Show THE MODERNIZATION OF TURKEY Reforms are Not Impossible if the European Governments Would Only Help them Along New York Independent Plot A Vambery In New Yoik Independent In-dependent When I first mixed with Turkish so clety In 1917 Just after the end of the Crimean war I found the government un tithe peoplei beset with all the de frets and drawbacks ot Asiatic superstition super-stition Ignoianco und fanaticism School hardly cxutcd a Christian man wA 8 the object of aversion and honor only because he was n glllour And Our Iuropcun light nM turning I was either ridiculed or detested Today a great deal ban changed In that direction While 40 seats ago hale l was hardly jne Turk i t of loo uho could read and nrlto I ITeniJi or Kngllth I there Is hardly hard-ly a lounyj man today of the better I risen who pillot conversant with one Ir Or several vaorope4n tongues anti who ho not utudled history geography tend mon other brunche or mobrn science Cultivated In Burope orty seats ago Turkish language and literature liter-ature Hle groanIng under the heavy fetters or Asiatic bombast anti unwlld bleR and quite unintelligible tc the Plain Turk nhercan loiay the Ga mean dialect of the Turkish Is alm lined and Purilled from the Incumber 31 Zlf Ing Arabic and Perlman elements Tito I 1 literature has acquired a < 1IIIt molcrn and teridency our I ov in our Phillip I f r f ht I II 101 Ilohutions our hooks of i Pcl a ice And sit find cneot hnnslntotH on1 formerly thorn 11 f 1 onl > ot IIr to rtnlly pucr lotl9Y Ihe I I Il I Ioclohlo nlllnhcr or IRITS weekly anI monthll Inpo which n nil their read erg In ilto I of opprcsslx ensure or st Joceh and despotic goeeinnient Ivrn the I fenwle pnlllon ot th population ban awakened from Its Ipthatgy tdlnlll I giving unmistakable Klein of regress I schools for glils mo elallv Increasing TiitMsli women are taking to literary pursuits nnd a Turkish paper for allP1111111har ladles called Khlnlmla i maghnus Oa reta Journal for Ladles enjoys a part tlcutir favor In the harem 1 could easily multiply the proofs that the mucheensuird Tutlc Is I not averse to western civilization nnd If he nevoilhclcss Is I still lagging ind the dark recess or Asiatic life and l certain ly I much behind Ids Chritlan nelshl r It Is I only the sjstem of eminent and hln I Incorrigible despotic rulers who are Ih main cne of till film riltfortunes mail or nil his rctrogrcIn The sun an although acting plOrenll no A ruler owlstcd by ministers and Councilors is I undoubtedly one of the most autocratic and absolutistic princes that ever sat on the throne In nuropo and In ARIa While his predecessors Contented them selves with the superior inner and used to acquiesce In the decisions nt the sub lime porte Sultan Abdul Hamld has totally divested his ministers lbain I ruling power the grand vizier and ministers are meie puppet In his hands nobody has an y right of opinIon opin-Ion and when 1IlII d 10 the gela I held l nt Ylldlz they h I I ave contnntlv to t nod to the will of their master they have to admire his sagacity and hrewdoe as own In on lhre theY are convinced or the < III1meol u nr the matter In question Cunhlerlng however that one mn alone however gifted tic hp con hardly Carry the munlrold and varied state burden upon its shoulders the sultan it hllo refulng tn sIc ohlcp or unlincil statesmen line surrounded hlmlr with coadjutors taken fmlll tho lower and most Inor nl claps ur Ilia Iplp men without I knolII e And chroctcr unit l vho etule1 lie mean personal Interests Hill rhollt Ille olrore or tho nation n1 have Mostly ontrlhuled tounrd the horrible state ot thing And tile nter contusion under vvhlch Turin key Tur-in I actually suffering Ih main feature In the Character or Sultan Abdul llnmld being diffidence and Jealousy he does not even trust to the aforesaid class or his bervants lieu I lie-u Cel a host of spies to satisfy hit nt h1 vldlty about the private doings of his subjects for he suspects everywhere treason nnd believes everybody bent I upon trains and plots against his own I Ito and Slower The result of this de listed e system manifested Itself In the Collapse or order for place crcturc eent brun1 no civil omcer In the provinces were hnckd hy tile clique even In heir mot nrnlou dloso ant As the money extorted from the floor nil < 1 oppressed population hardly umcc tn Pay the mcrcnrle or the pain the army and the civil officers are left for len or fifteen month without with-out pa unit exposed to the direst pt vritions flueh a state or things cnnot last for ins length of time and It I evident that the only comedy len namely the Infroinltfonof Introduction or reform has become more imperative than ever Unfortunately Unfortun-ately however the absolutistic tendencies ten-dencies of the present sultan and not the religious fanaticism of the Turks as generally asserted I are the chief hindrance hin-drance In that direction Abdul llamld abhors every melsute by which his boundless autocracy would lie curtailed and his absolute will controlled When pressed by the representatives of the foreign powers he takes refuge In floe and misleading Eteps In appointing muivlnsthat Is I Christian assistants 10 Ilia own crelllre In the provinces who have not the slightest power ti act lOr by getting UI some eham council coun-cil or Mohammdn null