The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-17
THEUNSPEAKABLETURK
nrsvURBING FACTORY IN THE WORLDS AFFAIRS FOR
 600 YEARS.
Eurcpe's Tartar Interloper Unchang- cd Centuries-Fanatical Worship per of Mchammed, He Re-
 mains Crafty and Cruel, an
 Enemy to All Christians.

Philadelphia Record.
 For a hundredth time in 600 years the Asiatic interioper in Europe, the Turk, holds the centre of the worlds stage. This time there are indications that 1t may be his last stand. A decadent Empire, only kept together by the mutual distrust and jealousy of Christian nations, head cd by ruler who has lost ground stead fly since the beginning of his rule, Tur- key today is tottering on the brink of q chasm. no one can say how deep. Nor can any one say what the result will be when the final crash comes. The crash Is inevitable: the time alone Is the un- known factor.
 As to the Turk himself-collectively,i in- dividuaily and as a raee--he, too. like this Empire, is tottering. For centuries he has been decaying, his character sahped out by. his excesses in living, his sensual ism. his iethargy and his unfeigned cruelfy. He constitutes the one and only nonsChristian nation of Europe. Yet, despite his barbaric efforts to foster the spirit of Mohammed with the torch and the sword, Christianity has steadily grown within the very heart of. his domain. r
 The Turk today holds sway over three continents. his territory covering, beside Europe, Asia and Africa. Its area ia 3Eso.00o square miles, or about twelve times that of Germany. It nearly equals the whole of Europe. Of this immense bounds only 1,1l5,00 square miles is un- der the Turks direct rule. The vast re- mainder is merely tributary or under nominal suzerainty. So long as the con- cert of powers cannot reach any satis- factory division of this territory so long will the Turk be left to rule it.
 The great bulk of the trade is con- frolied by Greeks, Armenians and Jews with @ few foreigners. who are exempt from taxation. The Turk has but 1,20t miles of railroads-hardly good system in the United States--and controls 2, ,40( miles of telegraph lines. Of this popula- 1ion of 5o.000 900. but 100000 is in Europe Such, in brief, is the land of the Turk
 Aliah's Precepts Supreme.
 Over all this domain the Sultan's will is absoiuts, except that he cannot contra. yene the accepted doctrines of Moham' med. Thirty Niayets comprise the poll ficaI division. As to the Turks army every Musselman Is liable for service after his 20th hithday for twenty years Non n-Mohammedans may obtain exemp- lion at a rate of about $1. a head. On n ueace footing the Suitan's army mum. bers 10000 officers and 10000 men. h war times probably 1,25o0O0 men could be called to rams. His navy Is so obsolete
 
 worthy of mention. It should be noted However, that the Dardanelles and Straits dF ths Bosphorus, the approaches to Con- etantin0ple, are well fortified with power Rul guns. The Turk Is willy. despite his secrepitude.
 The Tuhk's ancestral home is Central Asia. The easterly tribes early establish ed rule in China, and were closely akin to the Tartars. he earliest historical mention of the Turks was considerably z,rior to $50 A. D. The position they occupied, however. was of little import ance until the time of Othman, the founder of the present dynasty, of which Abdul Hamid II, the present ruler, is the 4hirty-fourth reigning sovereign; when about iOSo A. D., the Othman Turks took possession of considerable Asiatic territo- Fy. By the Beginning of the fourteenth century they had made themselves mas. ters of many more provinces. and, having cartured Nieea. had established theiI capital at Broussa.
 Mine Centuries in Europe.
 It was in lOsO the Turk first appearet