TURKISH REFORMS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 203, 17 August 1908, Page 3

TURKISH REFORMS.

ENCOURAGLVG STRIKER*. Th., Consta M«opl ei August 14. mere are no i ears 0 t troubleconstontly encouraging slrike;j TJler * hav« been swkes of%,gareUe-makc s and porters. »»«».«» The Government is acting energeticPIRATICAL JUAiB-iKKS. UAITY OF OUUSnANS AND MOSLEMS. m.. Constantinople, August 14 Kw.f, e UovenUDeu t of Turkey, was of £ZOO,OOO and £6OO respectively S U o" y off redbyhimdUrin Remarl»l.le scenes were witnessed at Sprout, where Chilians and Moslems jointly celebrated the new regime. There were frequent Reiterations of the sentiments of the brotherhood of Mosfcms and Christians, who, it was urged, should henceforth live to-viner in peace. Half tho town of Uskuh was destroy<3WoW e ' The IOS 3 ' S estimated »* A NEW ERA. UHE ADVANCE "5F UOWHTUTION- 1 ALIbM. I

, BOWER OF THE vouflG TURKS' ; PARTY. - Received l(i, 4.15 p.m. ' ™, rr ,9 0 , natan t il ' u P l e, August 15. ■line lurkish troops at Smyrna released all criminals, at the same tune warning tfl«m that tney would be promptly hanged if they committed iresh crimes. By order of the League of the Union Of Progress, General Tewfik ana other prominent officers were accused of treason and publicly degraded at Smyrna. Tho Young Turkish Party is finding great difficulty in restraining antagonists of Greeks and Bulgarians at Monastic Stevedores at Constantinople endeavored to compel workmen to join the strike, but the Young Turks' committee promptly over-awed them with infantry. Riza Pasha, having refunded £200,000, has been allowed to return home. IS THE SULTaFsLNCERE? POPULAR RULE AGAINST MOSLEM ; • BELIEF. "The granting of a Constitution to Turkey, or, as scums more probable by the tone of the cablegrams, the revival of the grant of 1877, may mark a momentous period in the history of tile Sultanate," remarks tie Sydney Morning Herald. "Ho one believes that Abdul Hamid is sincere in his conces-i Won. ■ What has been obtained has been wrung from him only by fear. To-morrow, if the pressure of that fear were removed, hj« would find means to nullify bis grant and make it of no effect. Timid as be is oy disposition, his strength lies in a craftiness upon which all Europe has learned it must calculate. The teachings of his belief, ;io , less than th« history and claims of his bouSe, forbid him to recognise the 1 right of the people to rule* As it Moslem, the fact that he is in a place of power furnishes clear proof that the source of his power is of God. "Again, the rolurs of his house have all been despots, and of such a character as only Easterners know. But Ab- , dul Hamid has been the most despotic ■ of all. His predecessors exercised a per- j Bonal tyranny over only their immediate surroundings; Ministers to whom j they delegate their powers, having al- j ways the spectre Of assassination be- , fore their eyes if they ventured too far, | diluted the despotism with which their ; masters invested them. But Abdul . Hamid exercised until recently a per- , sonal rule over all the departments of , .Turkish Government. He broke the ; power of the bureacracy. His Ministers were not administrators, but mere j

clerks, wEose duty it to to register < and transmit bis orders—nothing more. "He claims the title of Caliph, the vice-regent of the prophet on earth, and the Moslems who acknowledge that claim must recognise his supremacy in all things, and must follow whither lie should lead. To consolidate tfiis power, to validate this claim, and so extend his authority over the whole Moslem world has been the principal object of his reign. If he submits to the will of a legislature, if he limits bis power to just so much as the deputies "of the "people will permit him, by so much he casts doubt on his right to Caliphate, whose true possessor Allah would never allow to be so abased. '"Bhough the working of all these factors may well overthrow the dawning hope of freedom in Turkey there is one very potent factor in its favor. The Sultan has been secure in his dominions because of his army, mat support has now failed him. Whole brigades led by officers wfco have joined the Young lurks, rebelled against Wa tyranny. They proclaimed svif-go-jrernment, and set up an Administration jn Macedonia where the most trusted. of his troops were quartered. Should they maintain in thtfir task that sustained energy in which Asiatics faive hitherto been lacking tho future of the Constitution is safe. It is then of interest to speculate on tne effect which •» Turkey will exercise on the lest oi Europe. "With rule by a legislature all reason Cor tfte horrible condition of Macedonia must disappear. The Kmpire in Europe and in Asia may well be welded into a atrong sovereignity and in such case the Hope cherished by some of thu rowers, of'dividing the 'sick man's' inheritance will vanisl With stable and honest . rule, industrial and agricultural Me anil 'take on a new aspect There will . be every incentive to found nativ« industries, and to make the land yield of its produce to its highest pitch A contented and strong Ottoman Empire taeans that the problem which the Concert of Europe set itself will be Somatically solved, Great Britain wiU Save no tea/ of the future of the Medtterranean, and the Fau-Gern.au v.s on of predominance in Asia Minor and the "aUev of the Euphrates will remain nothing more than a dream.'