The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-20

lated on the stand which they
have taken in declining to acuuiesce In
the attempt " the Ottoman Govern
ment to ,hrogitc the capitulations. and
the message cahlcd by the State De-
partnlcnt on Wednt sday last to Ambas-
sador Morgcnthau for communication
70 the sublime Porte leaves nothing Ia
he desired IN the way of cnergeti,
protest
Neither the United States nor any
other foreign Power the civilization of
whose people Is based on Christianity
can dream Of permitting those Of its
citizens who have interests in Tur-
key or who for one reason or another
are called upon to reside permanently
or temporarily in the domin!ons Of the
SultAn 10 be subject to the Jurisdiction
q, courts whose administration of JUS
,lce is based entirely on the teachings
OF the Koran. The methods of Moslem
Justice are 80 entirely Oriental both In
their conception and in the execution.
and Moslcm IDEAS of the punishment OF
wha, is considered In the Eight os crime
are so altogether appalling that any
foreign Government which abandoned
tender mercies " the native authori-
ties would be unworthy Of Its trust.
Before proceeding to discuss ami cN-
plain the POPULATIONS II may b. asko d
what the Sublime Porte has to offer y
this country In the way OF return
for the surrender of the valuable trea. y
rights enjoyed under its provisions by
the United States. Turkey. which mas
on two or three occasions approach ed
the Government al Washington on the
subject without going TO the length
X its recent message, has intimated
that concessions in the matter would
te followed by advantages TO American
financial, commercial and manufactur-
ing interests in Turkey. Bat the Sui
tan is known to have held out similar
Inducements and with the same object
N view to the other great Powers,
and this being the case it has been
1sked at Washington where the advan-
tage Of the United States over the
other nations would come in
Moreover. committed as is the Porte
10 the expenditure of immense sums of
money upon its army and It's navy.
overwhelmed "a It Is with native and
foreign debt, suffering rs IL does from the
most acute forms of financial dis, resS, it
naturally follows that it will be driven
IN the near future to impose far heavier
duties on American and other foreign
interests IN Turkey than those which
HoW exist. since native sources or rev.
euuo AT" virtually exhausted by the
present altogether ntolcrable burden Of
taxi, il Indeed. u-w imposts on for
'.gn interests are about all that Is left
from which the ottoman treasury can
hope 10 derive any additional income.
The sublime Porte has. therefore.
nothing %, any real value to offer To the
tinted states Government in return for
the ilt'er's REIMBURSEMENT OF the rights
and pr.go-ative which /; has always
,nj yrd 10y virtue of those treaties
known as the capi;ulations. Even If
Turkey had anything in the way Of "A
consideration to offer the United States
would do well TO think twice befor"
making any concessions.
For the present government at SIAM
houl Is not established on any too firm
a basis. II seems 10 he altogether at
the mercy of such irresponsible and
vanity Crazsd Adventures as Enver
Pasha, now Minister of War ami Nlr-
tual dictator, his hands stained with the
blood Of gallant old Nazlm Pasha. who
was murdered in the most coWardly
manner. There is no guarantee chat
some popular movement may not at any
moment overthrow the regime now in
power, repudiate all its arrangements
do away with the Constitution, such as
Il is. and restore the autocracy of the
Padisheh In all its medieval and bar
barous despotiSm.
Contrary 10 what so many believe, the
cap!tulations bestowing erritorial
rights upon foreigners in Turkey were
not extorted from the latter by force,
nor against her will. Their origin Is
very interesting one and is TO be
found in the profound contempt of the
Moslem for the unbeliever
Islam cannot conceive n mixed State.
II takes account only of a State con-
tanning none but Moslems. and its
ideal is that the whole world will In
the end form such State. In practice,
MoSlems try TO shut their eyes to the
existence % -Moslems among them.
That non-Moslem should have the
came status as a Moslem is something
unthinkahle to the true believer. His
attitude toward the non -Moslem is one
OF extreme contempt. What the un-
believers do or think among themselves
IL a matter Of indifference. They are
outside the ring fence of Islam.
Moreover, II must be remembered that
liam was spread by means of con-
quest rather than by peaceful mission
airy EFFORT. The Moslem conqueror,
realizing that 1t was mp to him To adj
minister the conquered lands, sought
h'Ip from the methods Of administra
ton which he found in operation. Be
SIDES the ordinary organization Of the
state, he found also various eCclesiasti-
cal ORGANIZATIONS, Christian and Jewish,
ana 10 these he gave over the admins
traton Of the nom Moslem sections Of
lhe community, making their rabbis and
b'ShopS their responsible heads and
INKS Of contact with the Moslcm rulers
Following the same methods OF leav-
ing contemptuously the unbellever to
SUI" his affairs for himself, the foreign
merchant, living and trading in Turkey
f"NSia, Egypt and In other Moslem
states, was put, first by usage and fl
many by treaty, under the jurisdiction
sha control of his own Cousul-nOt as a
matter of privilege. but because he was
regarded as too dcspiCablc to he worthy
~ the enjoyment Of the benefits of
"Ils'"m Justice. based on the Koran.