Cluintlan Members ulio he ntitber the cournFe nor the will to brIng order Into tile rotten rot-ten administration As long us the vall that Is I governor generals or the provinces depend upon the palace and ae long no the upllme porto lie I not reo Instated In the power It enjoyed during the reign ot the last three sultans there can Ile no hope toc nn nmlIor tlon and all meetings of the Huropea embassadors In 1era will be barren of result The pretext of the palace clique that there Is I no trustworthy mn Among the Pashas and effendis ot today to-day Ms I nun and vole The writer of these lines having n long personal relation with the limit and his court as well as with the leading lead-ing men of modern Turkey can fairly state to the contrary The lounger generation of Turkey Is I not only Imbued Im-bued with the spirit eif modern west ri civilization but also with liberal ideas and with a strong desire for political independence The ancient regime of Asiatic despotism and autocratic rule Is deeply detested as shown by tin short period of constitutional life at the accession to the throne of the present sultan and If the reproieh might he brought against the Turks that even people gets the government It deserves we ought not to forget that we too In Europe have acquired our liberty only after a long anti l hard struggle with absolutism and that the Turks having n ruler In the quality of a demigod are so to say hindered by their religion from Approaching the ill v Ine figure which tYranizen them It Is only 10 oxtrordlnry exertinne that Ih wlI be able to put a barrier to the nhso lutlstlc tendencies of their sultan and u people laboring under many hundred Years of tyranny and despotism Cannot hc go easily brought oc to tile Inlh of political liberty and modern InUtu I Uons Here the assistance of the happier notions Is Indispensable to the Turk If I we desire to accelerate the process of transformation of ancient Turkey 1 In 10 n Modern state me have 10 dconlln ue the policy of hairy and special ni 1I0nai Interests on the banks of tile llosphorus Up to the present aa ton < to-n experience has taught me tile Introduction of the smallest reform line teen a bone of contention among the various representatives of the West Iyery Packer mas nnxlou 10 secure its special lidluence against thO other anti thb end of It waa that the Blow anti lazy Turkish government got the beet of It namely a respite nd Inilnltum anti n happy opportunity to avoid all re forms and nmllotoUon An lonll an they quarrel among themselves mid a Turk to mo 30 years ago we remain re-main unscathed and undisturbed In our blissful Inactivity Of course thin procedure on the part of Europe lilts not and could not conceal from thee the-e > es of the unbiased observer the real aim nnd gist of lull a pnlley It has not remained a secret ta the Initiated that most of the greedy nlghloo or till sick mail for from NIFIdrug his recovery re-covery mere most antious 10 prolong the mIdy null to make nil ultimate ure Impossible From time to Elm some of Diane dear friends were candid enough to how their genuine Inten lons nussla for example Is I frank enough to stat that nil civilizing ef I forts are with the Turk lost labor and that It Is utterly hopeless li > prevent JoI Is collapse This ItusKUn opinion Is I little natural for having her live fingers fin-gers already firmly fixed upon the I uoperty > of the sick man the will cer Only not leiunrrice one Inch of ter I Itory of the expected Inheritance For similar reasons lie licar German of Oclol clrcles saying Iu not Interfere Inter-fere with the Turk he must have his own way he will never be like our lelvcs 1 and his civilization can lie I only n medley of Asiatic and European cut I thim ture Is itere badlyconeealed t tile German Thekalsir ego bln managed uJ it the preot 10 Provide his civil and military officers lent to the sultan with a rich pay out o the Turkish exchequer and having cceeded In getting for Krupp > and others neatly lOOOiiOOOO of maik foi gUll and rllles besides the million or Oermn money successfully Invested Invest-ed In Turkish Un7sthe kaiser ito i may will Certainly n1 lie uenIu to hasten the process eif reforms Inn In-n i Country so cleverly exploited by his iirbjects In a similar strain we might easily peak of other governments KuflV to Pay that It Is I not only Turkish Irowlne and oriental Conservatism vvhlch has frustrated nil reformatory Efforts In the near oat but lint we 10 are to he blamed rr tile Abortive results and that we too have nursharP In the failure of the I reronnnlnr work begun In Turkey nearly n century agn rr ruroe would he nctulpd hy Pure humanity nl phllnlhlOf no It bp hocives Chlllon nations nothing ollld be easier In the world than to bring Ihe tyrant on the throne In Constant nople to his senses Through united action he would easily Yield to the jot demands of Ills people who would bo contenl with n just dmlnltrnllon with laws guaranteeing Ihe happiness n nil seen ell r of all the subjects willIs out difference of creed and race It Is I not exactly constitution and parll ment that they desire lout the t end ot the present despotic And ruinous 1hol This what the Party Called YiT Turkey Is aspiring for n partyublell Ili I mnodorlooo 10 1uol a1 10 Amerl And of hlth I shall writ tit you latcr |