Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-10-04
IZZET PASHA.
The Sultan's New Grand Visier, q
Powerful Figure.

Sultan ABDUL Hamid, writes the Mar
quise de Fontenoy, has just conferred
the rank Of grand vizier upon Izzet
Pasha, his secretary, the most dreaded
and hated man in the Ottoman empire,
and who is regarded by most people as
the evil genius of the Turkish monarch.
This does not mean that the sultan has
deprived Said Pasha, the prime minis
ter, of his post, which invariably car
ries with it the grand viziership, but
merely that Izzet Pasha has been ele-
waited by his master to the highest rank
in the Turkish empire which 1t Is IN
the power of the Caliph to bestow.
AS grand vizier, Izzet Pasha will
henceforth be addressed as your high
ness" and Turks, no matter how high
their rank, will have to subscribe them
selves when they write to him as your
little slave" He will, as grand vizier,
take the pas Of the Khedive OF Egypt,
of Prince Ferdinand, Of Bulgaria, and
of Prince George, Of Greece, the gov
ernor general Of Crete. The word wi
zier" in English means the bearer Of
burden, and it's use in this respect is
meant to imply that the grand vizier is
the man selected by the sultan to bear
the burden of all the affairs of state.
1 may add that a grand vizier has the
right Of using caiques or state barges
with five pairs Of oars, a privilege
which he shares exclusively with full
fiedged foreign ambassadors. Ordinary
Turkish cabinet ministers and foreign
ENJOYS whose diplomatic rank does not
exceed that of minister plenipotentiary
are restricted to three pairs Of oars,
the United States minister avoiding
the difficulty by always using steam
launch and dispensing with the cafques
OF course the launch Is less pictur-
esque, but it has the advantage OF con-
cealing from the general public the un-
pleasant fact that the envoy OF the
United States does not enjoy IN Con-
stantinople the same rights and pre-
rogatives as the representatives of the
other great powers.
Izzet Pasha's career has been so phe-
nomenal and his power throughout the
Ottoman empire is so great, since he Is
able to influence the sultan to adopt any
course that he sees fit, that few words
about him here may be Of interest. 1t
was as magistrate Of the tidJaret, a
mixed court which tries cases involving
the interests of foreigners and Ottoman
subjects, that he first attracted the at
tention of the sultan. He goes by the
nickname of 1.-The Arab" and until now
has borne, in addition to his title OF
secretary, that Of "Communicator OF the
verbal commands of his imperial ma
iesty the Sultan" and Is with his SOW
ereign from in the morning until long
past midnight, save on Thursday, which
he devotes to his family. His power
of work, his self possession, and above
all, his sleepless watchfulness, are phe-
nomenal.
He Is always at hand when the sui
tan wants him, and one Of the secrets
of his force is that he is regarded botn
in the sultan's palace and out of it as
possessed of supernatural powers, as
sort of "djin," or genii, such as are por-
trayed in the Arabian Nights" be-
lief which Is to a centain extent borne
out by the altogether uncanny look OF
his cold, piercing and relentless gray
eyes.
At Constantinople Izzet Is held re-
sponsible for everything that the sui
tan does wrong. and there Is no doubt
that it is through his influence that
such a large number Of eminent men
have been forced to flee the country or
sent into one of those Turkish exiles
from which there is no return.
The moment anyone is unfortunate
enough to offend Izzet or to incur his
suspicion or jealously, he Immediately
creates in the sultans mind the belief
that the parsonage in question is en-
gagged in some conspiracy against the
throne, and without trial or hearing the
dignity is seized, hurried on board a
ship, and conveyed to some port on the
coast of Syria or Tripoli, whence he IS
dispatched to the most remote portions
of the Hinterland. He is lucky, indeed,
If he does not get killed by his guards
on the way on the pretext that he was
endeavoring to effect his escape.
It is the first time in the history or
the Turkish empire that it has had two
grand viziers at the same time and that
the rank and title of the office nave
been conferred upon a dignitary other
than the prime minister as a special
distinction.
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