to
protect murder as well. No, our sultan
should behave himself. He Is now draw
ing a salary of $4,000 per annum, and he
cannot do better than hang on to his
job. But no drowning Of women, no ux-
oricide. Mr.. Mckinley would. doubtless.
draw the line at that.