Evening star., 1909-04-20
SULTAN'S LONG REIGN
He Holds the Record Among
Ottoman Rulers.
CAREER A TROUBLED ONE
But He Has Adroitly Checkmated
Europe Many Times.
STRONG WITH HIS OWN PEOPLE
Until Recently Abdul Hamid Seemed
Supreme in Shaping the Destiny
Of His Empire.
CAREER A TROUBLED ONE
STRONG WITH HIS OWN PEOPLE

The downfall of the Turkish sultan has
been predicted many times. and has. in
| deed. seemed imminent But up to the
| present the willy Turk has STAYED off the
impending ruin; his diplomacy. aided by
the jealousy Of the European powers. has
defeated external attacks on his empire,
and. until the Young Turks wrested the
constitution from him. his power over his
| own people has seemed supreme.
Born September %. 1912. Abdul Hamid
| II succeeded to the throne as the thirty
fourth sultan Of the Moslem empire Au-
| gust 81, 1915.
The amazing thing is that Abdul Hamid
should still be on the throne. Thirty
three years is phenomenally long reign
| for Turkish sultan. Ottoman rule Is In
every sense Of the word a "despotism
tempered by, assassination" and from the
time Of the taking of Constantinople
more than 500 years ago, each of Abdul
Hamid's predecessors rs padishah. save
four. has succumbed to a violent anG
premature death.
| When Abdul Hamid succeeded to the
| throne the prestige and authority of the
| dynasty OF Osman were at their loves
| ebb. The Sultan Abdul Assiz's deposition
| and tragic death had been followed
| few months later by the deposition Of his
successor. Sultan Murad, Hands brother
| whose reforming zeal and enthusiastic
| acceptance of the most extreme forms OF
western civilization even to the extent OF
woman's rights, had 80 alarmed the re
| ligious leaders at Stamboui that they
| came to the conclusion that he was crazy
and therefore untitled for the half-eccle-
siastica1, half-temporal dignity OF Caliph.
| and placed his younger brother, Abdul
Harnid, upon the throne.
Began With a War.
Abdul was obliged to propitiate not only
the native fanatic element, but likewise
those foreign influences which had been
cruelty disappointed by the removal OF
the broad-minded and progressive Murad.
and before long he found himself engaged
in war, first of all with Servia and Rou-
MANIA and then with Russia. a conflict
which was only brought to a close by the
threat OF England to move up her i'm
mense Mediterranean fleet to the Bos-
phorus, and to train her guns upon the
Russian army unless the latter halted at
San Stefano on its victorious march to
Constantinople.
The armistice of San Stefano-a place
| which is within a couple Of hours dis
tance of Constantinople. in full view Of
the latter-culminated In the Berlin treaty
of 1878. which robbed the Ottoman en-
pire of it's Bulgarian and eastern Roume-
Ian provinces. endowing them with inde-
pendence: intrusted to Austria the occu-
namely. Bosnia and Herzegovina; gave
lCyprus to Great Britain, and a slice of
Turkish territory to Greece. besides de-
|priving the sublime porte of the suzerainty
which 1t had exercised over Roumania
and Servfa for more than 500 years. .
In 1852 the English seized Egypt, an
other important dependency Of the sultan,
and then the French got hold OF Tunis.
which until then had been subject TO
Turkish suxerainty. Finally the Island of
he of
the porte and placed under the rule of a
prince Of the reigning house of Greece.
When the Turks. after defeating the
lGreeks in a war commenced by the latter.
were within a days march of Athens.
their further progress was stayed by Rus
sia and the other great powers Of Europe
and the sultan was deprived OF every par
ticle Of the fruits of his victory.
More Powerful Than Ever.
Yet this loss of so many provinces and
dependencies, and the humiliation to
which he has been subjected SO repeat
edly by the various powers. left the sui
tan more powerful than ever, and the
prestige Of his sovereignty incomparably
greater than that Of any OF his pre-
decessors for hundreds of years past. The
provinces which he lost were mostly
Christian and European-therefore a
source of weakness to a Moslem power
anu JuSl the same way IHdI Jn6 dfnpu-
tation of some more or less defective
member of the human body seems to
develop the strength and vitality OF the
remainder, SO the ablation of the various
Christian provinces and European de-
tendencies of the sultan increased the
strength and vitality of his government in
the Moslem portion OF his dominions.
Moreover, he tnaugurated species of
pan-1samist movement, extending
throughout Asia IN one direction, and
from northern Africa down almost as far
as the Transvaal in another. What he
lost in the southeastern corner of Eu-
rope, In Cyprus and In Crete. as we'll as
in Egypt. he may be said to have regained
in Central Africa, which is occupied by
immensely powerful MosIem empires of
Saracen and Arab origin, which accepted
mis- suzerafnty. while his influence in Mo-
hammedan Asia was so great. despite all
that is said to the contrary, that the
English did not. hesitate to ascribe to
him the instigation of those Instructions
OF the fanatic frontier tribes of India
which gave Great Britain so much trou-
BILE and entailed the sacrifice OF such q
vast quantity of English blood and treas
ure few years ago.
Moreover. the sultan found the source
of his strength. as far as his dealings
with the western nations are concerned,
in the jealousy which the various great
powers entertain for one another in con-
nectfon with the possession of CONSTANT
nople
Jealousy Of the Powers.