Evening journal., 1903-09-10
HESULTAN'S N'SSOLDIERS
Over One Million Men In Tur-
keys Army.
ONLY MUssUbMANs GAN SERVE.

christians Are Excluded and Com
PEELED TO Pay n substitution Tax.
The Ottoman Empire Can mobiiise
Nineteen Army corps-NiEams and
Redins Are Splendid soldiers.
The organization OF the Turkish army
now in Macedonia only takes Mussul-
mans into account. says the st. James
Gazette. In spite of provisions to the
contrary laid down In 1890, Christians
are still excluded from the ottoman
military service and are cc%peIled to
the payment OF substitution tax.
For Ottoman subjects military serv-
fee Is obligatory for twenty years-viz.
from the age Of twenty to forty-and
It is divided as follows; Six years with
the nizam. or active army; eight years
with the redif, or reserve army, and
six years with the mustafz. or land
sturm. The service with the colors Is,
according to regulation, three years,
the remaining three years Of active
service being spent In the nizam re
serve. but the former period is fire.
quently extended to four, five OF even
more years. The registration list Of
recruits shows that about 10000 men
are, liable to service each year, but as
a matter of fact only about $4,000 are
Incorporated into the army. A few
years back the leakage was consider
ably more.
The nizam troops have a peace
strength Of 216530 and a war strength
Of 1900, while in peace or war the
number of guns is the same-viz, 1,494.
the nizam comprises 800 infantry bat
talions. 200 squadrons, 255 horse. field,
howitzer and mountain batteries, las
siege and fortress artillery companies,
SO companies Of engineers, s railway
and o telegraph companies, "a compa-
MES OF military train troops and 60
companies Of artificers and workmen.
There are 374 battalions Of redif In
fantry and 4s squadrons Of redif cav
airy. In addition there are distributed
through The whole empire 1856 battal-
ions OF gendarmerie and 200 squadrons
Of mounted gendarmes.
Since 1891 endeavors have been made
to utilize the most warlike Of the Kurd
tribes by forming them into a special
militia on the Cossack model. This
militia, called the Handle. after the
reigning sultan, their organizer, com
prises 266 squadrons. Every man fur
nishes his own equipment and mount
! and is armed with lance. So far the
| Handle have only succeeded in earn
| Ing for themselves an unenviable noto-
riety on account of their outrages in
Armenia, and they form a dangerous
element in the army at large
The nizams are splendid soldiers. their
| long term Of service adding greatly to
their effectiveness, and the redifs are
almost their equals. Indeed, the por-
ton most worthy of note in the Turk
/ ish military organization is the redif
These troops possess permanent cadres,
composed Of oil the officers necessary
/ for the mobilization OF the units. and
| Turkish officers consider II a distinc-
ton to be appointed to the redlf. Each
Of the seven military districts is divid-
ed into four divisional areas, these
again being partitioned into subdivi-
sions corresponding TO the different
units OF the redif. down to and includ-
ing the company. The captains reside
In the midst OF their company district
and attend to the training of the men,
who are called out usually for one
month every two years.
At the present day the Ottomon en-
pire can mobilize nineteen army corps,
twelve Of which are redif while the
total armed strength, excluding the
gendarmerie and the mustahz, is as
/ follows: