A CHANGE IN THE WIND.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 488, 22 April 1909, Page 5

A CHANGE IN THE WIND.

A GERMAN MOVE. ' •-■TO' MAKE THE !YOUNG f TURKS AC-'."'.- ','..- CEPT ABDUL. ■.'.','.'' / ■■'••'■' (Rec. April 22,' 0.50 aim.) '! ; r V ,' ' . : '■"_..' Vienna; April 21. ■'■■/ Immense'.surprise has ..been 'caused in Vienna ■ by statements. ..'made': .through' the Austrian official .telegraph agency that, a more'-conciliatory mood is apparent among the Young Turks, and that Abdul-Hamid is likely to bo maintained as Sultan, v ' ■. This is interpreted as pointing to some diplomatic intervention, ; probably. German or Austro-German."' ■' ,;> . ■'.' : , ' .'.■ \Lomtcn,' April;2l.'. The '■Vienna ; .correspondent '• -of: "The Times" states that'the German' Ambassador (Baron Marschall von Bieberstein) is. reported to bo using all his influence with .the Constantinople members of the late.Committee of Union and Progress with a view to retaming Abdul-Hamid as Sultan. COWARDICE IN. THE CAPITAL. ' :, • ■ '": i ' • Athons, April 20. : J Mukhtar Pasha, who has reached Athens on board a German vessel,; states: that the Ministry and the Parliament wcro too cowardly to proclaim a state of siege in Constantinople, otherwise the revolt would have, been nipped in the bud.

MORE SHIPS FOR TURKISH WATERS. .'.'"" v (Rec. April 21, 11,30 p.m.) ".:'.■':'...•.. ,-. . London, April 21. Vice-Admiral Sir A. H. Curam-How-c, aboard the: battleship Ocean, with the battleship Canopus and tho cruiser Minerva, (stationed at ; Malta) lias started for Turkey. ;: .'.'..' .;' .:■';;.. '•■ ..'•.. "■' Other ships have, been ordered to bo in ■readiness to leave. '..'.. "'-.- ..;•■.. . • . , ■ x:- .'■.-'■■.. : THE SULTAN'S HEIR. PEN-PICTURE OF MEHEMMED-RESHAB. , • According to most accounts,; MebemmedReshad, the Sultan's heir, brother of AbdulHamid,'was kept by tho latter a prisoner in his own houso for over a quarter of a century; tho release "of Reshad came after the Young Turk resolution in J-uly of lost year.-..'. Ho'-is described as a delightful old gentleman of sixty-four, tall, blue-eyed, with red hair and red beard, which ho will have to dye as black as ink should ho ever ascend, the Turkish throne. "No Sultan must show a gray hair in Turkey," notes the Paris "Debars." "If he live to be'a hundred his; hair must remain without a : sign of age." Lacks Abdul's Astuteness. ' "Reshnd Effendi (writer "Current Literature" last September) possesses that charm of manner and all tho'angelic nlfability which rentier personal intercourse with princes of.the Ottoman dynasty so delightful. He is deatituto of. tho profound astuteness of His brother, the Sultan, nor is he:so-handsome'or magnetic, but he lacks, too, the'extreme'nervousness of Hie present commander of the -Faithful.- Reshnd ,Bfl'pnili has the. piety of his fafnilv, nnd is said to know long, passages of, tho Koran bvheart, besides conforming, uvea in trivial details, to tho rules'of.the. life prescribed in, tho Micred tome. Of European culture nnd learning, -Heshnd Effendi has always-lived'in the densest ignorance. Being onlv the third son of the Sultan Abd-ul-MedjU, Ins education was neglected, and he received little in the shnoe of homage even in the. glorious days of liis uncle, the late Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz.' .Raving spent the past thirty yours, in'-practical-im-prisonment within the walls of one pnlaec'nfter another, lUshnrl Effondi retains of the putorio world only audi ideas as may be afforded by

