The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-08-18
cneANAkING
RESERVATIONS
Marvellous Wave Of New NatIona,
I'VE sweeping Around the Earth
Ioneiomeratlon of Races and Relic.
lon In Turkey.
BY William EIlIe

BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
Nonstantinople. - Turkey awoke
WIN a scream. The recent history NJ
'ne new regime in this country was
quite unintelligible to the western
world. The popular shrilling of 9Th.
erty! "Justice!" Equality" Fra.
.ernlty!" resounded throughout civi.
Alzatlon. Mullahs and Armenian
priests, green-turbaned descendants of
the Prophet and Protestant Christians
Tell on one another's necks indiscrim.
lnately In delirium of rejoicing. It
was the tntoxication of the wine nj
civilization. The ancient, long-suffer.
ing and sadly used Ottoman emnira
was beside itself with Joy. The trans.
formation of Turkey into a constitu-
tlonal government will probably be
ranked as one of the great events Of
the new century.
The reason for all this is that the
nations sleep had been a nightmare.
america has never developed a very
deep or intelligent interest in Turkey
Consuls have for years hammered
away on the neglected trade oppor.
tunitles here, and missionaries have
talked OF the social and religious con-
dltlons OF the empire. Even in the
safety of the free west nobody dared
say that Abdul Hamid was several
degrees worse than the ogres of the
fairy tales. Up to the year 1908 Tur.
key was more benighted than China
New ideas and popular rights had
more opportunity in the celestial king
dom than in this nation which be-
strides the two continents OF Europe
and Asia. The cunning resourceful.
ness of the most tyrannous ruler of
modern history was used to keep out
all that makes for enlightenment,
The Dark Days of Turkey.
Everybody whom one meets on the
streets of Constantinople knows from
personal experience the horrors of the
old regime. Nobody was allowed to
study true maps or read real history.
Nobody was permitted to travel
abroad. Private letters, as we'll as
newspapers and books, were censored
by officials more alert than intelli-
gent. They required that any book
which mentioned Turkish history
should call a defeat ''retrograde adj
vance" After censoring some bibles,
one of the multitudinous stories cur.
rent has it, the functionary querul-
ously enqu1red, who is this man
Paul, who is writing to those Gala
tians?"
Government was by assassination
and massacre, The dagger was at
the back of every person of force or
initiative or progressiveness. The
emaciated and trembling body of that
archcoward and tyrant Abdul Hamid
could have bathed for months in the
innocent blood of the half million peo-
pie whom it is estimated he had put
to death. Nobody knew whose turn
would be next. Covetousness, revenge,
jealousy and, above all, fear conspired
to point the assassin's dagger. There
was a world Of significance in the re-
mark made to me by an old resident
of the empire as we rode up the
Bosphorus last week: "All the big
palaces within sight belonged to Abdul
Hamid." Nobody was allowed to pros
per greatly except the Sultan.
Revelations of the Spy System.
1t is now known that an incredibly
iaroo pnDobar Of cDiaS-Doora than fOIIr
thousand one reliable statement has
tin all walks of life made daily re-
ports to this monarch of fear-bitten
mind. A large room in the war office,
next to that occupied by Mahmoud
Shevket, the commander-in-chief of
the Turkish army, is now filled with
these documents, which were seized
along with less dangerous weapons
and great stores Of treasure in Ylldiz
palace.
A trusted committee is perusing the
documents, although the counsel Of
many was that they should be burned
unopened. 1t has leaked out that they
implicate high and low. native and
foreigner. In such a reign the finger
of suspicion inevitably points every
where. Perhaps most unsettling are
the sinister charges which one hears
against men connected with the for
eign legations. 1t would not be pleas
ant for Americans or Britons to feel
that persons, even Of minor position,
supposed to represent their interests
in Constantinople, had really been IN
the pay of Abdul Hamid.
A National serio-comedy.
The dark ages have no story to
equal this one, which is to this ~Iy
favorite theme of conversation wher'
ever people meet. Abdul Hamid sleep
ing in one of the multitudinous rooms
of that iunkshop called Yildiz Palace
after he had said he would sleep in
others, lulled to rest by the cheapest
type of sensational and melo-dramatlc
French novels, dreaming over plots
against his life, practising with a
multitude of revolvers (more than
:. .lz..z.,I xr-ara f0uOd after he