The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-01-01

Yearly everything in this
~ world has an excuse for be-
vi ing, it has been said, except
WI the Ottoman government.
4 And even that anachronism
the unspeakable, ineffable
Turk has had his apOlogist- When, for
instance a British peer of the realm
once spoke in favor of the Turk from
his seat in the house of lords, he pre-
scented an unanswerable argument,
from a British point of view, for his
continued existence. How convenient
it has been,'' he naively said, TO nave
q power commanding the Dardanelles
ana the BosporuS which is not strong
enough to stand alone, but is strong
enough to stand by the aid of Great
Britain, and how hopeless it would be
TO find any exact equivalent for such
an arrangement
There is the so called eastern ques-
ton" in nutshell. Were it not Tor
the Turk and his inherent weakness
the Russian in all his strength would
sweep down upon the Dardanelles from
the Black sea and shut out England
and her marine forever. Not alone
England. but all Europe, would have
to bow to the mighty Muscovlte, per-
chance if the Turk were not squatted
in his squalor at ConstantlnopIe- 90 II
is not merely a contention that mas
ar.isen-for example, between Turkey
and France the most recent-that IS
now the ISSUE but the very existence OF
Turkey herself. The sultan knows, as
every government of Europe knows,
that he and his are merely tolerated IN
the position they occupy by the very
exigencieS of their situation. This IN
stance of a refusal on the part of the
sultan to keep faith with the 'unbe-
lisver'' be he French or German, Eng
lish or Russian, is no new feature OF
Turkish diplomacy. Deception, fraud,
procrastination, are interviewer into IT'S
very fabric and have been practiced so
far back as the memory of man ex-
tends.
In the latest instance = that which
threatened a severance of diplomatic
relations between France and Turkey
and possible reprisal on the part of
the latter nation-the sultan had made
certain promises to French contractors
in the matter of building quays at Con-
stantinople and improving its water
front They had performed their part
of the contract faithfully and had very
properly insisted upon the sultan per-
forming his-that is, they had imposed
a tax or tariff on all goods landed at
their docks, in accordance with stipu-
lations and in order to obtain reim-
bursement for theirvast outlay. Protests
We're lodged with the sultan not only
the representatives of foreign powers,
that an increased tariff was violation
of commercial treaties and could not
be enforced. The sultan saw that he
had placed himself in an equivocal 20
sitiOn. from which there was no retreat
save by purchasing the docks at an ex-
pense to the Turkish government of
some So 600, 0O0 francs or by repudiatinE
the contracts. He chose the latter
course, and the contractors appealed
to their government Their cause was
just, the facts in the case We're clearly
in their favor and finally NJ. Constans,
the French ambassador, presented an
ultimatum. There was no recession
from the stand the sultan had taken
save by purchase of the quays, for
which his tax ridden country could not
readily furnish the money. So he re-
sorted to promises, then to subterfuge,
then to a tacit disavowaI of RESPONSE