TURKEY. 



767 



committee selected in their places Marion Mar- 

 tin as its candidate for Governor, W. A. Moers 

 for Lieutenant-Governor, and H. F. O'Neal for 

 Chief-Justice. 



The Democratic State nominating convention 

 met at Dallas on August 15, and renominated 

 Gov. Ross by acclamation. The Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Treasurer, Comptroller. Attorney- 

 General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 and Superintendent of the General Land-Office 

 were also renominated. For Chief-Justice of 

 the Supreme Court, John W. Stayton of that 

 court was nominated, and R. R. Gaines was 

 renominated as Associate Justice. For the 

 third member of the court John T. Henry was 

 selected. For Judges of the Court of Appeals, 

 John P. "White, J. M. Hurt, and Samuel A. 

 Wilson were the nominees. The platform in- 

 cludes the following: 



We favor the enactment of prudent and efficient 

 mining and irrigation laws to develop the agricultural 

 and mineral resources of our State. 



We t'avor the enactment of such laws as shall re- 

 strict the freiirht charges of railway and express com- 

 panies, so that they may only yiel'd a fair interest on 

 the money actually invested in them, and at the same 

 time to prevent discrimination in charges against any 

 points within the State. 



That the next Legislature shall pass laws defining 

 trusts, pools, and all illegal combinations in restraint 

 of trade, and imposing severe penalties. 



The Republican Executive Committee, in- 

 stead of nominating a State ticket, according 

 to the vote of the Fort Worth Convention of 

 April 24, called a second convention at the 

 same place for September 20, at which the 

 question of nominating a ticket was earnestly 

 discussed, and where it was finally determined 

 to support the Prohibition-Independent-Union- 

 Labor ticket headed by Marion Martin. At 

 the November election the Democratic national 

 ticket was successful by a large majority, and 

 Gov. Ross was re elected. 



TCEREY, an empire in eastern Europe and 

 western Asia. The Government is an absolute 

 monarchy. The Sultan is recognized as Kha- 

 lif or Vicar of the Prophet in most Mohamme- 

 dan lands. The legislative and executive 

 power is exercised, under the direction of the 

 Sultan, by the Sheikh-ul-Islam, who is the 

 head of the religious and judicial departments 

 of the Government, and the Grand Vizier, who 

 is the chief in civil and administrative affair?. 

 "With these are associated heads of depart- 

 ments corresponding to ministers of state in 

 European Governments. The present Sheikh- 

 nl-Islam is Ahmed Essad Effendi. The Grand 

 Vizier is Kiamel Pasha, The Cabinet in 1888 

 was as follows: President of the Council, 

 Aarifi Pasha ; Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 Said Pasha ; Minister of "War and Grand Mas- 

 ter of Artillery, Ali Saib Pasha; Minister of 

 Marine, Hassan Pasha; Minister of the Inte- 

 rior, Munir Pasha; Minister of Justice, Djevdet 

 Pasha ; Minister of Finance, Zihni Pasha ; Min- 

 ister of Public Works. Commerce, and Agri- 

 culture, Agob Pasha Kaziazin ; Minister of 



Public Instruction, Munif Pasha ; Ekvaf-Naziri 

 or Intendant of Religious Property and Reve- 

 nues Mustafa Pasha. The reigning Sultan is 

 Abdul Ilamid Khan, born Sept. 21, 1841, the 

 thirty-fourth sovereign of the family of Os- 

 man. He succeeded his brother Murad V on 

 Aug. 31, 1876. (For area and population see 

 "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1887.) 



Finances, The receipts of the Sultan's treas- 

 ury for the year 1887-'88 are estimated at 17,- 

 500,000 Turkish liras. The debt, on Marcli 13, 

 1887, amounted to 104.458.700 pounds ster- 

 ling. Agob Pasha gave place in the Ministry 

 of Finance, in the beginning of 1888, to Mah- 

 moud Djelal-ed-Din Pasha, who promised to 

 extricate the Government from its financial 

 difficulties by an extensive scheme of improve- 

 ments, and especially by unlocking new sources 

 of revenue through the development of fish- 

 eries, mines, forests, and new industries. Ger- 

 man capital was embarked in these enterprises, 

 but the minister failed in accomplishing his 

 task. The salaries of officials remained, and 

 only at the Bairam festival was the Sultan able 

 to pay an installment of the sums due to civil 

 and military officers. The Minister of Finance 

 was detected in discounting the salaries of the 

 suffering officials at CO per cent., and in the 

 summer was dismissed from his post. Agob 

 Pasha, an Armenian Christian, would not un- 

 dertake the task of establishing the finances of 

 the Empire on a sound basis, but was induced 

 to resume the administration of the department 

 provisionally. Eventually Zihni Pasha was ap- 

 pointed to the post. The Deutsche Bank, rep- 

 resenting the group of German financiers who 

 obtained the concession for the Asiatic Rail- 

 road to the Euphrates, negotiated a loan of 

 1,350,000 Turkish pounds. The unpaid credi- 

 tors of the Porte clamored for the payment of 

 their claims out of this sum, which the Minis- 

 ter of Finance reserved to carry out his pro- 

 jected reforms. The Ottoman Bank, which 

 encashes the funds for the payment of the 

 public debt, objected to the infringement of 

 the monopoly of all loan transactions given to 

 it by law. The Government, having been un- 

 able to obtain a loan from this institution ex- 

 cept on exorbitant terms, answered that it had 

 failed to fulfill its part of the bargain. The 

 Russian Government made a pressing demand 

 in June, 1888, for the payment of the arrears 

 for two years of the war indemnity. The 

 amount that Turkev undertook to pav was 

 fixed by the treaty of February, 1879, at 802,- 

 500,000 francs. By a subsequent convention, 

 dated May 14, 1882. it was settled that the 

 payments should be effected in annual install- 

 ments of 350,000 Turkish pounds, the proceeds 

 of the sheep-tax and the tithes of certain vila- 

 yets being assigned for that purpose. The rev- 

 enues on which the payment of the indemnity 

 was secured failed owing to a famine in these 

 districts. In November the Minister of Fi- 

 nance reported a deficit in the treasury of 

 1,500,000 liras, and informed the Sultan that 



