THE EFFECT IN TURKEY OF GLADSTONE'S SUCCESS

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, June 10, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 24

THE EFFECT IN TURKEY OF GLADSTONE'S SUCCESS.

The unexpected result of the elections in England has produced a profound sensation throughout the East. A belief has heretofore existed in Turkey, not unlike that prevalent in the Southern States prior to the war, when cotton was called king, and England was supposed to be its obedient servant, that the existence of the Ottoman empire is essential to the safety of British India, and that the policy of the English Government must of necessity be pro-Turkish and anti-Russian. The advent to power of a new school of politicians, with a programme opposed to the traditional policy of British statesmen, has consequently produced the utmost consternation and bewilderment in official circles here.

The idea of an Anglo-Russian alliance for the settlement of the Eastern question is one so utterly novel that the Turks fail to realize the results which accrue from it to the fate of their empire. They are thrown out in all their calculations, and have to provide for an entirely new political combination. The most immediate effect has been a change in their attitude toward England. It has now become plain that the reluctance which has been shown to receive advice from the British government, and the obstacles which have been raised to all measures of reform, have contributed to the downfall of the late Conservative Administration. Had Lord Beaconsfield's government been able to point triumphantly to the efforts made by Turkey to carry out the spirit of the treaty of Berlin, and frankly to enter upon the path of reform with the advice and assistance of England, it is possible that the elections would have resulted very differently. As it is, the Eastern policy of the Conservative government has been a complete failure. One of the strongest weapons in the hands of the Liberals has been the taunt that the Philo-Turkish party in England have been deceived and betrayed by their friends, and that results have justified the predictions of those who called the Turk “unspeakable.” It is therefore feared here that a new and uncompromising policy will be adopted toward Turkey, and that a concerted action will be arrived at between England and one or more European powers, by which the Porte will be coerced into those measures of reform which the English government has contented itself hitherto with mildly recommending. In anticipation of this unpleasant contingency, the Ottoman Ministry are beginning to bestir themselves in the hope of depreciating any such interference, but in so vague and feeble a manner that I fear it will not be of much avail. The internal evils have got almost beyond cure, and they have been increased rather than mitigated by the financial measures which have recently been adopted.

The most appalling accounts of famine and distress reach us from all parts of the empire, and telegrams appealing for help are raining in from the provinces. In Armenia especially, whole villages are starving to death, and even money, if it could be sent to them, is of little use, for there is no corn to buy. The consequence is that this destitute population will be quite unable to pay any taxes, and a large diminution of revenue will of necessity result. Many parts of the country are almost given over to brigandage, people being driven to organized robbery as a means of self-preservation. While Moslems and Christians are alike starving in Asiatic and some parts of European Turkey, the Christian Slavs of Eastern Roumelia and Bulgaria are not backward in contributing their share of horrors, in the shape of “atrocities.” In the district of Kirjaldi, we have accounts of the male population of some of the Moslem villages being stripped and severely beaten; of a hundred and four women and girls violated, some of whom were brutally mutilated and murdered; of five villages burned, and of wholesale appropriation by Christians of Moslem property. In Bulgaria, the Moslem population is being starved and driven out of the country by the oppression and injustice of the local government. Serious riots take place between the Greek and Bulgarian inhabitants of Eastern Roumelia, the latter being determined, if possible, to expel from the country, by a process of ostracism, their Greek co-religionists. From Albania the news reaches us that the population of the districts about to be ceded to Montenegro are in revolt, and are determined to resist to the uttermost by force the transfer of their territory; from all which it is clear that the Eastern question will provide abundant occupation to the new government in England as well as to the Porte.

Vague rumors also arrive from Arabia and the Hedjaz of a movement on a large scale among the Bedouin Arabs who have been excited by the recent assassination of the Grand Sheriff of Mecca, and who are also suffering from want, and have upon more than one occasion levied large contributions on some of the towns on the banks of the Euphrates. There is, moreover, the Greek frontier question still to be settled, and there can be little doubt that it will be solved in the way least satisfactory to the Turks, who will probably now be compelled to cede to Greece, in addition to the territory already partly agreed upon, the valuable province of Janina, against the cession of which to Greece the Conservative government in England firmly protested. The strongly pronounced Slav and Hellenic sympathies of Mr. Gladstone and his adherents will now be allowed full play, and it will be curious to watch the attitude which will be adopted by Germany and Austria under these new circumstances. The Slav population of Bosnia and Herzegovina recently annexed by Austria complain bitterly of the treatment to which they are subjected by their new masters, and profess that if they cannot be independent they would rather be Russian than Austrian. Whereas, the late Conservative government in England was distinctly committed to a German and Austrian alliance, as opposed to a Russian, French, and Italian combination, the Liberal government is no less distinctly committed to a Russian, French, and Italian combination, as opposed to a German and Austrian alliance, and in addition to this, to a policy of protecting and freeing Christian nationalities in the East. The claims of Slavs, Greeks, and Armenians will, it is to be presumed, therefore receive their immediate attention. Indications are not wanting that the German and Austrian governments are already alive to the dangers of this change of front, and are seeking to detach Russia from France upon the old basis of a tripartite holy alliance. The disappearance from the political arena of Prince Bismarck's great enemy, Prince Gortschakoff, may facilitate this reapportionment, but it will be found probably beyond even the German Chancellor's power to reconcile the conflicting interests of Austria and Russia in the Slav nationalities; each will desire to control them, while England will strive for their uncontrolled independence. One of the first efforts probably on the part of the Liberal government will be to bring about the annexation of Eastern Roumelia to Bulgaria, and the hopes of the Slavs are so highly excited in this direction that addresses have been pouring in upon Mr. Gladstone, congratulating him on his success at the late elections.

Meantime rumors are rife here of a change in the Cabinet. The policy of the present Turkish Prime Minister is recognized by all patriotic and far-seeing Turks as totally inadequate to the emergency with which he has to deal, and his method of conducting public affairs so far has not been such as to inspire confidence. It is earnestly hoped that before long he may be replaced by a man more competent to grapple with the present critical state of matters, supported by a Parliament which should to some extent share his responsibilities with the Prime Minister, and the names of Khazneddin and Mahmoud Nedim are in everybody's mouth. We have been so long on the eve of important changes and great events that it seems futile to go on predicting them, but the impression is so general that the present situation is too strained to last, that I should not convey a true idea of public sentiment if I did not refer to them.—Correspondence of N. Y. Sun, Constantinople, April 23.