The Cordova daily times., 1918-07-06
DEATH Of RULER
WHO WAS MERELY
GERMANY SPAWN

uGI1lBlIuvk VI uE2N
AMSTERDAM. July Mohammed
V, sultan Of Turkey. is dead. accord
ing to dispatches received here from
Constantinoplc.
A Weak Sovereign
Mohammed V, thirty-ffth sovereign
of Turkey in direct descent of the
house of Osman, founder of the EN-
pir". came to the throne by a coup
d'etat on April 81. 1909, after having
been held for thirty-three years IA
prisoner by his brother. Sultan Abdul
H. in the royal palace and gardens in
Constantnople. The scheming Abdul
ii intended that his own son, Prince
Durham Edine, described as the most
brilliant and gifted of the princes of
the house of Osman, should succeed
him. But this plan was thwarted
when parliament deposed Abdul and
placed his prisoner brother, Moham-
med Resched Effend. on the throne
as Mohammed V.
The Sheik-ul-Islam, head of the Mos.
lem church, drew up the decree of
deposition, which passed parliament
without dissenting voice Five min
utes later MOhammed. who during his
imprisonment had had no experience
i'll the duties of government, being
purposely denied education in such
matters by his brother was declared
sultan. The same afternoon he took
the oath OF fidelity to the Turkish
constitution, and 1O1 guns proclaimed
the new sovereign
In Seventythird Year
Mohammed V was born in Constan-
tiDople, November 3, 1S45. He was
OF a studious disposition. and read
widely in Turkish literature His
long Imprisonment, with lack of exer-
else and rich living, undermined his
health, and several times he was re-
ported dead or seriously ill His APP
pearanCc showed the ravages of time
and the worries of an unsteady
throne BY his enforced seclusion he
was totally unfit for public life, and
is reported to have said regarding it:
During my imprisonment of thirty
three years my enemies have Sian
dered me and called me a mailman
bordering on imbecility. He was
characterized as good-natured. weak
and ingenious. with an almost infan-
tile curiosity, and of a religious ma
ture s.r~r,,
J At his accession he espoused the
cause Of the Young Turks, the party
which was in opposition to the form
and ceremony of his brothers reign.
Upon the deposition OF Abdul. Moham-
med was Welcomed by them as a
champion OF freedom He promised
a progressive reign in speech from
the throne, read by the grand vizicr.
h" Was however, mercy a pawn OF
the Young Turk party. although he
-Ent out to the world the message
that he had always been the ardent
supporter of the cause of liberty. en-
lightcnmcnt and progress.
His Weakness in Crises
His hand in the government was
never strong Illness. naturally
easy disposition and weak will power
kept him continually at the mercy of
the Turkish officers and the Liberal
party. He feared deposition during
the Turko-Italian war in 1911. and
spent ii night praying in the various
shriues OF Constantinople He APP
pc alcd to the army to be loyal to him
and said that their reasonable de-
mands encouraged the enemy to at
tack the Dardanelles, He also lost
most OF his European dominions in
the Balkan wars The Young Turks
invaded the palace in 1913 when Mo
manned VAS reported to have become
rcconcilc1 with his brother.
In 1914. at the outbreak of the
present war, Mohammed issued a I
proclamation blaming the triple en- I
tvnte with thrusting war on Turkey