Show s- s i ne A 1 fel 0 t 6 I i L I IOLDER OLDE NATIONS Turkey a Conglomeration of Races and nd Religions That Baffles Attempts to The Great Grea GreatS Predict Its Future Future The Greek Grek Boycott S i T By y WILLIAM T T. ELLIS Constantinople The The pleasant of sitting upon a ting lIng volcano may be enjoyed by any rone rofle who attempts to understand nd the Turkish situation This great empire ds ris made up of diverse and conflicting clements without any adequate amalgamating amal amal- agencies at work upon them such uch as makes the creation of oC the American type the wonder of students h iero Almost every everyone ono in Turkey confesses con con- tresses allegiance to some cause or body bod higher than the government go ItSelf itself It- It self Patriotism Is subordinated to nationalism Men are Turks or Greeks or Armenians or Jews or Syrians or Arabs first first and and Ottomans afterwards Such a congeries of dissimilar races Is fis nowhere else closely gathered Into one me empire I fall fail to see how they can ean ever possibly fuse luse Each ach of these peoples is proud ot of Its own past and intolerant lerant of any program that does not put it on top More Tongues Than at Pentecost In the streets of oC Constantinople one commonly sees shop signs in five different dif dU- dif dif- ferent languages French is supposed to be the prevailing language of the higher circles of the city Except for fort forthe forthe t the work cf the missionary schools the English tongue Is losing ground The German language Is not making the inroads of other German forces liere here Beneath the upper crust where 1 these hese European languages are recognized recognized recognized one one finds more tongues than at Pentecost and nd Incidentally practically practical practical- ly iy all aU of the races mentioned in Ih the Pentecost story In the Book of Acts are Ire now within the confines of the Turkish empire Ten minutes upon the Galata bridge will Swill give a vaster and better conception concep concep- lion tion of th the motley assortment of peoples peo peo- pIes ples with w which which- which the the Turkish government government govern govern- ment has has' to deal than a long newspaper newspaper news news- paper article Thanks Thank to Islam th there re reis is 15 no color line Une in Turkey Across this rickety bridge all aU wearing the red fez or which marks Turkeys Turkey's su subjects in Constantinople go black Nubians from Africa and blond from froni the north yellow Mongols and brown Arabs with all aU possible shades between the black and the white white Armenian Armenian Greek l' l Turk rk The dress is ismore moro more diverse than the faces There Js ls no lO spot on top tol of the earth so cosmopolitan as this shaky old structure structure ture which joins Galata and Stamboul above the waters of the Golden Horn I Liberty That Will Not Mix Wear any kind of clothes you plea ilease e and it will be all right nothing Is strange in Turkey So said an old resident to a visitor Turkey is tolerant tolerant tol tol- tol- tol ant of Df f all all RIl nO religious non usages is no Kind of or raiment that may 1 not mot be seen in half an hours hour's walk In old Stamboul there are more rags than In China and tho the latest fashion in F French ench shoes Ottomans are fond Of of shoes especially the women Bei Beneath Be- Be i neath Death the hideous black garment the ezar zar that covers head face and body there here may be seen peeping out the latest creation In tan or fawn colored colored colored col col- col- col ored Oxford Ues ties American enterprise enter enter- prise is opening up the shoe sho markets for Massachusetts products fA iA queer queer local fashion Is the devo deo Uon to the bootblack There are no sidewalks to speak of and yet it is a point o 0 etiquette to keep ones one's shoes loo Bootblacks who carry their kits on their shoulders are as common commonas as they were in American cities 20 years ago The flexibility of Turkish manners some manners some of them primitive and to western Ideas revolting speaks revoltIng speaks well for the open-mindedness open of this country These things aro are superficial Beneath Bep Be Be- p neath them reigns a rigid loyalty to toone's toone's ones one's own nationality and religion that thatis is the despair of all who hoped for ja a unified Ottoman empire In this great and fantastic city the life me is grouped in various quarters the quarters the European quarter the Greek quarter the Armenian Armenian Ar- Ar quarter the Jewish quarter and so forth These different peoples do do not at all blend there is no Intermarriage Intermarriage In In- each keeps Its own holl- holl days so that in every week Constantinople Constantinople Constan- Constan has three Sabbaths Sabbaths Friday Friday 1 for the Moslems Sa Saturday for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians The last is the best kept one Each