The Sunday Oregonian., June 13, 1915, MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 4, Image 70

THE SUNDAY - OREGONIAN, PORTL.AXD, JUXE 13, 1915.
RMANY
tm - W.
UN
' BT J. J. BOSDAX. " ,
Formerly a member of the executive com -jnittee
"of the late Young Turk Society of
Asia Minor and propagandist for India,
Persia and Egypt a - native- of Adana,
Asia Minor, ot ureek extraction.) .
THE annual interest charged on
part of the Ottoman government's
national indebtedness, the part
covered by loans, amounts to about
one-third of its actual revenue.
All in all, before she entered the
Tar, Turkey's net revenue was equal
to one-seventh of the interest due on
her total -indebtedness.
After the Balkan war, bound as t?h
was in international shackles, Turkey
added links to her chains, until she
had mortgaged every available harbor,
river, forest and mine to European
bankers. And now, without money,
men or prestige, h'ere she is again
shackled to allies who cannot help her;
Isolated, fighting- three first-class pow
ers, lvlto are striking her from both'
flanks, rear and front.
We will be certainly defeated and
immediately' afterward we 'will start
all over again, "doing business at the
eame old stand"; whatever is left of
our "integrity? ' will be "guaranteed"
Jointly by our combined enemies and
friends, and we will continue paying
interest- on our national lebts; for we
are a hopeless case.
Had we been any other .nation or
people wo would have been annihil
ated 200 years ago, but we are Otto
mans, and being Ottomans we have a
charm all our own. This charm is our
debt to all nations.
But that was not all. Enver's so
journ in Berlin had its evil effect.
"Within two months after the procla
mation of the new. Ottoman constitu
tion many feuds and frictions arose in
the "ranks of the party Itself; these
feuds were those of the Liberal and
Nationalist Young Turks. The Liberal
Young Turks attempted to commit the
empire to a "liberal policy" and de
manded the recognition of the equality
of all elemtnts throughout the empire .
in the eyes of the constitution, while
the Nationalists insisted on adopting a.
policy of Nationalism, which they
"named "the committee of union and
progress." They demanded that all ele
ments unite for the progress of Turk
ish nationalism. This "union and prog
res" is the equivalent of the "German
Kultur" and was backed up by the
newly converted "Turkish Junkery."
Thereupon the Liberal element with
in the Young Turkey party, having al
ready been disgusted, with the be
havior of the Nationalist clique, which
was playing the part of the power be
hind the throne, formed a secret par
liamentary coalition with the Con
tervative Old Turks and. formulated a
programme for a permanent future
policy. This scheme was to permit
euch numerically predominant Chris
tian sectors of Turkey's Macedonian
possessions to unite with such Balkan
kingdoms 'as they chose; to recognize
the independence of the Albanians and,'
having thus eliminated the eternal
cause of discord in the Balkans, to
form an entente with the newly cre
ated Albania and then with Montene
gro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece; and,
after having assured the security and
the integrity of the Ottoman Empire,
to adopt a stern foreign policy. In the
meantime serious and swift internal
reforms were to be undertaken.
This would have prevented the Bal
kan war and perhaps the present Eu
ropean conflagration. The programme
was submitted to Sultan Hainid and,
after one week's deliberation, was ap
proved in Us entirety. Early in Janu
ary. 1909. however, the German Ambas
sador got wind of these negotiations
between the coalition and the Sultan.
The nationalists immediately busied
themselves with calumnies against the
Christian members of the Parliament.
They incited the Moslem elements in
the remote' regions of the empire
against their Christian countrymen.
Meanwhile they arrested the liberal
members of the Young Turkey party,
denouncing them as plotters of a reactionary-
counter revolution against the
constitutional regime. .Finally, in
March. 1909, the nationalists- succeeded
in staging a counter revolution- in or
der to create a "pretense" to overthrow
Abd-Ul-Hamid and put an end to the
coalition's Balkan programme. The
memorable Adana massacre was to be
carried through first, and the counter
revolution afterward. The object was
to connect Abd-Ul-Hamid - with mas
sacre, but .something went-wrong and
the plan was disarranged. Never
theless, the perpetrators were not to be
foiled. They carried the devilish pro
gramme through.
Enver Bey returned from Berlin and
once more figured in the limelight be
side Mahmoud Shefket Pacha, when the
latter made his triumphal march to
Constantinople, -suppressed - the so
called counter revolution -with anviron
HowDii ir?:.;'; "T. " '?! Wh.it Did
ET m ".'- '-t'r' , ENTER. '
Tw toe :&g&-. ''M$wM f i : JUi? 'Ways'
: : & U zr&r', xi. tfi'h p JfM i ft? r?-;
v k'-S -v r-rf ki'.iiii iiiS f-.
, -Cci t - -I IZ&jiSx-S jti "ii Si " f "
" ' """"" Xa&J
hand, deposed Abd-Ul-Hamid and put'
the present -weak Sultan on-the Otto-;
man throne.' It was after this second '
revolution that the Old "Turks, as well
as the liberal Young -. Turks. - wero
hanged or sent out to Anatolian prov
inces to build roads. Then, dispensing !
with the liberal Toung Turks, on one
pretext or another, the -"Committee of
Union and Progress" (the -Turkish Kul
tur). took full charge -'Of the" newer '
regime and controlled the' foreign and ,
the -domestic policies -of' 'the ' empire.
This newer revolution having -cost more
than $15,000,000.'. the new- regime- was
already under pecuniary obligations to
the German financiers, who. represent
ing themselves as German and. Austrian
Jews, had generously financed this sec-:
ond revolution. "
So far as German interests were con
cerned, this sum was well spent. Ger
many did not wish' to h'a've "the Otto
man empire absolutely independent in ' th Grand Vizier -and the Minister of city, it went through various stages "f
her. dealings with the -European, pow- having been removed by assassi-, evolution until Prussia had availed her
self -of every opportunity. -in strength
ening her hold over' every' governmen
tal function of the empire. -The Prus
sian exercised control over the Turk's
Civil : government, taught him how to
drill, sold him Krupp guns, - ran his
railroads, owned his copper and . silver
ers. Furthermore, .the , eliniina.Upn of nation, Enver had become a Pacha, and ;
the Macedonian - question f rom. the 'was promoted to the Ministry of -War,
Turkish national politics wuj(i upset under . Prince Said Halim, the new.
the Pan-Germanic dream,' Vfrom .Berlin ; Grand Vizier and Minister of Foreign
to Bagdad." forever. She 'had 'hitherto Affairs, and at the outbreak of the Eu
solidified herself as tbeatron of .the ropean war, early last August, this was
Turk,
This counter revolution -and the, con
sequent establishment of -a-newer and
more efficient despotispi under' a new
name in the capital of. the Turk had
amazed the political students, of the
world. The fragmentary1; cable, dis
patches, never explained the peculiar In Constantinople.
workings of the Near Eastern politics. . We reason like this: . The nations we
The energetic . protests, of : the .liberal are fighting own us body and soul. If
Turks, as well. as the serious, warnings they defeat us, which they certainly
of the Christian population of Turkey, will, they will take what ' belongs to
were drowned in the well-intentioned them; on the other hand, if the Teutons
but misdirected praise of .the Western defeat the allies, we will repudiate our
world.. The West did not .and was. not international -indebtedness. So, which
in a position to understand that the ; ever way the fortune of war turns, we
"Committee of Union and Progress" will not receive anything, and yet we
was a Turkish term for German Kultur cannot lose. , for we have, nothing to
and Prussian Junkery. ;,.' -lose. -
his. schools, . acquainted
the suggestion of - the ' Russian Em
peror a programme for reform In Mace
donia was devised. ' Subsequently this
scheme came to .-be known as the
"Mursteg programme." - ,
Under this programme the 'Macedo
nian1 provinces of the Turk were di
vided into racial delimitations and cer
tains measures of reform were under
taken by the gendarmeries of . Austria,
the standing of the Turkish Ministry.
Abd-Ul-Hamid's feeble tyranny in the mines, built
past had, already driven . Turkey into him with the German, Kultur, and final- Great Britain, France. Italy and Rus- T Turkav rjartv's management of
many years in Paris as a refugee and
publisher of revolutionary literature,
returned to Constantinople and became
- the-President of-the first Turkish Par
liament. , But from the first day of the
; Toung Turkey party's advent to power
; it adopted a nationalistic policy based
upon ""Turco-Mohammedanism" that is
', It asserted that, the Turk being numer
ically predominant, the empire's affairs
must -be conducted with due considera
tion to the Turkish nationalistic asplra-
: tions, and Mohammedanism must be
recognized as the official state religion,
r while other' religions - must be recog
nized by the new Turkish constitution
: as foreign religions, "chartered and
privileged.'.'. -
The .8,000,000 Turkish Christians resi
dent throughout the empire considered
this as an indirect disfranchisement of
the non-Moslem elements, who are in
tellectually and . economically superior
to the numerically predominant Mos
lem Turk. While 33 per cent of the
population: of . the empire is Christian
of various denominations, under the
German military officers were shot as
traitors.
