Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-10-19

that all evils in Turkey would be righted
| If he were restored to power
The Princess Hairie bids fair to become
| the latest London fad, and her movements
are chronicled if she were a parsonage
| of extraordinary Importance. She possesses
great beauty, having face of unusual re-
| finement for the somewhat heavy brunette
| type of the east, and she carries herself in
regal way. She drives out with her hus-
| band frequently, but always yelled wearing
| long black satin cloak and hood, from
which the veil hangs to the throat In the
house she loves to wear the close-f1tting
| garments of the European.
The First Reformer.
She is a daughter of the late Mahomond
Pasha Ben Ayad of Tunis, who represented
bis country at the court of France during
the time Of Napoleon III, and received
| several marks of honor from the emperoc
He kept a magnificent harem of over 500,
including his wives and female slaves so
that his daughter knows of the things
whereof she speaks. although her own hus-
band has not INDUCED in the luxury ot
so many wives. She is the first Turkish
lady who has ever set foot in Europe with
the mission of making known the social
condition of her native land, but she says
that there are many other women in Tur-
key who would come forth in like manner
| If they dared, and that they are keenly
| conscious of their miseries.
T.
est polygamist. Although law exists which
| permits man to have only four wives at
| the same time, and another which prohib-
its slavery, the sultan disdains to be boand
| by either law. But his greediness to ac-
| quire so many wives brings him no end CT
| trouble, for each one becomes the center
| of a political faction as soon as she enters
| the royal palace. Many of them are very
shrewd and ambitious, and sometimes not
overly fond of his imperial majesty. One Of
his wives was accused OF conspiracy against
| him about month ago, and the sultan
| shot her with his own hand. Another one
was sent into exile late as last week,
| being suspected of setting fire to his majes-
| tvs bed room. She was only saved from
death because she had been a favorite
wife for over fifteen years and because she
| had brother high in political power.
The sultan seldom condescends to marry
| legally any of his wives, according to the
princess, unless he takes a fancy to the
wife of one of his subjects who is powerful
enough to refuse to give her up. The sui
| tan then DEGREES her divorced and goes
through the form of marrying her. If he
| becomes tired of a wife, one of his royal
| ministers receives her a. present, whether
| the minister wants her or not Another
| way of disposing of these wives is to pre-
sent them to his political enemies. who also
dare not refuse them, and who thus take
| a spy into their own households in con-
slant communication with the throne.
The LAWS Read Well.
The Princess Hairie declares that Turk
ish women would have all the freedom
| they wanted IL the laws which have been
made in their favor were only observed.
No woman can be bought or sold or given
in slavery according to law, but thousands
of them are at this very day In slavery. A
law exists which demands girls consent
to her marriage, but thousands Of them
| annually are forced into marriages by their
parents. A woman can take legal steps
for a divorce IL her husband misbehayes
with another mans wife, or If he does not
maintain her according to his rank and
wealth, or il his parents mistreat her. But
the women are very few who dare to take
advantage of this law. Again, there is a
curious religious law which SAYS a man
must house each of his wives so that she
shall not see the smoke from the resi-
dences of the others. But In reality most
of the men keep all their wives under the
same roof and allow them to fight out their
jealousies as best they can.
The women of Turkey could be well edu-
Gated If the sultan and the religious teach
ers-who are his tools-would permit. But
they have recently banished the English
governesses from Turkish homes and they
oppose the foreign schools, Catholic and
Protestant, which have been established
among them. The princess speaks very
highly of the American School Tor Girls ar
Constantinople, which, she says, is libcr-
ally patronized by the daughters OF ad-
vanced Mussulmans. Notwithstanding the
opposition of the sultan. The priests try 10
keep the people, especially the women, in
ignorance. These priests are I'm the en-
ploy of the government; they are the offi-
cial surveyors Of the wards. and delegated
by the municipality to arrange the mar
rage contracts. But the priest acts In
this respect more as magistrate than as
an official of the church, and the marriage
is merely business contract. II the par
ents pay him an extra sum he win deliver
q long prayer at the end. but otherwise
not. The bride and bridegroom hold sepa-
rate fetes in honor of their. marriage. II
either family has q large house the fetes
are celebrated on the same day in different
apartments. but II not they occur on differ
ent days.
The only thing In which the women score
In Turkey IL in the dot" The husband
must give q dowry to his wife-if he mar
ries her by law-but what the wife brings
remains still her own. Her husband has
no legal right to appropriate II. 1t is prob
able, however, that the poor Turkish wom-
an, a. general thing. fails to enjoy this
hera In laX hut mot in fealiksI -