HOW THE SULTAN ROBS WOMEN.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 268, 20 April 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

HOW THE SULTAN ROBS WOMEN.

(Tnis article is written by a Belgan who, before tno war, was on the staff of Etlingor's, the famous detective agency in Berlin.)

Memhed V. for some years past has supp'.eaiented the income ho derives from the country over which he rules by a method that even among the Turks is considered a particularly abominable one. This is by robbing the women adm'ttcd to his harem of their fortunes and property. I had heard rumours of this before I went to Berlin, but when employed at Etlinger's I had direct evidence of the fact and of tho manner in which the Kaiser's friend and ally has acquired a considerable portion of his present wealth. One of our clients, a German merchant, became engaged to bo married to a Greek lady, describing herself as a widow, and passing under the name cf Mme. Kalal>os. She was a beautiful woman of about twenty-four years cf age, and was. staying at the Esplanade, one of tho wealthiest hotels in Berlin-

TURNED OUT OF THE HAREM. Our client apparently becamo suspicious of her character, and he employed Etlinger's to shadow her. I need not go into the details ci this case—it is sufficient to say that we ascertained that the lady was not precisely what sho pretended to be and tho engagement was broken off. As a matter of fact the lady herself, when she discovered that we had found certs] in facts about her, gave the true dotaikj of her lu'story to Hcrr Krasner, our chief.

Her father was a Turk, ibut her mother had been a Greek. She had been admitted when she was twentyone to the Sultan's harem. Her father, who was a wealthy merchant, gave her a dowry of £15,000. Xow, I must explain that when i dowered lady .is admitted to a Turkish home, her lord becomes the trustee jf her fortune, and among the Turks it is considered one of the most sacred obligations that can be imposed on any man to keep that trust inviolate. If tho lady dies whilst in the. harem, her dowry reverts to her nearest relatives unless slie should otherwise dispose of it by w'll, and she has, of course, whilst in tho harem, the free use of tho income arising from her money. If, however, tho lady, whilst in the harem, is unfaithful to her lord her dowry can bo confiscated by him, but the fact has to bo proved in a court of law.

But in the caso of a lady in tho Sultan's harem no proof in a court of law is required. Tho Sultan merely takes a solemn oath and can then confiscate her fortune. The Sultan under the old Turkish constitution could, if he pleased, havo the lady in such circumstancea put to death, but in that case her dowry was not confiscated, but passed to her nearest relatives. Menihed V., however, is not hampered by any consideration of this sort. He saw in tho confiscating of the fortunes of the lad'es of Irs harem a way to obtain money of which he waa badly in need, and ho takes advantage of it to the full. His plan is simply to trump t-p a charge against a dowered lady, and then to turn her out of his harem and confiscate her money. In the particular case I mention the lady was, beyond all doubt, innocent of tho charge brought ag.iinst her. Tho object with which the charge was inado could not be doubted, for she had r. letter from an official at the Turkish court written to her father suggesting that if he increased her dowry by nnother £IO,OOO the charge might not bo proceeded with. Her father's reply to this suggest on was to write a lette. - to his daughter expressing his .ibsoluto belief in her innocence and indgnantly refusing to comply with tho suggestion made to him. The lady shortly afterwards was turned out of tho harem, and her fortune was confiscated by the Sultan. This disgrace to his daughter so upset her father that ho shot himself.

THE HIDDEN DAGGER. Whilst I was at Etiinger's, the Sultan camo to Berlin incognito, and durng that visa very nearly lost his l'fe at the hands of a woman whom ho had robbed and turned out of his harem. One of Etiinger's men w.as deputed to escort tho Saltan to a famous night club in Berlin known as "Macko's." I may say that vo frequently escorted distinguished foreign visitors at night round tho Bohem'an resorts in Bcrlm.

A\'hen tho Sultan was passing through tho lounge of "Macko's" he .••aw a lady sitting on a sofa. The two stared at each other for a moment. Then the Sultan turned to leave tho room, but he bad not gone two steps when tho lady rushed at him. The Etlinger man who was with the Sultan and a Turkish attendant saw the lady, when she wa.s a couple of yards from tho Sultan, wh'p out a short dagger from a s : lver ca-e hanging at her waist. Both men flung themselves on her at once. During the confusion the Sultan slipped quietly out of the club. It appear,? that she was a Circassian who l:>d been nearly a year in tho Sultan's harem. She had a dowry *>f about £6.000, and on a trumped-up charge her dowry had l>een confiscated. Sho disappeared shortly afterwards from Constantinople, after writing the Sultan a letter telling him that if ever she camo across him she would attempt hda life.

ROBBED OF BEAUTIFUL JEWELS. She always carried a dagger about with her in a short silver .'heath that sho wore at her side, though whether slio did this with the deliberate purpose of killing the Sultan with the weapon if sho rnme across him is doubtful. She more probably carried tho dagger and sheath as an ornament. The Sultan, of course, did not wish to have her charged with the attempted attack on him, so after being detained three days ;it the police station, she was s'mply deported from Germany a* nn undesirable foreigner. It has lieen estimated that threequarters of the Sultan's private fortune, amounting to about £'40,000, are the proceeds of the robberies of women who have been turned out. A year before the war the daughter of a Bavarian woman entered the Sultan's harem. She had no dowry, but she possessed a large quantity of beautiful jewellery bequeathed to her by a relative. The jewellery wn» worth at lea.-r £IO.OOO. Every bit of it was taken from lier by Mem bed. who sold it. put tho proceeds in Irs pocket, and shortly afterwards turned the g>rl out. Her mother th:>n came to Berlin, and after great difficulty obtained an audience first willi tho German Korean Secretary on tho subject and afterwards wth the Kaispr. The Emr>eror eventually persuaded b : s Turkish friend and ally to repay £6.P00 of the money he

had realised out of this jewel robbery to tho mother of the girl he had robbed.

Merahed haa not found it, however, so easy of lato to obtain money in this way, and ho has had to resort to various tricks to induce dowered ladies to enter his harem. Promises of special privilege* and favours are- made to merchants and other business people : n Turkey if they send :>. well-dowered daughter to the Imperial harem. A Turkish wino merchant was once approached by a court official about sending his daughter to the imperial harem.

BRIBES AND THREATS. Tho court officii suggested tnat tho merchant would be appointed one of the court wuio merchants if his daughter entered tho Sultan's harem. The merchant agreed to let his daughter do so, if sio were willing to go. Then the court official suggested that a man in tho position of this merchant ought to bo :.blo to give his daughter a good dowry. When ho declined to do so, the offer was at once withdrawn. When prom'ses and bribes fail to bring well-dowcred ladies to tho harem, threats have sometimes been tried. Moro than one* merchant has left Constantinople on account of threats held out to him by a court official if he did not send his daughter into tho Imperial harem with a good dowry.