New-York tribune., 1919-09-25
The Ferment in the Middle East

The possibility Of an American man
date in the Near or Middle East as rec
commended by the report submitted at
Paris by Messrs. Crane and King, gives
this country an unexpected interest in
one of the most disquieting problems in
the world. That is the question of
worldwide Moslem upheaval. 1t is made
acute by the dismemberment of the Turk
ish Empire, now under way, and the de-
struction of the Ottoman caliphate.
1t should be explained that. caliphate
means the temporal overlordship Of the
Mahometan world Literally the word
"caliph' denotes 'leutenant of the
Prophet Mahomet" The Office of the
cahph is the protection Of Mosem inter
.ests against infidel aggression. Orig-
naliy inherent in the immediate family
Of the Prophet, the cahphate in the
course of centuries passed on to the
Abbaslde rulers Of Bagdad on whose fall
1t was revived, more or less nomnauv,
by the Egyptian branch Of that great
Arab dynasty. Finally. in the sixteenth
century, the Ottoman Sultan Seim as
sumed, on the conquest Of Egypt, the
title and office and made it hereditary
in the House of Othman 1t was borne
ever since by the Turkish Padishah at
Constantinople
Whether or not the Ottoman SOVEREIGN.
who CLAIMS no descent from the Prophet.
Ia legally entitled to the caliphate is an
academic question. The fact that his
authority was never recognized hv the
Persian Mahometans. who occupy within
Islam position not dissimlar to that of
the Arabs Of Morocco. is of secondary
Importance 1t is, however, q matter of
the gravest concern that by the fall of
the Turkish Empire the balance of Islam
is radically affected. 1t may be that the
loss OF even semblance of temporal
power which is supposed to be An indis
pensable attribute Of the caliph as the
supreme guardian Of Moslem interests,
Will bring about a transferrence of Mos
lem allegiance to some other Mahometan
sovereign. From this point of view the
creation of the Arab kingdom of Hediaz
under British auspices, and in the his
torlc, geographic and sentimental centre
OF the Moslem world, may have been a
master stroke Of craftsmanship. It also
may be. however that the millions of
Mahometan subjects Of Britain and
rance-ln India alone their numher &c
over 10000, ,0OO-will continue 10 vnst
'he'r loyalty IN the person of the Otto
man callph, whose humiliation thew will
never forgive.
Inc stand taken by some of the most
prominent Moslem leaders of India
against the dIsmemberment of Turkey
warned the British government of the
necessity for the utmost caution. On IN.
other hand the British champions Of tho
Christian subject races OF Turkey point
out rightly that the liberation of the vic
tins Of Ottoman despotsm cannot be
made dependent on the sentiments of
Indian Mahometans
There is, moreover. the additional dan
ger that the destruction of the central
temporal authority at Constantinople-
such as it was--will induce the Moslem
peoples of the Near and Middle East to
look out for themselves with concen.
trated energy-in other words, that
nationalism on the European pattern
will evolve in lands where hitherto it was
unknown. The attitude of the Caucasian
Mahometans after the Russian revclu-
ZION, as we'll as recent DEVELOPMENTS in
Syria and Persia, seem to point in this
direction.
Behind all these uncertainties and