The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-05-20
TURKEYS
l NEW SULTAN
BY JAMES a.

BY JAMES A. EDCERTON-
'"URKEY has a new sultan. Alb
dull Hamid IL, called variously
9Th great assassin" "the un-
speakable Turk" and Abdul
the damned on his Internal throne"
has followed his uncle, Abdul Aziz, and
his brother. Murad v, the deposition
Of 9th of whom he is thought secretly
to have abetted- Thus Is he paid in
his " coin, although the settlement
Of the debt has been deferred thirty
three years. Modernism has finally
~triumphed, eve In Turkey. The tide
of democracy is rising and is sweep
ing over the barriers Of b two coun-
tries in eastern Europe that sought to
oppose themselves to its advance. The
movement OF the Young Turks Is one
of modern enlightenment. tolerance,
progress and constitutional govern
ment., At last these forces are COM
pletely triumphant, n the struggle
Of nearly a half century ends In the
victory Of light over darkness, Of pop
u1ar government over absoluttsm.
Modernism in Turkey began under
Abdul Hands father, Abdul Medjid.
d w0dA Uut uU1d IOACAs OAACA thS
influence OF the British minister this
sultan started several reforms. At his
death there were two short reigns, n
ended by murder disguised as suicide
and the other by a prison under plea
that the ruler was insane. 1t has since
been believed that the reactionary
element, with Abdul Hamid as the
moving spirit, engineered the down
FOIL ~ both SNuorojDpc H~1vI him
self claimed to be a reformer, nj soon
after his accession to the throne in
1875 showed that he was an absolutist
and despot Of the worst type. By
means Of deception, cunning, thou
sands OF hired spies and a power of In
trigue that played ID the great powers
of Europe one against the other he
managed to keep himself on the throne
until he became the disgrace. of the
world With over forty wives and
hundreds; Of eoncubines, with multi
piled thousands Of assassinations and
massacres to hfs credit, or, rather, to
his shame, the ~unspeakable sultan
stood tnsthe path of progress and ra-
donalism until finally run over n
cast aside. Only his name emains as
one of tnfamy to future ages. He
gives way to q more humane, a more
progressive and, it Is hoped, a better
man. In the very nature of things he
must be better, for it Is impossible to
think of two rulers as depraved as
Abdul Hamid.
The New Sultan.
The Turkish law provides hat the
Oldest living son Of a sultan. whether
that sultan be the ~reigni1g one or a
predecessor, shall be the heir presump-
tive to the throne. This provision
made Mohammed Rechad Effendi, the
half brother of Abdul Hamid H.. the
first in the line of succession and
Yusuf Izzedine Effendi, the son of
another sultan, Abdul Aziz, the second
in line of succession. Rechad Effendi,
who takes the title of Mohammed ",
is w years younger than Abdul Ha-
mid. having beer born at Constantine
pie on Nov. 3. 1914. Under the Turkish
law the heir apparent is a virtual pris-
oner In his palace, and under the
Vaccinations Of Abdul Hamid and his
jealousy Rechad was literally 80.
His visitors at his former home in the
Cheraghan palace were searched as
they entered and again as they
left the palace, he was not allowed
~ VCAluIc dDEOdu "IlHOut DS1uS az
companied by a strong troop, his
palace was filed with spies, and
from 1902 till the revolution Of last
July he was more closely watched
than ever. From the beginning he
sided with the Young Turk party, and
after its success the deposed sultan re-
oeived his brother most cordially in the
palace, the first time he had we done
- NPhNr -0. ~ lA-& A~~~,
Unlike Abdul Hamid, who has a face
a. repulsive az his character, Rechad,
q, as he is now known, Mohammed ",
Is one Of the handsomest men In Con-
stantinople. He II also very popular.
Only a few IA had the chance to
know him owing TO the espionage he
was formerly under, but these few
found him courteous, humane, well In
formed and progressive. He a kept
thoroughly abreast of current politics
not only In Turkey. but throughout the
world. He is q good farmer. He has
also been a general In the Ottoman
army and was liked by the troops. Re
chad is said to resemble his father,
who was a practical reformer n one
Of the most popular sultans in modern
Turkish history.
The Heir Apparent.
The Sultan Abdul Aziz. the prede-
eeesor and uncle Of Abdul Hamid IL,
had q stormy reign. which ended In his
practical >dethronement and murder.
He was regarded as extravagant n
tmpulsive. SYusuf Izzedine Effendi, who
now becomes heir apparent. is his cid
est son and therefore cousin Of Abdul
i Hom}d ssfho Croaf asSaSSfp
It Is a piece of poetic justice that the