speaks of the others as they I have heard beard Greeks and Armenians talking of oC the Turkish government government government gov gov- of which they are legally a adart apart I part dart as if they were speaking of some ome matlon nation in Africa or America There Is no Ottoman type as ns there ther Is an American type This Is a big fact ever to be recognized in any consideration con con- of Turkish conditions Religion and nd Nationalism One In In the Ottoman empire there Is no mon enon class at least openly The young Turks are doubtless skeptical skeptical in all matters of religion and themore tho the more conservative Moslems call them Infidels Outwardly the Young Turks Turks' Conform to the tle usages of Islam Privately I I have seen them smoke during the tho and fast and when traveling with them on ships at this season have havo known them to eat three square meala meals a n. day liberality Is likely to be a factor i rin In In political development develop develop- m ment ln Turkey although In the tho west 1 It would be deemed a minor point I 1 with no relation whatever to government government govern govern- ment meat matters A man here says I Iam Iam Iam statement am a Christian but that must not be understood to Imply anything anything anything any any- thing whatever about his character or personal religious life lite It merely means that he Is not a Moslem In studying this In of religion religion re re- re- re ligion and nationalism ono soon learns that the tho Ineradicable longing of at myriads myriads myri myri- ads to see the cross back upon St. St Sophia which at first sight appeared so noble a sentiment Is In large part parta art arta a political aspiration It means that when the cross comes back to St. St Sophia the Turk will have fallen from power on the AU AH kinds of at strange legends and prophecies are current among the people in this con con- Ono One is that when the dogs have bave all 11 gone from the streets in Constantinople Constantinople Constantinople Con Con- then the Turks will havo have to go too Russia unquestionably dreams the tho same dream of a cross shining above the vast dome of ot St St. Sophia and her deepest support Is la the sympathy which Is extended to her here as a a. Christian nation though nation though In Europe and America Russia Is not much thought of as an exponent of Christianity An Assortment of Religions The outstanding religions of tho the empire are the Greek orthodox church the tho Greek Catholic church the Armenian Armenian Armenian Ar Ar- or Gregorian church the Armenian Armenian Armenian Ar Ar- Catholic church Syriac Chaldean Chal dean Roman Catholic and Protestant churches Judaism and Is Is- lam The last is tho the most powerful There are no signs apparent of a blending of the various religious bodies except as their children mingle min mm- gle le In the Protestant schools Reform agencies are at work In som some of tr the e older of ot the Christian churches lt b that Is another story The priests and professors of the various Christian churches are a common sight upon tho the streets of Con Con- There Is no denying a certain kind of ot tolerance to Islam If he is accepted as a superior and these Inferior religions pa pay him a tax and allow him to be unmolested as ns the top dog the Turk gets along quite well with the other religions He has no thought but that these must be bo subject to him and to the Prophet The situation is complicated by tho the himself made mado formal on and apology to the government The wound was a deep one however to Greek pride and In some respects respect it has had more effect than tho the continuous ous unrest and minor rising In Mace Mace- donla donia Foreigners are apt to be captious and point out that this Is what a military government means means- for tor Constantinople is still under martial martial martial mar mar- law The Prize of the East Still Open Constantinople on the for tor position the goal of or Imperial struggles through many centuries centuries cen cen- tunes Is still not yielded unquestionably ably to any anyone one power While it la Is 1 lathe th the capital of ot Turkey It may not be denied that races and nations are steadily at work striving for Its vas vas- pos pos- session This ThIs' is the great game gamo which Intelligent observers hero find so absorbing At the moment Germany Germany Germany Ger Ger- many Is on top and Great Britain is In eclipse Russia's Russins hairy hand may maybe maybe maybe be seen beneath tho the surface of many recent events Tho Tim Greeks as of yore rOrO are eloquent but Ineffectual The Armenian sighs for tor his ancient nation and revives the study of his own language language lan Ian guage and classics The decline orthe of or the sultans sultan's position and power In Inthis Inthis inthis this new constitutional government can mean little less than the ultimate eclipse of or the Caliphate When that that goes