"YOUNG TURKS" IN LONDON

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 316, 6 January 1909, Page 4

"YOUNG TURKS" IN LONDON

Two interesting figures in Ixmdon recently have been AhniH'd Ri/.a JJey, tlie leader of the Young Turks, and his colleague Xa/.im Bey, the famous propa-

gandist. They are on a tour as ambassadors from the Young Turks' party to the principal Courts of Kuropc, and have, bwii conferring in l/ondon with Sir Ediward Grey. Ahnwd Riza P»ey, although a "Young Turk/' is no longer young. He is a tall, handsome man of lifty, with steei-grey hair and beard, a pensive face, and calm, dignified bearing. Until the recent revolution iu Turkey, Jie had been an exile from his native land for twenty years. Under the despotism of the old regime, he had fljwn .sentenced to ninety-nine years 1 penal sentence a despot's sense of humor is usually ironic and grim—for lese majeste. lfe preferred a home iu 'Paris to life-long imprisonment in a Turkish dungeon, and to France he ae« eordingly escaped. 'His only offence hid been to* address reports to the Sultan and his councillors advocating reforms. Ahm-ed Riza Bey settled in Paris, and with the help of a few young patriots started a newspaper called "Michveret," the organ of the Committee of Union and Progress, which ultimately brought about the; recent revolution. For years the little paper was distributed secretly throughout the Turkish Empire, ami suib-coinmittees of the Union were formed in every centre. The educated (classes in Turkey were the first to be •won nver, and no fe\yer than 70011 Wntellectuals" were exiled by the Sultan •for sedition. Finally, many of the officers of the army were won over lo the I Young Turks 1 cause, and within a short time the whole of the Third Army Corps •and a large portion of the Second joined •the movement. In this way a nearly bloodless revolution was achieved, as the world now knows. The action of Austria in taking ov-r Bosnia-Herzegovina has given a set-back fo the progressive policy of the Young Turks, compelling them to devote to 'armaments such funds as they had meant to expend on education and the reform of the law courK "Austria/* says Riza Bey. "while professing to nform us in Macedonia, has brought the general reformation of Turkey to a -standstill, but not for very ■found the public treasury practically wnpty, and such moneys as we have ibefri able to raise have irone lo an object that was farthest from our wish. 'But henceforth the credit ol Turkey will ■he sensiblv improved "when investors realise that their capital will not find its way into bottomless pits, but will the safeguarded by the expression of pul>lie opinion and a popular assembly. Such eourts of appeal did not exist under the old regime. "As to the question of the Oriental ■Railway. I think I may say that it will ■he satisfactorily settled upon a business ■basis. The Bulgarian question secondary one. the adjustment of which ■eannot be doubted. We look forward to a time uear at hand when contracts, both public and private, will be duly enforced and respected in Turkey; and (where two claims to concession may possess equal merits, it stands to reason that those which will meet with ■our approval will be the claims of the nation (England) that has befriended \

' Tt is inlerpstin" to nolo, 1»y Die tvay, ■tliat tin* loader of the Y<m»;r Turks declares thiil "the education of woman •is oiKi of llio most -potent means hy •wliieli we hope io reform otii' country.'