New-York tribune., 1909-04-28
ABDUL And MEHNED ,
Sketches of the Deposed Ruler ana
His Successor.

Abdul Bamid II. thirty-fourth Sultan OF 'he o''o-
man Empire. has held the powers OF hu 0Ie a.
bav for thirty-three years, and WIN tUi7 ,o
nolitical skill has maintained most OF MS empire
-. -, ,o-o,,,n encroachD1ent Yesterday he was
ra-,,ee,7 as sovereign of Turkey by his own peopIe
and IS a prisoner in the hands OF 1he Ieioii -
nent whose demand for constitutions government
he thought he could circumvent
The Sultan was compelled by the Young 1uIN
party last July to grant constitution 10 'e en-
rira and several months later Turkey entered loI
the second time in her history on an era oI Popu
lar government. On April 13 there brohe ou' O.
Constantinople a military revolt against p
mont and the Cabinet. This movement clearly was
Cor tho r,,rnose of breaking the power and ascen-
dencv OF the Young Turks. and It has geheFaIE
been ascribed 10 the Vaccinations OF tue 9u''"'''
The Young Turks answered this attempt upon L'P-
MAR representation and government by assembling
the third army corps, which was hrIn IN lts sup
mort of their political aspirations outside OF Con-
stantinople and on the morning of April - o'ey
entered the capital. Six hours hghuhg III t'ie
streets of the city between the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
and the troops stiI loyal to the Sultan. IN "hich
about one thousand were killed or Wounaed'
resulted In victory for the Young Turks VINO I'M
mediately assumed complete control OF 'he CITY
The next step the deposition OF the ruler Oh TIC
empire.
Abdul Hau1id was born on September %, 1872 In
spite of his long reign little is known OF his per
sonaI character His public acts have earned for
him the names Of the "Cnspeakable 1urh aiu
.,ba gkxk Man of Europe" The idea that he must
he driven from Europe irto Asia has been eH-
dressed again and again. His predecessors were
autocrats but he is described having brought on
Turkey a degree of despotism such as the country
had not experienced in many generations. He
trusted 10 one completely, and gave expression 10
his will through an endless procession Of favorites
whom, he appointed and degraded on the caprice
Of a moment His rule of the empire rested on
sv.staro Of spes of whom II is said there were I"
thousand in his employ. He lived within the pre-
cincts of the Yild; Palace and here. shut on from
his subjects by triple line OF walls he was still
In fear of his life.
The Armenian nassacres OF 1885 and 1895 were lald
AZ the door Of the Sultan. but whether he directly
fostered them or not is not known. Abdul tiamid
however has performed some valuable services to
his country in addition TO preventing the parullo
OF his domains in Europe among the powers. He
took the Turkish army disorganized and useless
and made of it a strong fighting force. He organ
izad an educational system. permitted daily press
in ConstantinopIe and gave generously TO Mussul-
charities
Mehernmed Reschad ETendi. who was born on
November g. 1874 the Sultan's brother, Is legally
and according 10 the Mussulman law the successor
OF Abdul Hamid He Will be approved by the more
rigid observers Of the law inside and outside or
Turkey proper and Judging from his more liberal
character he Will stand a good chance of wslding
together the various elements Of the empire
T-p TO the granting of the constitution last July
Mehermed Reschad Effend lived in practical cap
+I,-it,- In a palace on the shores Of the BospCrus
He was surrounded by a household composed OF
creatures of the Sultan, who watched all his ac-
tions He was not permitted leave the extensive
palace grounds without the permission Of his elder
brother. Four years ago he reported as dying
from cancer Of the throat. but he recovered from