The ill-paid soldiery, hopelessly Ig
norant of the significance of the Ger
man military incursions into our coun
try, regarded the foreigners as the
benefactors of the Turks. The German
controlled regime disarmed all the
Christian soldiers in the army and put
them to work as common laborers,
building ' fortifications and military
roads. Those who had the courage to
raise their voices condemning the poli
cies of the military regime were dealt
with in such a fashion that they were
neyer heard from again. But there
were' other methods, more effective
means, to silence opposition,
Suddenly an army of Moslem softas
(clergymen) wero imported and, backed
up by all the Turkish newspapers, these
Mohammedan zealots began an ener
getic campaign in the city. The news
papers published reports of the "hor
rible crimes" committed by the western
allies against their Moslem subjects in
Africa, Egypt, India and' elsewhero.
These reports were sent broadcast,
throughout the Anatolian provinces.
The Moslem softas Incited the Turks to
take up arms in defense of these suf
fering Moslems. .
By the middle of September there
were about 12,000 German soldiers and
sailors in Constantinople. On October
25 $20,000,000 in gold bullion was im
ported into Constantinople, consigned
to the German Ambassador, and deliv
ered at the Deutsche Bank.
This act of Germany turned the scale.
On October 29 three Turkish torpedo
boats raided Odessa Harbor, sinking a
Russian guard ship and damaging a
French steamship and killing several
Russian civilians. Theodosia was also
bombarded.
It is also true that neither the Sul
tan nor the majority members of the.
Cabinet had knowledge of these at
tacks. No, this war is not the Turk's war.
But yet. he had committed himself to
this suicidal policy, since he had al
lowed the unrestricted importation of
the German civilization to his shores.
Turkey's Anatolian hordes are fight
ing tho western allies under the delu
sion that they are at war for their
Moslem faith. But the Turks are be
ginning to realize that they have been
tricked to do their present allies fight
ing for them. There Is an ugly feel
ing in Constantinople, Dut Turns are
slow in everything slow in starting
and slow in stopping.
The Italian Cricket
triloquist.
Ven-
such dire straits that even his sue- ly dominated his diplomacy.' until he
cessor to the throne was powerless in could lay claim not even to his own
his struggles against' the powerful soul. Even the Turk's last asset, his
foreign influences who ruled supreme religion, was utilized for military pur
poses to assist thecentral empires. .
This was the' condition of affairs
during .the. Haniidlan regime that .had
contributed, to intensify the Young
Turkey spirit in Turkey.
sia.; In order . once more . to demon
strate his friendship to his old friend,
Abd-Ul-Hamid, the , German Kaiser
withheld from" participating in this
scheme. .
And still later, when King Edward
and the: Czar met at a conference at
Reval,- in June, 1908, and decided upon
the necessity of a firmer and more
With the overthrow of the Hamidian " drastic reform In Macedonia, the Young
During the Balkan war, Enver was
-And again, Turkey was preparing to
regime in 1908 and the advent to power
of the. Young TurksVhe progress of the
German influence In Turkey carhejto a
standstill; but ' this was only tempo
rary. . ; " ' ' . ' .'
v' Baron. Marschall von Bleberstein.
Germany's able : diplomatist,' " soon
gained the confidence . of the "new ' re-
Turks, fearing for the integrity of
their country, ' in sheer desperation
struck their decisive blow the follow
ing July. - '-'
The' much-advertised' -Enver Bey
made his first .dramatic appearance In
the' revolution - of July. 1908. He is a'
product. of the Constantinople Military
away at Tripolitana, but , during . the fi.hk n
sessions of the first Balkan conference . criSis which broke out toward the end eime. - He 'represented to the Young Academy and until he took up his post
in London, in 1913. having, already ar- nf Tiv ion . Turkey leaders that'no matter what as the Turkish military- attache at
1 r 1. v. . j j nau-ouscurea. tne acute - .. - - . . - ti .11--W-- a-i- h in Woatm
i..vi .u v,u.iiiuuune, us uicrewa nis tension between her and Greece Brit- 5 ku.iio m
every energy to preventing the cession . ,sU naval missions were busy reorgan- man forel Policy , must -remain ex-
of the besieged City of. Adrianople to lilnK f ,oets of the two proapective ay the same. Baron. von Bieberstein
the Bulgars. , Finally, when the Turk- b-,.i(,i.t argued, that . whatever the . defects of
ish government -made up its mind to T,i. v " ''.',. the Hamidian regime might have been
", This war between Turkey. and Greece
w-ould have been declared last Summer
had jt not been, for the -timely purchase
ican cruisers 'which
made the Greek fleet in the Aegean Sea
superior to that of Turkey.