intercourse with his gaolers, bis slaves, and his wives. .',.','.■"':' . ' > A Narrow Existence. "Ho is forbidden to receive visits from anyone at all excepting only the physician, tho tailor, and tho tradesmen selected for him'by his reigning brother." On tho comparatively few opportunities afforded tho heir to the Turkish throho of escaping tho city's heats by a sojourn-in;, tho country, he is thrust into a closed carriage and escorted by mounted troops armed to th(j teeth. It is dangerous even to loiter outside the residence of this prince. Some htudents at a military academy in Constant!noplo were gaoled 'for saluting Jtoshud when (hey met his carriage in the ■ streets. Tho i three sisters of this close prisoner have seen him but 'once in fifteen years. ' No ono m Constantinople seems to know what to make of rumours that-llio old'man is suffering from diabetes. His character is described B6 mild and his disposition is reported to ho quito unsourcd by the restraints of his peculiar existence. Such is the sum of all the information available regarding the-personality of the man who may he called upon tomorrow to nil the Ottoman throne." ,: ABDUL-HAMID. . THIRTY-TWO YEAES OF INTRIGUE. 'Abdul-Hamid 11,,th0 threatened Sultan of inrkey, now fiG years of age, is tho becoml S°£- S ]&? n Abdul-Medjid, who reigned from VW to 1861. sHe was born on September 22, 18-1 A and succeeded on August 31, 1876, on' the deposition of his brother Murad, on tho ground of insanity. His position at the time was very difficult, and he feigned sympathy at nrst with- tho policy of reform, advocated: by progressive officials such as Midkat Pasha. Tho revolt of the Christian subjects of tho Porto m .European Turkey, and the barbarous methods adopted to quench Bulgarian disaffection, equally.played into the hands of Kussia; ?£V a H OU j& d "'>g «"> Russo-Turkish war llo<7.r8), the military virtues of the Turkish soldier and tho gallant defence of Plevna, rc- , stored a largo measure of sympathy to Turkey, the treaties of San Stefano land of Bcrhn S nu further T, sta ? e in the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. . As, soon es the war was over, Abdul-Hamid began to apply himself, with equal dexterity , and persistency, to two great objects, viz.: tho

