THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 24, 1880.
The stumbling-block to the peace of Europe, Turkey, has failed to comply with the stipulations regarding her in the Treaty of Berlin—has omitted to introduce the much needed reforms for the better government of the country, imposed on her for the benefit of the unhappy Turkish people, and she now appeals to the Great Powers to organise those alterations in accordance with the conditions of the said treaty. This application on the part of the Turkish Government is just what might have been expected. The enervating social customs ot' the Turks, and the general criminal indolence which prevail, are not at all conducive to the good government of the country. The long shibouks, the almost continual strain on the physical powers of the pashas, and the listless ennui they experience is the cause of the rottenness in the administration of public affairs. With such men at the head of affairs as these, who fritter the public funds of the country in muslin and sensual waste, there is small wonder at the almost hopeless state the finance has drifted into. The latest idea or proposal of Turkey is that a com*
mission of Kuropean Ministers should be formed to carry "the reforms demanded into effect. At whose expense? That of the ever unsuspicious B.P. ? We should have thought that after Turkey had been saved from losing her capifcnl by the intervention of Great Britain and the other Powers, that the least she could have done would have been to comply with reforms so much needed. But no ! No sooner is this spoilt child got cut of the mess, than sli3 pursues her old course, and runs headlong into another. The country under the control of the Sultan and his Ministry is by no means to be despised, indeed it comprises some of the most fertile tracts of land in Europe. It is the same want of energy that prevents Turkey from raising herself. That ia a highly civilized quarter of the globe, there should be such a remnant of the barbaric age allowed to exist as the Turkish Empire, is to bo regretted. Huled over by sensual incompetents, pampered by the European Powers, bufc denounced by iconoclasts, Turkey still remains the spoilt child of Europe. If she cannot manage her own affairs and conduct them in a creditable manner the sooner she is cooked and served out to the other Powers the better. Such a course would have been adopted long ago, but each of the Great Powers was afraid of exciting the envy or spleen of the other in proposing the allotment each state should receive. So long as Turkey is allowed to remain in the hands of the Turkish Ministry, so long will she prove herself the barrier to her own advancement and civilization. In the hands of English, or at any rate of a European Power, she would become a successful country in matters of finance, but until that desirable change takes place she will remain what she is—bankrupt, effete, despised, and denounced by those who have any thought for European welfare.
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Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3559, 24 May 1880, Page 2
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528THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 24, 1880. Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3559, 24 May 1880, Page 2
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