Meanwhile two ' dreadnoughts were
being built for Turkey in the British
shipyards. The funds for these dread-
nniichtH - wt-A mical tu...!. i
that he was shot at by some one who - "T, " t " " popmar
, . , . . , . , . subscription, and when, upon the out
was -standing behind Nazlm -r Pacha: K, ,
,,. . . , , break of the European war. Great
thereupon he drew his revolver and T,it. ,,. . , , , '
. . ' . , ., . . . I. , Britain detained these ships, the Turk's
aimed at his assailant and shot Nazim , . , "
bv mistake -- - aner knew no bounds. It was the
Dy mistaite. - ,irio, .v,i,.v v,i v, 1. ......
Thia oac.ulnotinn 11, r.ln r, T.n- " "
uary 24, 1913, and simultaneously Kia
. 1 I 1 .1 1.1- -HlntV.r TrrlfA i
laiai.ibcut.. XV lUUiV UD LII C part
of the Western allies "to safeguard
accept the proposal of the Ambassa
dorial conference in London. Enver
headed a mob and appeared at. the. Min- - of the two Amer
lsiry oi war, protesting . against . tne
conclusion of the peace. terms -with the
cession of Adrianople to Bulgaria. Dur
ing the tumult Nazim Pacha, Commander-in-Chief,
was shot, no doubt by En
ver himself. Enver's -own -version was
it had a wholesome regard for tho
safety -and the integrity of the- Otto--man
Empire. . This meant the unre
vised continuation of the" old Hamidian
foreign policy. ' .The civilian members
of "" the Young. Turkey party, who were
numerically " predominant. opposed
while, the military .members of the new
regime supported . Baron . Bieberstein's
programme, and from that time on the -
Berlin " he" had never been in Western
Europe. He spoke French as his na
tive tongue. Later he-learned Eng
lish and German. " , .... ,L '
"When the Voung Turks formed 'a se
cret branch committee at Salonica, in
1905, Enver-was a Major, attached to
the staff of HHml Pacha, the Inspector
General of 'Macedonia. He Joined thls
Salonica .committee Immediately after
its formation. ' :" ' -
For three years the missionaries of
the various Becret branches of this
committee directed their "entire ener
gies to winning over the army, foV
the first election proceedings the Chris
tian .elements, were unable to elect more
than six per, cent . of the Parliament's
membership.
The old Hamidian cunning diplomacy,
setting one European power against the
other as . the exigencies required, was
not effective under all circumstances.
My; country had accepted Germany as
Its protector in. our past dealings with
other European powers, and now Ger
many was in dire need of Turkey's
forces in her war against Europe. Tur
key had. to fulfill its obligations to that
power. But this was only a formal ar
gument for Turkey entering the fray
on the side of the Teutonic allies; the
whole truth is that it had nothing to
say regarding the matter. Turkey was
already being ruled by the Germans.
.When at .last the great conflagration
broke, out the Turkish nationalism be
came a virtue, while the German' gold
made patriots out of the ill-paid Junkery-
Expressions such as "the redemp
tion of the lost provinces" and ''war
for - the fatherland" became Ottoman
slogans. Finally the western allies be
came convinced that Turkish neutrality
was not likely to endure very long.
Turkish mobilization had already be
gun, but Germany was bound to hasten
the crisis. Oh August 10, .1914, the two
German warships Goeben and Breslau
arrived at the Dardanelles and the very
next day they ' became Turkish. On
August 14 Admiral Limpus and all the
officers of the British naval mission
The German party took advantage of
the situation created by Great Britain's
out and Shefket Pacha, the ardent na
tionalist and the leader of the Junkery.
became the Grand Vizier and' Minister
of War. The new regime finally ac
cepted the original Ambassadorial pro
posal in its entirety. This -transaction
had a tendency to discredit them in
the eyes of the Moslem Turks, but soon
Turkey's integrity against any and all
unforeseen, enemies" could satisfy her. '
This predominating German influence
in Turkey dates back to the Kaiser's
visit to Constantinople on his way to
Palestine," for it was to Asia Minor that
afterward, when the Balkan " League Germany had turned her longing eyes.
broke up, fcnver recaptured Adrianople. In the days of Abd-Ul-Hamid, when
and the prodigiously ignorant Anato- th palace cUquo ruied supreme at
Han Turk accepted this as a recon- . . , f x . , . . . . , 7
quest of the lost province -under the Yildiz. the highest bidder obtained po-
Bnver regime.