substitution 'of liis own personal authority for that of tho ■great' bureaucracy jvhich had ruled Turkey under hi* immediate predecessors from the Sublime Porte, and the extension , <?f Jus influence and spiritual sovereign ■or Kaliff in compensation for the loss of temporal jpower iaflictjil upon tho . Sultanate.. Tho Jlejaz railway is a tangible result of the Sultan's religious policy. To establish his autocracy, he did not shrink, from sacrificing all;, the ablest, men' in his empire.' His'external policy was scarcely less .■successful, and less scrupulous, !His- dexterous diplomao? played off one great Power against another,; and enable 1 Inm even to escape'tho storm which' threatened" at one moment to overwhelm lu'ra, when publio opinion .in Europe, alul especially in England, realised the horror of the Armenia"! _ massacres ~ in.. 189G: , Russia, ' secretly, and Germanv, open ly, discountenanced Lord Salis bury's efforts to secure the ,united action of Europe, and - the Cretan insurrection soon '.diverted ,;.tho attention .jf diplomacy to another quarts.' ' The successful war with Greece in 1897 . did . much to ' rovivo : • Turkish military ■ prestiga;. and the practical loss of Crete/ 'although, evincing the dec:..into which tho Turkish Navy, had been allowed to iai', rather increased than diminished tho strength:of the empire.. ' Perhaps tho most, important . ; feature.in Abdul Hamid's later .policy was' this -.disposition-, iie showed to rely upon Germany, and _ to grant : that Power special,, privileges '■■ ; Asia . : , Minor. • But in July ; 1908, caino, the bloodless Young , Turk revolution, which foread the'autocratic Sultan back in-. ,to the . position of a "constitutional ruler, resulting—according to Professor Voml.cry—in ■ < the complete 'destruction' of Gorman influenco at Constantinople After ,spending years in exile, chiefly in franco, and Britain, and scheming, ', returning to their native land only by stealth, yet all tho timo : steadily spreading ' their proraganda through tho army, the Young '.Turks so per fected tho organisation of their, movement that they ; could rely oil the."'hole of, tho Third' Army Corps and a large portion of tho Second, Consequently, the Sultan surrendered, without a; blow,y and revived tho lapsed., constitution of liis, discarded and'murdered Minister of thirty years before, Midhat . Pasha.\.. But' those v who knew this crafty disposition and subterranean methods of v Abdul-Hamid predicted : that ho would bide his time and strike again; aiid if we can trust the cablcd statements of tho last week—that the armed coup in Constantinople was tlia work of tho Sultan himself—thoso predictions are borne out.' But tho. Third; and Second Army Corps have again conic to the rescue, Salonika has. proved itself master' of the capital, and the Young Turks from their western stronghold have effected a ct-nvincing counter-stroke. ■ And yet,; backed as of ; bid by Germany,' this, man', who for thirty-two years has"mis-ruled- the Turkish Empire, dies-Wd, and. even now.'may possibly mako terms'with his masters. A MONARCH IN HIS LAIR. WHERE HE'AWAITS THE ADVANCE'OF . THE YOUNG TURK'S, _ Constantly pre-occupied with apprehensions for his personal safety, Abdul-Hamid trans-' ierred his abode, 'shortly after coming: to the throne, from tho pala'ce of Dolmn Baghtchi, on tho bank of the Golden Horn,-where'tie did not feel safe, to Yildiz Kiosk, a'pleasure resort (»f his predecessors on a hill behind Ee-hiktash overlooking Pera, Stambou], the lower • Bos' •porus, ami tho Sea of Jlarmora. The park is surrounded : by n groat wall, in-.so.nt parts M ieet high, and contains two small,lrkes, tho one natural, and tho other artificial. Early in 1901 tho Sultan, in order, to extend' the park towards, Ortakeui, bought a largo accent estate, consisting of a mansion and extensive grounds, which are now enclosed within tho mural fence of Yildiz. Within this careful)v guarded enclosure are'.numerous buildings which include an observatory, baths, a museum ; of arms, a porcelain factory, a furniture inannfactory, armouries, stabling fcr 150 huscs and a harness factory besides a number t chalets and other fanciful edifices.-. Tho most oonsnicuous amongst these latter is tha Marassin IGosk, built especially for tho occupation-of.(ho German Lmperor- on his .first: visit in 1889, and enlarged for his later visit, in 1898. Some if tho smaller .chalets are used as prisons for political prisoners, t as houses of deration for ?«*>!» undergoing inquisitorial tm tmciit \\ 'thin tho main enclosure a second watt surrounds tho kiosk, which the Sultan, with Uis four principal wiyes, inhabits, and which he himself designed, Alioufc it arc grouped smaller ■kiosks, m.wliioh tho other ladies of the harem reside. Tho, doors ot this inner, barrier are all locked it,sunset, and therein, protected by his bodyguard, the Sultan passes his nighf.s in "wliut ho considers assured security. In March, 1901, the Officers, of tho Privy Purse, from, tho windows of which—commanding a view of the road between tho palaco gatoway and tho Ilamedieh Mosque-approved Visitors witnessed tho Selam- 1 liK procession on I'rida.vs, were demolished <<v Imperial order, called forth ,bv tho Sultarf'* over-increasing fear of assassination. Tha palaco domain is guarded by two batteries of bUenVand'by tho whole of the 2nd. division of tho iirst Artiy Corps, composed of 12 battalions, each GOB strong.: And the Su'ian has his own special bodyguard. ABDUL, "THE DAMNED." Tho humiliation of Abdul-Hamid, after his notorious roign. of (jespotism, recalls tho violent sonnot whioli was written for his condemnation by Mr. .William Watson, in' tho'vear of the Armenian massacres. Tho sonnet reads':— Caliph, I did thee wrong. I hailed theo late "Abdul tho Damned," and would' recall my word, i It merged theo with tho uiiillustrious herd Who crowd the approaches to tho infernal . _ fjato— ■ • . - \ . hp.irits. gregarious, equal ,iu their "state As is the innumerable ocean- bird, Cannot or gull, whoso wandering -plaint is ■ heard , . s.• On Ailsa or lona desolate. For, in a world where cruel deeds abound The merely damned aro legion; with such souls Is not each hollow.. and cranny of Tn'nW crammed P ' Thou with tho brightest Of Hell's aureoles Dost Shine supreme, incomparably crowned Immortally, beyond' all.jnortals, damned ' •

Coal of^excellent quality and thickness has been, discovered at Kcrcslcy and Binlev near Coventry, at a oonveuieut depth. .j