Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-21

dwelling in this unhappy empire. No ref
erence was ever allowed to revolution
or risings OF the people, the killing of
king mob or riot in any. part
of the world. They might have induced
such things by suggestion to the minds of
the peaceful Ottomans.
Sunday School Lessons Seditious.
Zone of the oyerwise censors worried us
for more than three months over a series
| of Sunday school lessons in the history of
the Old Testament. After cutting out and
abolishing seven of the twelve lessons he
lost his temper at our temerity in Offering
him the Review lessons and delivered him
self something as follows:
For three months you have been Offer
ing me accounts of revolutions. rislngs OF
the people against their rulers and kill
ing off on an average two kings per week.
And now you have introduced whole
holocaust in this review of the kingdom
Of Israel. 1t matters not that these
things occurred two thousand years ago.
trouble I know that these things are
taken from your Bible, but other people
will be asking: What do these Americans
mean in suggesting the various ways of
getting rid of obnoxious rulers" and
thereupon he mentioned the different vio-
lent deaths of the wicked kings.
"Free" Alcohol Suggestive.
''For years we have not been able to
mention societies of any kind or descrip-
| ton. No mention could be made to 'inde-
pendence,' political, mental or spiritual;
none to freedom or any of it's deriva-
tions. It was impossible in chemistry to
mention free alcohol None of the words
that suggested even by. sound the exist
ence of a constitution were allowed.
While there are tens of thousands of men
and children In the empire bearing the
name 'Murad,' 1t was forbidden to use 1t
even in making out deeds of property,
and only few years ago. in order to rem
edy this absurdity they required people of
the name to change the last letter and
make it 'Murat.' When President Carnot
of France was assassinated the censor
made him die of heart disease and netth-
err the republic nor murder could be
mentioned in connection with him.
''Tfe mode OF working the censorship
was an evaporation to everybody who
came into contact with it.. Four manu-
script copies Of every book had to be
prepared. and three Of them were sent
to Constantinople, where they were kept
from one to seven years. OFTEN they were
never returned, and those that did come
back We're mutilated and at places al
tered so as to read like nonsense. Even
innocent old Robinson Crusoe had to run
the gantlet and was stripped of his
sovereign rights over his desolate is
land, while his man Friday suffered the
loss Of some Of his most engaging quail,
ties.
Daily Papers Impossible.
Elm the matter Of newspapers the pub
LEGATION OF a daily was almost a physical
impossibility, because after the paper was
set up and on the machines a messenger
had to carry a proof to the government
building, be it near or far: find the lazy
censor, have him read it from beginning
fC 0yrd nut ant 81 ,-r kA
chose to object to, which waste spaces
had then to be left blank or filled with in
nocuous nonsense before the paper could
be printed. My own experience has been
were always made up and sent Monday,
the paper being dated Thursday. Rarely
indeed could we get the proof back by
Wednesday,, Sery often it tarried until
day and Saturday. Even though we had
censored 1T in advance and were supposed
to know from sad experience what would
pass and what would not, perhaps every
fourth issue was mutilate6 by the censor
to the extent of one fourth or fifth Of the
whole type.
Some of these slashings We could I'M
derstand, but others we have never been
able to assign even foolish reasons for.
In recent article the Constantinople
censor came across the sentence: The
mother of the owner said to her son.
Now owner in Arabic Is 'maailk.' which
closely resembles the word .melik,' mean
ing king The resemblance was too
close and the censor changed the sup
posed king to count making nom
sense. At another point the city OF
Madras was mentioned, but madras
in Arabic means school, The. combtna-
ton in Arabic suggested something I'M
pleasant to the mind of the cultivated
censor, and he changed the name Of the
famous Indian city to 'maktab' which
means primary school, making worse
nonsense.
All Is Changed Now.
Three months ago We could not men
ton the Statute of Liberty in New York
harbor nor Liberty Bell in Philadelphia
nor anything connected with our own
great Fourth Of July. but now all that
has suddenly changed and the newspapers
are fairly reveIing in a carnival of ink
Their irst onslaught was upon the censor
who had lost his job They told him
what they thought Of him and his pass
! absurd1ty OF thu censor's handiwork lest
! they and their children should forget.
Others acted as though they feared a re-
turn OF the censor's gag, but the great
majority have accepted the new era with
serious minds and are making an honest
effort to uplift the whole profession Of
| journalism. Among the minor happen
| ings reported from COnstantinopie is a
reference 10 the 1act that the new minis
| ter of public instruction has had the
boardings and the cobwebs removed from
the windows and doors of the government
printing Office which has been closed for
| thirty-one years. and we are now waiting
| with eagerness to hear what the new
regime will say for itself
Freedom Of Press Seems Assured.
t"The freedom OF the press in Turkey
seems assured. the long sought privilege
OF public assembly Is attained, kindlier
relations exist between Moslems and
Christians. and the petty persecution of
MosIems who adopt Christian ideals Of
the home and family life has diminished
Only yesterday, for the first time in my