The Evening Star TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4280, 14 November 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1876.

Tiie Turkish ou'lties in Bulgaria were lro.;gh: into notice las»t evening by the Rev. ! 'r Roskby, at the meeting of the Bible ■'ocietv, and sujrg«sti"ns verc made for lidding a public meeting and collecting subwzy&m Q& tatetf of Jibe £u£&&e. Thaw

is naturally much that is not generally known connected with this struggle. To seme it appears merely a political movement j some imagine it a religious one; some that the people of the revolted Province have be.-n incited to insurrection by Russian devices. But the origin of the rebellion was resistancetooppression, Thereisaremarkable connection between revolutionary movements and the food question. So long as populations have wherewith to eat and drink and something to spare, they will bear much ; but when the tax-gatherer comes and levies upon men's poverty, they are roused to a sense of their true condition. Bad harvests are the fiercest political agitators. It' was the bad harvest in Herzegovina in 1874 that has led to the murders and abominable atrocity of 1876. The people could not pay the taxes. an d the Turkish Government could not do without them } and this anfcagouistn was intensified by the bad system ol collecting revenue by the Ottomane. We gather from indisputable authorities that those who farmed the taxes delayed assessing the tithes until necessity had leu to the consumption or sale of part of the crops, and that, in the absence of proof to the contrary, they claimed an enormous sum, far beyoud what they would have been entitled to had there been full instead of scanty yield. In addition to this, the damaged corn was estimated at the highest market prices realised for sound gram in the markets of Constantinople. As the pecple could not pay tho demands they resisted, and the Turkish officials beat, and imprisoned them, and also threatened their chiefs with death. This was the beginning of troubles—what the end will be none can tell. Evils produce evils. Sow poverty in the cottage Ind it soon grows in the palace. As the people could not pay their taxes the Government were unable to pay interest on loans Production had been taxed to the utmost, and the failing revenue cost more to collect because nuhtery force was required in addition to the Civil The Government burnt the candle at both ends, and as a natural consequence money and credit were consumed. When once a source of discontent is discovered others soon present themselves. Civd wai' is always cruel, and even among Christian nationij leads to savage atrocities, horrible to contemplate; but it reaches its climax in the East of the Old World, where human beings seem to have become stunted in mind and morals. Scarcely have the Turks exceeded the abominations suffered by our own people during the Indian revolt, and in both cases the perpetrators acted upon their traditions. Happily, Western Europe, turbulent though it may be, has a cultivated humanity to moderate the excesses to which triumphant battle tends. But Mahommedanism is unchanged. As the first followers of the Prophet were in their cruelties, their descendants are. Their excesses are but reproductions of those of the more remote Assyrians. If we read the revelations of the arrow-headed records brought to light by the researches of the last few years, and translated for us by men whose labors may fairly be characterised as wonderful, one might almost imagine the Bulgarians were being trampled on by one of those ancient regal tyrants who boasted—

My faultless horses, yoked to my chariot, Through the deep pools of blood stepped slowly. Of my chariot as it swept away the slain and fallen, With blood and flesh its wheels were clogged. The heads of soldiers, like ukiti 1 and into great wicker baskets I stuffed

The Turkish Government that has sanctioned, if uot authorised, the cruelties in Bulgaria has been mainly bolstered op for the last century by Great Britain. Had it i not been for the unreasoning jealousy with ' which Russia has been regarded at Home, the people would at least have been under a milder despotism, and most probably in a progressive and comparatively happy condition. The veil has fallen from British eyes : but we scarcely think that even yet they can realise the truth that they have through the terror of ignorance, which fears what it canaot understand, been instrumental in preparing the way for the horrors of the Bulgarian massacres. The policy of interference has brought its inevitable retribution. We hope the more enlightened tactics of the last few years will preve successful in confining this war spirit to the limited area within which it now rages. But one truth forces itself upon us, and that is, as through the mistaken action of Great Britain Mahommedanism possesses the the power to oppress, massacre, and mutilate those of its subjects who are of our own faith more or less developed, our duty is plainly to succour them in their distress, and to help to mitigate their sufferings. We may not be able to do much in the way of bringing about a better state of things, but we can raise our voice against their oppressors, so that it may add intensity to the exjjression of condemnation* which finds its echo throughout the civilized world. And, in confirmation of our expressed hatred of cruelty and oppression, we may contribute our share to the relief of the necessities of those who remain to suffer in the desolated districts of the Provinces struggling for libertv.