Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-09

By capitulations is meant the concessions
or privileges accorded by oriental govern
ments to Christian nations
eastern whereby its subjects are
co,....,. placed entirely under the
jurisdiction of their respect
i've diplomatic and consular representatives
residing in those countries. Hence the ex-
preston "exterritoriality.'
Francis I. king of France when disputing
with Charles v Of Spain the vacant throne
OF Germany. wrote his mother Louise of
Savoy after the disastrous defeat of Pavia:
Madame. all Is lost except honor" Fran
co.'s signed conventions with Henry VIII
and In order to maintain the European
equilibrium against the ambition Of Charles
v. who dreamed Of q universal monarchy.
he united with the Turks although the al
lance exposed him to the charge of being
anti-Christian.
In the spring Of 1884 Jean de la Forest.
ambassador OF Francois I. arrived in Con-
stanffnople charged with double mission:
FIRST, to make treaty offensive and de-
fensive for France with the Sultan Soliman
the Magnificent: second. to make a treaty
which would include all European nations
except that of Charles. These conventions
with the heretofore implacable Turk were
the commencement of the concessions or
capitulatons accorded Christian merchants.
concessions then termed Hatti-cherifs and
Haiti Hournaioum, or complete commercial
hDerty to the recipients of the privilege
In the sixteenth century the relations be-
tween Turkey and the other countries of
Europe were rare. and the commerce with
the orient in bulk and in the hands of
privileged companies. The number of for
eigners residing In the ports of the orient
was restricted. and these lived separate
and without contact with the people. No
merchant could establish himself in the
Levant without the authorization of the
chamber of commerce Of Marseile, to
which he was obliged to furnish a guar
antee of eight to ten thousand dollars
Nevertheless. privileges were accorded prior
to these. for the writer's ancestors, under
the special protection of Charles VI 13S0-
1422l were rich importers of ''aromates' in
wealth and distinction in commerce with
the orient thai they were ennobled by
Charles VII.
In 1873 Chevalier d'Arvieux represented
difficulties encountered in his relations with
the orientals. he wrote Louis XIV: The
Turks are the proudest and most arrogant
Of men. From long experience I am con-
WINGED that they only friends OF those
who maltreat them. They yield nothing ex-
cept by force.
NJ de Villeneuve In 174O in the name OF
Louis XIV obtained from Sultan Mahmoud
l the renewal of the capitulations with con-
siderable additions. and which now con-
tained the following privileges Foreign
subjects exempted from payment of all
taxes; complete jurisdiction over foreign
ers accorded diplomatic and consular rep
resentatives; ottoman judges not to ex-
anime cases between ottoman subjects ana
foreigners except in the presence OF a
dragoman; ottoman authorities prohibited
from entering the domicile of the foreigner
declared to be inviolable.
class known as proteges were included
1 cad ~
foreigners. Having no repre-
Alien sentative of their own they
were accorded the protection
of the French or German con-
suls. Certain ottoman subjects were
given privileges accorded the foreigner.
namely. natives in the service of the
embassies and consulates. This con-
| cession produced the gravest abuses.
and a rule was adopted in 1862 prohibiting
| ottoman subjects from becoming the pro-
teges of the consul when 1t was Tor the
manifest purpose Of escaping taxation or
| other obligation to the porte. This prchi-
| bition. however. was ineffective. AS late
| as 1885 the American consulate In Egyp,
was a mere bazaar for the sale of its es-
| cutcheon to rich ottoman subject anxious
| to place their riches under the shelter of a
| consular shield. Consular agencies whic,.
| would prevent the confiscation of vast for
! tunes at the will of Egyptian tax collec-
|
| to $4,000. To this shameless traffic of the
| honor and dignity of the United States gov
| eminent was added the manufacture and
| sale of bogus Scarabee. An investigation
| into the scandal in 1885 by the Department
| of State resulted in the cessation of the
! commerce in Egypt.
Prior to this time and when there was
| some difficulty in acquiring the quality OF
| protege, candidates asked and secretly OBJ
| tanned naturalization. although the appli-
| cant had never left for a moment the terri
| tory of the ottoman empire. Among those
| who sought IN this way to place their per-
| sons and property beyond the reach of gov
| eminent were Nubar Pacha, president of
| the council of ministers. and Ismail Pacha
Sadyk, known as the "mOuffet1ch," min
lister OF finance. Nubar chose to become a
| German subject, while Sadyk became an
! italian. Both had acquired vast wealth, to
| retain which required the protection of
| some other government than their own.
| General Gordon when Egyptian governor
general of the Soudan said Of Nubar in his
| book: "Nubar has never been to Egypt
more than a comparatively low-born Ar
| menian who was clever enough to dispute
| with the consul general and who, when
! minister Of foreign affairs and in the privy
| council. was fully aware OF all the loans.
| etc. OF the moufretich. In England one in
government service. Might not the same
question be asked in this case?"
1smail Sadyk from a simple fellah had
risen to power. not from merit certainly,
but through a perfect knowledge of the
| ways and means to extort the last plaster
| from the class whence he had sprung. Sa-
| dyk's fortune was colossal. He had a great
| part invested in Europe. This could be pro-
| tected by his naturalization. The lands
| and palaces in Egypt. with their hundred or