The Washington herald., 1918-11-06
EIGHTEENTH INsrALLMENr.


EIGHTEENTH
On September q Sir Louis Nal
jet the British ambassador. entered
my once in a considerably disturbed
state of mind. The KhedIve of
Egypt had just left me. and / be-
gan to talk to Sir Louis about Egyp-
tian matters
Let's discuss that some other
time" he said. Il have something
far more important to tell you. They
have closed the Dandanelles"
By they" he meant. of course, not
the Turkish government, the only
power which had the legal right TO
take this drastic step. but the actual
ruling powers in Turkey, the Ger
mans Sir Louis had good reason for
bringing me this piece OF news, since
this was an outrage against the
United States as well as against the
allies. He asked me to go with him
and make a joint protest / suggest
ed. however. that il would he better
for us to act separately and 1~im-
mediately started for the house Of
the grand vizier.
when / arrived a cabinet confer
ence was in session, and, as / sat IN
the anteroom. / could hear several
voices in excited discussion. Among
them all ] could distinctly distin-
guish the familiar tones OF Talaat.
Enver. david. and other members
of the government II was quite
plain. from all that could overhear
through the thin partitions that
these nominal rulers Of Turkey were
almost as exaspersted over the
closing as were Sir Louis Mallet and
myself.
Presented PitisbIe sight.
The grand vizier came out in an
swer to my request. He presented a
pitiable sight He was. in title at
least. the most important official of
the Turkish government. the mouth
piece of the Sultan himself. yet now
he presented a picture of abject
heIplessness and fear. His face was
blanched and he was trembling from
head to foot. He was SO overcome
by. his emotion that he could hardly
speak; when asked him whether
the news was true that the Darda-
neIles had been closed, he finally
stammered out that IL was.
said, and l protested as strongly as
could in the name of the United
States.
All the time that we were talking
could hear the loud tones of Ia
laat and his associates in the inter
ior apartment. The grand vizier eX-
cused himself and went back into
the room. He then sent out Dja-
=
cuss the matter with me.
It's all a surprise to us" were
Djavid's first words-this statement
being a complete admission that the
cabinet had had nothing to do with
il. / repeated that the United States
would not submit TO closing the Oar
danelles; Turkey was at peace, the
Sultan had no legal right to shut the
straits to merchant ships except in
case of war. ] said that an Ameri-
can ship. laden with supplies and
stores for the American Embassy.
was outside at that moment. waiting
to come in. Djsvid suggested that
I have this vessel unload at Smyrna
the Turkish government he oblig-
ingly added. would pay the cost of
transporting il overland TO Constan-
tinople. This proposal, of course,
was a ridiculous evasion of the issue
and / brushed il aside.
Djavid then said that the cabinet
proposed to investigate the matter;
that in fact. they were discussing IL
at that moment. He told me how il
had happened. A Turkish torpedo
boat had passed through the Oar
danelles and attempted to enter the
Aegean. The British warships sta
toned outside hailed the ship. eX-
amined IL and found that there were
two German sailors on board. The
English admiral at once ordered the
vessel to go back. this, under the
circumstances. he had a right to do,
Weber Pasha, the German general
who was in charge OF the fortificA-
tions. did not consult the Turks. but
Immediately gave orders to close
the straits. Wangenheim had al
ready boasted to me. as I have said.
that the Dardanelles could be closed
! in thirty minutes and the Germa ms
now made good his words. Down
went the mines and the nets; the
| lights in the lighthouses were ex-
tinguished: signals were put up, no
/ tifying all ships that there was mo
thoroughfare." and the deed. the
most high-hsnded which the Ger
mans had yet committed. was done
And here / found these Turkish
statesmen. who alone had authority
over this indispensable strip of wa
/ ter. trembling and stammering with
fear, running hither and yon like q
! lot of frightened rabbits, appalled,
at the enormity OF the German act
/ yet apparently powerless to take
any decisive action. 1 certainly
had a graphic picture of the ex-
tremities TO which Teutonic bullying
had reduced the present rulers OF
the Turkish empire. And at the same
moment before my mind rose the fs-
ure of the Sultan, whose signature
was essential to close legally these
waters. quietly dozing at his palace
entirely oblivious OF the whole trans
action
. Month of Disiiissionment.
Though Djsvid informed me that
the cabinet might decide to reopen
the Dardsnelles. il did not do so
This great psssageway has now re-
manned closed for more than four
years. from September %. 1914. ]
saw. of course. precisely what this
action signified. That mouth of Sep
tember had been a disillusloning one
for the Germans. The French had
beaten back the invasion and had
driven the German armies to en-
trenchments along the Aisne. The
Russians were sweeping triumphant
Iy through Galicia: already they had