Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-15
SULTAN Is REALLY ILL
ABDUL HAMID, HOWEVER, AT
TENDS sELAMLIK FRIDAYS.

specfaf tabfegram to Tie Star
CoNSTANrtNoPIlE, May la-For some
weeks past more less cireumstantfal sto-
ries have been current In the chanceries
that the health OF the Sultan of Turkey Is
seriously impaired. and that his condition
is so precarious that news of his death
may arrive at any moment. OF course. an
official dement, was at once issued by the
Turkish embassy. citing oa instructions
from the porte. and 1t is undoubtedly true
that the original statement was exagger-
ated and premature. So long as the sultan
attends the selamliit Friday-as his
tenure of the throne compels him to dot
would De extravagana to say that his con-
dition was critical In the sense that he was
likely to die within a few DAYS But AT the
same time there is so general a belief In
weil-informed quarters that his majesty Is
seriously unwell that IL would be idle to
treat statement published by respon-
sibie newspaper as unfounded.
Apdui Hamid has frequently been the VIC
tim OF diplomatic indspositions," which
have spared him the embarra ssment of
seeing ambassadors from friendly powers
who have come on llnfriendy errands at
critical moments. Just such an occasion
has occurred with regard TO the relations
between Turkey and Egypt The sultan
has been pressing claims in his shadowy
capacity as suzwain upon the khedive with
regard to the Sinaitic peninsula which
Egypt would not recognize N she could
and which Great Britain would forbid her
to acknowledge were she so disposed. 1t Is
even reported that the British garrison in
Egypt is to be increased. II is also sug-
geSted that this news caused the sttan'S
indsposition. for there is not the slightest
possible doubt that II he does not yield of
his own accord on the Tabah question he
Will be made TO YIELD Nobody appears to
be offering him the slightest encouragement
to resist, and as there Is every reason to
believe that In Insisting upon the 1ndispu-
table rights of Egypt the English govern
ha, -f, OFT
Russia and probably Austria there is not
much chance for the incident really caus-
ing European friction
Empire one-Man Concern.
The demise of the sultan would, how
ever. be a different matter At no time for
! the last hundred years. perhaps at no time
since the capture of Constantinople has
the Ottoman empire been so completely a
''one-rnan concern" as the Americans
would say, as it has been under the rule of
Abdul Hamid. If n thorough command of
all of the tricks, devices and intrigues of the
diplomatic game was the secret of state
craft, Abdul Hamid would certainly rank
among the very first of modern statesmen
Not only does he know the game but he
has played 1t, and still plays it. with ex-
quisite skill. In the OF "finesse' and of
false cards he is without a rival and as
friendly ambassador recently said of
him. IF the sultan had devoted his magni-
fcent talents to playing bridge on the
grand scale he would have have cleaned
out every millionaire IN the world But his
peculiar gifts will die with him. and when
another caliph has succeeded there may
easily arise most serious European compli-
cations. Abdul Hanlid might even say
with Nine. de Pomps.dour After me the
deluge. He has rio! himself of all his
ablest advisers; those now around him have
big ears only in the sense that prompts the
reply
Pasha, TO hear is 10 obey;
What more can slave to despot say?.
Many there are who believe that the sui
tan hopes by his latest moves to open the
entire question OF tie British occupation
OF Egypt, and Some there are who
even go 80 far as to intimate that he is
backed In his schemes by the kaiser For
Egypt is by no means an independent coun-
try. She is vassal state, bound by her
obligations to her suzerain. the Sultan of
Turkey. Moreover. her finances are more
or less administered by an international
commission. called the Caisse de la Dette
Powers of Egypt.
Egypt being part of the Ottoman empire.
her powers are supposed to have their
source from the power of the sultan The
great f1rman (the suatans official decree)
of June, 1873. gives the khedive species
OF sovereignty. subject to the annual pay
ment Of S. 100000
The present trouble between Great Brit
ain and the sultan In 'ieIineatng the Egyp-
tan boundary lies in che so-called firmans.
In the firmans of February Is and June
L. 1S41, by which the Sultan Abdul Medjid
specified Egypt a province OF the Otto
man empire reference was made to a GER
tain official map. This map now seems to
have mysteriously been mislaid. But the
sultan now claims that the Sinai peninsula
was marked on this map and is not regard
ed as being part of Egypt because of a
reference made to the disputed territory in
a telegram to the khedive from the grand
viZier in 1892.
No useful purpose can longer be served
by a denial of the fact that the relations
between the Egyptian government and the
porte are at present somewhat strained or
that the policy of the sovereign towards
his vassal state during the past twelve
months has been calculated to arouse a
certain uneaslness in Egyptian circles The
situation might just as well be faced first
as well as last. although 1t is exaggerating
things to say that 1t is In reality danger
Gus.