German party, the, national militarist, they realized that the constitution
called themselves "the committee of could not be wrung from - Abd-Ul-
unlo'n and progress." while the.anti- Maroid without the army, and force
. . - 'V. ...... 1 -' '!".. tvilldn rT m l.u.a
German element went under, tne name "" , : io' , 4Vl r. ,,
of "the Liberal Young Turkey party " of the committee doubted the wisdom were replaced by the Germans and the
I S JL y.. .rA (hii,t, f revolutionary victorv mobilization of the Ottoman land and
Within the first two months after the and stability or a revolutionary victory ..'.nnnn ,, , ,
t tt .jt ij r..im. bv the militarv. Eea forces continued under German
overthrow -of the Hamidian. regime over,. the old regime by the military. .v,n,-tin frm , wt
more than 1600 opponents of "the. com- They feared tnat atter tne overcrow r't-Z.'nf rm',utarv
of the old regime tne new regime - ---
would be at the mercy of the army. and -naval officers, until the entire
Enver Bey and other military members Province of Constantinople and its sur-
of the committee, on the other hand, rounding sectors had become a German
maintained that after tne overthrow camP- Tho civilian Moslem population
of the old regime the new ' regime of the capital seemed paralyzed with
would be handed over to the civilians. . this peculiar invasion of their country.
Following the successful revolt of The martial law which had been in ex-
the Young 'Turkey element, Hilmi lstence since the advent of the Young
Pacha proclairnedtheOttoman Turks tQ power wa3 relentlessly used
mittee of union and progress" were ex
iled from Constantinople,, while 68
members of "the Liberal Young Turkey
party" were hanged. . - - ;
The. career . of "the committee of
union and progress" can be better un
derstood if we make a short survey of
the checkered history of this : "20ti
J II. FABRE,' the French naturalist,
tells us many Interesting things
about the life of insects. He gives us
the social life as well as the ordinary
food-hunting habits of the little crea
tures which creep and fly about the
woods, mountains, .valleys and fields.
Of the Italian cricket he has this to
say:
"The Italian cricket has not the black
costume and heavy shape characteristic
of the family. It is, on the contrary,
a slender, weakly creature; its color
very pale, as is natural in view of its
nocturnal habits. In handling it one is
afraid of crushing its between the fin
gers. It lives an aerial existence, on
shrubs and bushes' of all kinds, and
rarely descends to the' earth. Its song,
the pleasant voice of the calm,' hot
evenings from July to October, com
mences at sunset and continues for a
greater part of the night. This song
is familiar to all country folk. It re
sounds even in granaries, into which
the insect strays, attracted thither by
the fodder.
"The song consists of a slow, gentle
note, rendered more expressive "by a
slight tremor. If the insect is not in
any way disturbed as it sits in the
low foliage, the note will not vary, but
at the least noise the performer be
comes a ventriloquist. First of all you
hear it there, in front of you. and in
the next moment you hear it over there,
20 yards distant, then behind you it
resounds, the double note decreased in
volume by the diutance.
"You go forward. Nothing Is there.
The sound proceeds from its original
point; but no. it is not there! Much
patience and many precautions will be
required before you can locate and
capture the insect."
century- wonder." - .- , .. . ; - -
. ... - i ; L - j .- i V. n noma rf fitiltan Ah1TT1.
, ltr " m d fr0 t-" o 7 Provincial I" suppressing opinions contrary to the
litlcal and commercial ascendencv in Austria, met at Murstea- at a xhnnt. Caoitol at Salonica. on July ' 24. 1908. policies of the regime in power. During
Previously. Mahmoud Shefket Pacha, the empire. Beginning in this simple : ins ' box of . Francis 'Joseph - and " upon 'Ahmed Riza Bey,' who " bad apent ' these -critical days hundreds of-anti-
"Amphlbloua."
W. B. Allen in Scribner's Magazine.
Speaking of fish stories, one cannot
help being reminded of the occasion
when a committeeman was examining
a class of boys in the Soutji. "Can any
of you," he asked, "tell me what 'am
phibious' means, and give a sentence to
illustrate?" A bright little darky held
up his hand. "I know, rah! . It's lyingl
ilos'-fish stories am itirus!'' .. : . . .