New Britain herald., 1928-08-09
TURK PICTURED AS ONE HENPECkED
WilliamstoWn Institute Gets
 New Slant on His Life

Wllllamstown, Mass, Aug. g CP,-
 A new picture of harem life. in
 which the Turk was painted as the most henpecked of husbands. was given the Institute of Politics today by Madame Halide Edib. Turkish feminist.
 In olden times the ruling classes did maintain harems according to the western conception, but even then the women were influential and through bribery and palace intrigue ruled the sultan and the state from behind the veil.
 It IS scarcely possible to imagine bloody events were brought to pass through their secret and pernicious Influence, Mme Edib said
 Haren1' in the ordinary sense Of the word, is really equivalent to the Anglo-saAon word home, and has a sacred and exclusive signih- canoe" she continued The harems Of high society. They were centers Of family life. The women, it is true. were rather secluded but they went about, all the same, busying them selves with the needs of their homes and ruled their husbands and home with a rod Of iron.
 Not Willingly
 They never willingly aecepted polygamy, and if man from those humble centers dared to do such a thing his wife saw to it that he was punished to the end of his life. The Turkish husband is a surprisinelv henpecked one, and Turkish wives make it their business to see that he continues to be so, in spite of Byzantine example and the Islamic privilege Of men
 Many evils of which Turkey fe,, heir Mme. Edib blamed on the har- em system which the Turks borrow ed from the Byzantines. Whereas in olden times the virile sultans lived III the open and were accustomed to busy themselves with affairs of state. with the introduction of the harem they gave themselves over to a life or ease within the palaces, ruling 1helr empire according to the whims l of their favorlte wives.
 fortunately there appeared at ,lmes an individual grand vizier ar .amlly of grand viziers who conduct "a the affairs of state with ability md foresight and temporarily stay "a the downfall which was every minute threatening the empire" Mme. Edb continue. Yet almost Ill of them owed their place to the h1uenee Of some woman in the palace. Only once young and lean minded sultan. Osman 2nd, lreamed of purging the palace of ne Byzantine system of the harem te contracted a legal marriage with . young Turkish girl called Akile ianln and did away with all t>. eragllo of the old palace. Then all ftort to cleanse and discipline tn. anlssary Ohe sultan's body guard) proved unsuccessful and he was ragged from the palace and mar yred.'
 Reform Dates
 The periods of reform in Turkish lstory she placed as from l8O7- Sss. during which the Janissary 'as abolished: the period from S39-1S76, due to the so-called Tan mat program of reforms. during mich the position of the Christians as greatly improved, and the mod Tn improvement under the demo- racy.
 Prof. G. H. Blakeslee, of Clark diversity, at round table discus on declared the United States in aking the earliest opportunity to esotiate treaty with China grant ag complete tariff autonomy. not nly has shown excellent judgment, ut has set an example to the other overs. Americas action has rengthened the present nationalist oNernment greatly at a critical me, he said,