The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-05-08
By EX-ATTACHE.

So few persons are aware that the
word capitalization" possesses another
meaning than that OF surrender In time
of war, that il may be Of interest TO ex-
plain just what is meant by the an
nouncement that the Turkish government
has quite recently approached President
Taft, and the State Department. with a
view TO the abrOgation Of the "capitula-
tons within the borders Of the Otto
man Empire. In this particular instance,
the word "capitulation" stands Tor a
treaty.
In Oiden days. agreements Of this kind
were always drawn up in Latin, and the
various clauses and articles thereof were
prefaced with the Latin word "capitula. -
which may be said 20 have stood for
Headings"
In course Of time the treaties them
Selves grew to be described as capitula,
and then as capitulations. and we find
the treaty Of marriage between Dom
Pedro Of Portugal and Princess Marie Of
Savoy described as a capitulat!on. and
also those Conventions Of the Helvetian
Republic, with the Netherlands, Spain,
Naples. France and the papal states.
for the employment OF Swiss troops. es-
pecially bodyguards. by the rulers Of
these countries. Finally capitulations
was the word employed To designate the
treaties by means Of which the Turkish
Sultans and other mOnarchs Of the Lev
ant, and Of the still more remote Orient.
undertook to grant 10 foreigners in their
dominiOns. certain extra territorial privi-
leges, in the form Of a more or less ex-
tensive immunity from the Jurisdiction
Of local tribunals. and the right of trial
by their own diplomatic and consular
representatives.
This prerogative was already enjoyed
by foreigners at Constanunople under the
reign Of the Byzantine Emperors. and
when the Turks captured STEAMBOAT. con-
verted the superb Christian Basillca Of
St Sophia into a mosque. and estab-
lshed their rule on the shores of the
BosphOrus they consented 70 a continual
ton Of the so-called capitulations.
II must be confessed that these capit-
ulations were more honored in the
$500 man az AAlf NWNFl vance curing
the sixteenth. seventeenth, and eight
zenith centuries. For they did not pre-
vent the Turks from subjecting foreign
ers, especially Christians, to all sorts of
indignities. even the ENJOYS at Constan-
tinople, being the objects Of much con-
tumely.
In fact when one recalls that the
slave marts of Stamboul. Of Tripol. OF
Alexandria, Of Tunis. and TanEiers.
were recruited mainly through Moslem
corsair raids along the coasts Of Italy.
Southern France. and Spain, and that
the Dey Of Algiers actually converted a
foreign consul. who had espoused the
cause Of one Of his countrymen. into a
projectile FOR the big gun which he fired
by way Of defiance at the consul's war
ships that lay in the of0ng. IL cannot
be said that the capitulations were OF
much account as a protection Of the
Christian against MoSIem tyranny.
Early in the nineteenth century. how
ever, Turkey was brought TO a more
reasonable frame OF mind. especially
after the destruction Of her fleet al
Navarine. in lS2S. while some time prevl-
ously the United States and Great
Britain had taught manners and the
necessity Of observing treaties TO the
rulers Of Algiers. Tunis, Egypt and Tri-
poll. and the result has been that for the
last eighty years the capitulations have
governed the attitude Of the Turkish
government toward all foreigners. in
GLIDING Americans, the latter by virtue
Of a special treaty between this country
and the Sublime Porte, in 1890
While they have been abolished in
Algiers and in Tunis since France too,
possession Of these two formerly inde.
pendent states. they stiH survive in