The New York herald., 1922-11-05
The Turkish Sultanate Abolished

u Il
AboHAMMED VI, Sultan OF Turkey,
has fallen by the breath Of his own
subjects and with him passes the
most powerful OF all Turkish dynas-
ties. the house Of Osman. The Kem-
alists. with the fanaticism which has
always followed the Turk in victory,
have turned upon their own tradi-
tional and hereditary institutions and
by decree OF their own Assembly have
snuffed out the feeble rule of the
Sultan and clipped the line Of his
decadent house. With the deposition
of MoHAMMEp vi. and the abolition
of his house the Ottoman Empire
ends its process Of decay and be-
comes mere history, and in its place
arises the National Turkish State.
The deposed Sultan was the thirty
sixth in male descent from 9TH
MAN or OsMAN, the founder Of the OF
toman Empire. His house was one
of the oldest reigning dynasties In
the world. It rose to power on the
subsection of its greatest rivals, the
rulers of the Seljuk Turks, and as
victor It so completely broke the
power of its rivals that they never
appeared to challenge successfully
its power. 1t was the house that
brought the Turk to Europe by over
throwing the Byzantine Empire and
seating itself at Constantinople. It
was Mohammed H., the seventh in
the dynastic line, who made this
conquest, and thus thirty Osmanli
Sultans have ruled in Europe.
The Turk under the rule Of the
Osman house spread its conquests
over Persia and central Asia in the
East. In Europe 1t swept across the
Danube Valley and carried the sword
and torch over the Hungarian plains
to the very walls Of Vienna. Western
Europe trembled at this threatening
growth of Islam, but 1t left Austria
almost alone to meet the peril. The
Osman of that day founded the pol
Icy which his successors always fol-
lowed in dealing with Europe. The
Osman Sultans failed In their Western
conquest, not from the opposition of
Europe but from their own weakness.
The great Sultans Of the. house had
passed; MoHANMED H., BAYEzrD l.,
SULEIMAN the Magnificent and the
early Selims had no successors as
either warriors or rulers. -.
Their own acts of misgovernment.
oppression and cruelty made the Os-
mans unfit to rule. Their European
domain slipped from them and in the
day of ABDUL HAND, the last auto
crat of the line, they were clinging to
the banks of the Bosporus. His sue
cessor, MoHAMMED ", was but tool
of miserable clique Of self-seekers,
and when MoHAMMED vi. rose to the
throne he had scarcely a semblance
Of power and It took but breath to
end his reign and the line Of his
dynasty.
The Sultan of Turkey was likewise
recognized by Islam as its Caliph
the spiritual head of Mohammedism.
The Kemalists thus showed their
daring not in removing the ruler but
in overthrowing the Caliphate. Nc
man in the Moslem world except
KEMAL would have dared to take such
step. He has already been lifted
into the ranks of Moslem heroes, and
his excoriation of the weak and help
less Sultan had the effect OF bringing
MoHAMMED into disrepute among his
coreligionists.
But It must still be question II
the Mohammedans will accept the plan
for the appointment Of a successor to
the Caliphate. He will be chosen
from a member of the Osman family
and the choice will be decided by his
reputation for wisdom and piety,
The Caliphate in the past was hered-
itary with the Sultanate, even
though this right was now and then
questioned by Mohammedans them
selves Il conferred the greatest
spiritWe power which the Sultan
had. 1t gave him the right TO raise
the Prophets standard In holy war
and TO array the Moslem world
against a common enemy. But even
in the hands of a ruler entitled by
long tradition 10 exercise this power
Il proved in the world war TO have
little effect. This change in the
choice OF Caliph is likely to end for
ever the fear which Western Powers
once had for the Jehad.
Ten years ago Islam might have
been reluctant to accept Turkey
without a Sultan. To Europe the
passing of the Sultan will come with
rather conflicting emotions. The old
school diplomatists who were mas
ters Of intrigue and double dealing
will see the end of the Sultanate with
some regret at the change. A Sultan,
autocratic and exclusive master OF
his country, was more easily won
than Government which must make
an accounting Of It's responsibilities.
If the change from Ottoman En-
pire TO National State will clear