the Turks Turk's hold over the Arabs and fanatical element among the tho Moslems Moslems Mos Mos- lems will disappear also In the great game of politics that politics thatis that thatis is now being played here there are subtler Influences at work shaping the general trend of things Here enters America A great point Is gained bythe bythe by bythe the nation whoso whose language becomes dominant amid this assortment of tongues Th The Tho English language would all but have havo disappeared were It not for the tho yearly early output of ot students from rom American mission schools who have therein learned not only the English language but American history and Ideals of life Ufe as well The famous Robert college on the to which Mr Kenn Kennedy dy lately left an endowment endowment endowment en en- of nearly and the equally efficient American School for Girls which has been enabled by the help from the Rockefeller and Sage funds lunds to acquire a splendid site also on the ar are doing more for American prestige than many agen agen- j V diho d- d v 4 i Ww sa j The iho Entrance to the tho Grand Viziers Vizier's Office I general fact that the Christians are as a class more efficient and prosperous prosper- prosper ous us that the Turks Deprive him of his official privileges and pre-eminence pre and the Turk is in a bad way Aside from rom his military virtues he ho has hag not been a success Chrisian furls Chris ian Uan scoffers point to the Turks' Turks lack of f efficiency in the arts and sciences He rules th them m but they despise despi e him A clash is coming sometime It If tho the empire empire emr em em- r pire lasts long enough The Greek Boycott Two recent happenings show the Intensity intensity in- in of racial and religious feeling on tho the part of the Turks The Cretan troubles and the attempts of ot the reeks Greeks Greeks Greeks' to take taka control of that island brought the two nations to the verge of war var The Indignation of tho the Turks against the Greeks took the tho form of a boycott against all alJ Greeks Ottoman as well as Hellenistic MoSlems Mos Mos- lems ems will not patronize Greeks any where In the empire and as the tho Greeks are pre eminently a merchant class the tho effect has been serious Moslem or c coolies refuse to carry freight to Greek slips and at atho tho ho moment there are several vessels flying Hying the Greek flag lying In the Smyrna harbor with empty holds The boycott up to date has cost millions of pounds Of course It affects affects af at- Turkish Individuals and firms also and Greeks have spoken bitterly to me mo of the tho sightedness short-sightedness of the Turkish gove government that would permit permit permit per per- mit such a suicidal To this day the boycott IB Is on in unabated rigor and as as' it Is directed in largo large part against the lurks Turks own fellow Ottomans Ottomans Ottomans Otto Otto- mans it rathor rath r gives the tho lie Ho to the sentiment of ot fraternity of which awakened Turkey has been so o fond A second great grievance nce the Greeks have against the tho government Some weeks weeke ago a national assembly of the Ottoman Gre k church was called to meet In Constantinople Doubtless It Intended to discuss national national national na na- na- na as well as religious affairs and the political situation here Is too crit ical leal to endure much discussion The government forbade tho the Patriarch to hold the tho assembly The delegates were on their way ho however e eer er and as they arrived l at th the meeting place they were arrested one ono after by Turkish soldiers Of course this was rather high hand handed d Just as If the American government had sent troops 6 to gather In all the delegates to a Methodist General Genera conference As soon as th they Y had taken a pledge not to attend the council the delegates vero released and the tho Greek patriarch des cies formally instituted by the tho gov gov- Even more potent than the equally famous amous and effective Syrian Protestant Protestant Protes Protes- tant taut college at Beirut are the smaller mission schools scattered throughout the ho empire These are sending forth boys joys and girls who become the tho teachers teach teach- em ers and preachers of the tho country All are tinctured with admiration for America The Tho potency of this sort of work h has ils come to be recognized even by the government It Is undoubtedly one of or the factors which have brought about su such h a condition of affairs that when the tho English speaking traveler explains that he is an American he ho discovers a a. far more cordial attitude than had been displayed to him be be- fore Everybody in Turkey knows that America has no designs upon Turkish territory and so far as they are aro able to conceive of of such altruism that America really wants to help Turkey Turkey Tur Tur- key for Turkeys Turkey's sake Copyright 1911 by Joseph B B. B Bowles |