New Britain herald., 1923-02-09
TURKEY RUNS WARS
 WITH BIG ECONOMY
Ottoman Empire Is The Least
 Bankrupt Of Any Nation


 Paris, Feb, a,-Tnrkey is the leasl
 bankrupt 0f any nation that has talk
 eh an active part in the world war
 according 10 information reaching
 here. not excepting England oI
 France, The chief reason is that ap- paTentlE she has conducted her wars since 1914 with the stFieiest economy
 The present AngOFa or Nationalist government, which has been fighting the Greeks and holding aff the Allied Powers since 1919 has resisted the temptation to print up any new money,
 The total pFe-VaF and war debt Of Turkey, including the charges that may be set against her at Lausanne or in any treaty Of peace to nay dam nges to foreign nationals, is estimated 10 run barely above sl,000, LOGO, This sum is regarded as Fidieulously low when it is remembered that by way Of comparison France owes the United States a war debt of sa,i00,- N00.0n0. and Germany owes the Allies approximately s3i,000, ,00a,000.
 European Interest.
 From a European point Of view tho interest in Turkey is partly political, especially ln war times, and largely financial in peace times. American in- terest also has heen directed toward Turkey in the past few years with her tobacco crops. if nothing else, be- ing bought up by American firms.
 An analysis Of Turkeys finances shows she became bankrupt in 1874, after foolish Sultans and their corrupt ministers had contracted unproductive foreign loans. In 1881 Abdul Hamid. in order 10 satisfy these loans. turned over the salt and other monopolies to an institution known as the Public Debt. 10 he directed by foreigners un- til their debts should be paid.
 In ono way or another Turkey owed abroad in 1914, iG5.00o,000 Turkish pounds. This unit had a pre-war value Of s4.46. Also she had fund ed debt Of i52,000,000 Turkish pounds. or the foreign debt. rough ly the equivalent of sS0o,o00,000. France held GO per cent. Germany 21 | per cent and Great Britain, Holland | and Belgium about 19 per cent.
 Turkeys Expenses.
 Turkeys war debt expenses have | been described as the most amazing | thing in the history of world war fi- nances." She ran her war on shoe string When the army needed any thing it seems to have been either requisitioned from the civil population or else the army simply went without it. And this army often numbered 1,- o0O,000 men. In 1915, there was one internal loan of 1S,000,000 Turkish pounds (about $79.00O,o00 at the ex- change of that time). Then there was a paper money issue of 1545S1, 4o0 Turkish pounds. secured by German government treasury bonds, payable 15 years after the war. Certain sup plies in limited quantities were bought in Germany.
 These figures have distinct bearing on the future for those Americans, or others, who wish to live or do busi- ness in Turkey.
 According to one American financial expert who has travelled all through : Turkey, as rarely do the majority of foreign visitors, if Turkey secures a stable political government and if she frees herself from foreign control, there is no reason why she cannot intensity her agriculture and prosper.
 Needs Few Loans
 Strange as it may seem to the casual observer of the course of post war nations this expert asserted that Turkey needs but little foreign money or loans. Hers is problem rather of a sound domestic policy encourag- ing the creation of domestic capital .i- l., tlp tf,yl for proper land mortgages, and pro- gressive agriculture. Many Americans in Europe are watching keenly the trend of politics leading to peace with Turkey. If new Turkey gets the peace she demands and if the Angora men of the steady sort, such as Mustapha Renal Pasha and General Ismet Pasha, keep con- trol it is believed Americans will do better in Turkey than any other na- tionality. These Turks take the point { of view that those who are not for 1 them are against them, and they have { been made to feel, during the four years that Admiral Mark l.. Bristol { has been |. S. High Commissioner in Constantinope that they were not friendless when dealing with Ameri- cans. The Turks Of Angora have repeat { edly declared they understood clearly | their future prosperity depended on | a griculture, on the surface of the t land, and the application of modern E farming methods. There are mines i, and foresD in Asia Minor of consider |, able prospective value, but these they !; feel can V0it.