TURKEY'S UNPOPULAR WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2417, 24 March 1915, Page 6

TURKEY'S UNPOPULAR WAR

NATIONAL DISCONTENT RAPACIOUS REQUISITIONS ("Morning Post" Correspondent.) Berne, January 28. Several Swiss subjects who liave just arrived from Palestine and Syria havo interesting information to give about what is going 011 there. Piecing these various accounts together, there can be no doubt that matters in the Holy Land are literally topsy-turvy. The existence of strained relations between the Turkish and the German officers is confirmed by these neutral observers, as is also the fact that the Holy War is a fiasco. One Swiss, who was iu Jerusalom during November and December last, and ; some of whose remarks I have already telegraphed, narrates that he witnessed the ceremony of bringing a Bairak (not, he is careful to add, the Bairak, the famous banner whose origin is supposed to he contemporaneous with that of Islam) into the Mosque of Omar. Ostensibly the banner had been brought by the Mecca Railway from the tomb of the Khalif Omar, in Medina, but the people appeared sceptical about t'his. Nevertheless, a solemn procession waß organised, headed by the mufti of Medina, an old man of seventy, who caught pneumonia on the same day and aied three days afterwards—an event which is considered by the Moslem people as of evil omen.

Although it may not have been possible to inspire t'he people with religious fervour for the Holy War, yet preparations on a large scale were "going on for another kind of war, judging by the hundreds of camel caravans going towards Hebron, and thence southwards towards Edom, and presumably the Sinaitic Peninsula. These caravans carried heavy loads of provisions and ammunition, cannon, and pontoons, besides which there were machine-guns (carried on mule or ass back) and a certain number of troops, but apparently not very many. Preparations havo certainly been proceeding 011 an enormous scale, but they would go on more rapidly were the Turkish soldiers more enthusiastic and lvere there no friction between Turkish and German officers. Oppression In Syria. The Moslems iu general are highly discontented, and ask nothing better than, to see the war cease, if only because of the extremely heavy requisitions which are _ being made. Poor enough at any time, these people are now reduced to the extremity of misery, the' Turks and Germans having commandeered all the chief necessaries, not merely camels, mules, horses, and cattle of all descriptions, even goats, but also wheat, barley, paraffin, butter, sugar, and ooffee, to Bay nothing of money. The one redeeming feature in the present situation in Palestine seems to be that the rainy season has set in much earlier than usual, and by midDecember a considerable quantity of ram had already fallen. To travel in the low-lying parts of the country is virtually impossible, owing to the lack of provisions and tho absence of shelter, and even tho camels have died in thousands, owing to exposure to rain and cold and to insufficient food. It is impossible to go about tho country without seeing not only dead camels, but dead animals of all kinds. Whatever may be the result of'the Turkish campaign elsewhere, it has certainly causod misery in Palestine and Svria. Even the German officers themselves probably, scarcely believe that any good will come out of their desert march towards the Suez Canal to attack Egypt, the difficulties' of such an enterprise being too great, and so much time having already been lost during which it has been possible to make arrangements for the_ defence of the Canal. Another Swiss, just returned from Beirut, and particularly well acquainted with Asia Minor and Syria, says, in the "Journal de i Geneve," that the Turkish mobilisation was a positive godsend to almost all the Turkish officials, with the possible exception of a handful _'of officers belonging to the old regime, "With tho present leaders of the Young Turks," he says, "everything is an excuse , for illicit gains." Even now recruits need not join the Army for the so-called Holy War if they can, and do, give liberal bakshish in the right quarter. ' He mentions the instance of a personal friend, who was obliged thrice to "grease the palms" of the. authorities in order to 6ecure his release from "conscription. Official Blackmail. This man, who is about thirty yearn of age, was first called up as belonging to the aotive army. He paid £40, and thought he would then be left in peace, especially as, being a Christian Turkish subject, he had done no military service. _ Accordingly, he was not a little astonished when, about ten days later, lie was called up as a reservist, to extrica'te himself from which predicament he had to disburse £16. A fortnight later still he was called up as a territorial, expending only £4 this time to release himself from his obligations. As a matter of fact, tho only men who do join the Turkish Army are those wlio are too poor to afford to bribe the officials to let them off.

'the population of Lebanon, although not compelled to serve in the Army, is apparently in torror of being suddenly summoned to do so, and tho result is that the people take every opportunity of leaving on an emigrant • ship for Egypt or Europe. There is no difficulty about getting away even now, and eveu if all emigration is supposed to be striotly forbidden, for the emigration officers and the. police have an understanding that on a certain evening a certain number of emigrants will be shipped, and the police receive from the agents about 3s. per head, which in the courso of months amounts to a substantial sum, shared among the heads of the police. Salaries Withheld. Not only has Turkey insufficient money to be able to offer reasonable salaries to lier officials, but even such salaries as they are supposed to receive are often partially withheld. For example, the Swiss merchant quoted says that in July the telegraph employees of a certain large town in Syria had to sign a receipt for their first four months' salary that year, but they only received two months' salary, and" those who did not care to sign a receipt for what they had not received were told that if they did not sign they would get nothing. Tho consequence'is that, as they cannot earn sufficient money lawfully, they earn it unlawfully, and it is quite easy to come to an arrangement with theni to see any telegram that von may wish to see—for a merchant, 'for instance, to see a telegram sent by another merchant to a. competitor. Tt is only a matter of a little bargaining about the price.

Til the opinion of both the neutral observers quoted, corruption has no-'-been worso than at present in countries under Ottoman rule. Abdul Hamid's government was bad, hut that of the \oung Turks is far worse, and the people of Palestine and Syria know this, and are looking for a deliverance, which seems to tbem lons in coining. If a liritish force of 100.000 troops were to land at Beirut and Jaffa, tho population would welcome tlu>m. and tho TuroTonton tyrants now terrorising the country would be lynched.