636 



TURKEY. 



For 1898 the estimate of revenue was T. 18,- 

 511,322, of which T. 4,100,000 came from tithes, 

 T. 2,511,924 from the land and property tax, 

 T. 500,000 from the income tax, T. 886,210 

 from the military tax collected from non-Moham- 

 medans in lieu of service, T. 1,937,849 from the 

 sheep tax, T. 321,273 from various other direct 

 taxes, T. 2,000,000 from customs duties, T. 2,- 

 571,146 from indirect taxes on salt, tobacco, 

 spirits, fisheries, silk, stamp duties, etc., most of 

 which are assigned to the Debt Administration, 

 T. 532,793 from the military departments, 

 T. 1,962,030 from the civil departments, T. 

 51,775 from the share of the Government in the 

 profits of the tobacco regie, and T. 1,136,316 

 from tribute, part of which is assigned to the 

 Debt Administration. The estimated expenditures 

 for 1898 amounted to T. 18,429,411, of which 

 T. 882,550 were for the Sultan's civil list, T. 

 750,059 for tributary debt, T. 2,661,839 for 

 loans under the debt administration, T. 1,- 

 204,839 for other loans, T. 523,523 for floating 

 debt, T. 868,894 for railroad guarantees, T. 

 450,000 for the war indemnity due to Russia, 

 T. 749,484 for religious endowments, T. 4,- 

 489,698 for the army, T. 1,013,944 for the gen- 

 darmerie, T. 546,209 for the navy, T. 462,177 

 for the artillery, T. 989,322 for the Grand Vi- 

 zierate, the State Council, and the Department of 

 the Interior, T. 668,011 for the Department of 

 Finance, T. 461,441 for the Department of Jus- 

 tice, and T. 1,707,269 for other departments. 



The Turkish debt on June 30, 1900, amounted 

 to T. 136,407,659, of which T. 82,823,127 

 were the conversion loan of 1881, T. 30,338,087 

 various loans issued between 1888 and 1894, T. 

 13,953,897 the lottery bonds, T. 5,169,968 the 

 5-per-cent. customs loan of 1886, T. 920,260 

 bonds issued for the Tumbeki Company in 1894, 

 and T. 3,202,320 the 5-per-cent. loan of 1896. 

 Excepting three loans^for which the Egyptian 

 tribute is pledged, converted in 1891 and 1894 

 into 4- and 3|-per-cent. bonds, the customs and the 

 Tumbeki loans, and a loan of 5,000,000 sterling 

 guaranteed by the powers in 1855, all the Turkish 

 loans have been placed in charge of the Council of 

 Debt Administration, which receives the proceeds 

 of the excise duties, the tobacco tithe and rgie, 

 the Bulgarian, Eastern Roumelian, and Cyprus 

 tributes, and the tax on Persian tobacco. Four- 

 fifths of the net receipts from these sources is 

 paid as interest and one-fifth is laid by for a 

 sinking-fund. If the receipts grow to be more 

 than enough to pay 4 per cent, interest the sur- 

 plus goes into the Government treasury. Up to 

 the present the interest paid has only been about 

 1 per cent., but the reserve fund reached 536,- 

 363 in June, 1900. The assigned revenues yielded 

 T. 2,616,735 in 1900, giving the net sum of 

 T. 2,154,702 for interest and amortization, the 

 expenses being T. 462,033. Besides loans the 

 Turkish Government owed T. 24,513,000 in 

 1898 to Russia, being the unpaid balance of the 

 war indemnity, and to Russian subjects T. 50,- 

 000 of indemnities, besides which there was a 

 debt of T. 273,494 to the Damascus Railroad. 



The Army. Every Mussulman from the age 

 of twenty is obliged to serve in the Turkish army 

 when called to arms, for four years in the Nizam, 

 or regular army, and two years in its reserve, 

 then for four years in the first and four years in 

 the second ban of the Redif, and subsequently 

 for six years in the Mustahfiz. Those who are 

 not drawn for active service are drilled from six 

 to nine months and afterward for one month each 

 year. The strength of the regular and reserve 

 forces in 1900 was 583,200 infantry in 648 bat- 



talions, 55,300 cavalry in 202 squadrons, 54,720 

 artillery with 1,356 guns, and 7,400 engineers in 

 39 companies. The total war strength of Turkey 

 is estimated at 1,500,000 men instructed in the 

 use of arms. There are 117 battalions of gen- 

 darmerie. . Besides the regular cavalry there are 

 the Hamadieh regiments, of which there will be 48. 

 of 4 to 6 squadrons when fully organized, a mili- 

 tia force in the army districts of Erzinjan, Damas- 

 cus, and Bagdad, commanded by the chiefs of 

 the tribes from which they are drawn and ex- 

 pected to furnish their own horses and equip- 

 ments, the Government furnishing only the arms. 

 Three of the 7 army corps were already armed 

 in 1900 with the small-bore Mauser rifle, of 7.65 

 millimeters caliber, and the fourth corps had 

 large-bore rifles of 9.5 millimeters, 450,000 weap- 

 ons having been given out, 250,000 being on hand 

 to be distributed, and 222,000 having yet to be 

 purchased in order to fully supply the army corps. 



The Navy. The Turkish navy is composed of 

 small vessels, nearly obsolete, suitable only for 

 port defense. Four old ironclads of 6,400 tons, 

 the Aziziyeh, Mahmudiyeh, Osmaniyeh, and Or- 

 kaniyeh, dating from 1864, have had barbette tur- 

 rets placed fore and aft for their 11 -inch Krupp 

 guns. The Messudiyeh, of 8,990 tons, launched in 

 1874, having 12-inch armor and 12 18-ton Arm- 

 strong muzzle-loaders in a central battery, with 

 3 5.9-inch Krupps, has lately been reconstructed 

 in Italy. The Assar-i-Tevfik, of 4,600 tons, 

 launched in 1868, having a broadside battery of 

 8 9.4-inch guns, and 2 8.2-inch Krupp breech-load- 

 ers, is to be reconstructed in Germany. The Ha- 

 midiyeh, of 6,700 tons, launched at Constantinople 

 in 1885, has 10 19-ton guns in a central battery 

 and 2 6.6-inch Krupps. This vessel is not yet 

 fully armed, and the barbette cruiser Abdul 

 Kader, of 8,000 tons, having 14-inch armor and 

 an armament of 4 20-ton guns, 6 5.9-inch Krupps, 

 and 10 quick-firers, is far from completion. There 

 are 8 central-battery and 1 turret-ship of 2,050 to 

 2,720 tons, 2 armored gunboats, 2 destroyers, and 

 19 first-class and 7 second-class torpedo-boats. 

 The Turkish Government is desirous of securing 

 modern vessels and has been in negotiation with 

 shipbuilders in Germany, the United States, and 

 Great Britain, but the state of its credit, the 

 hypothecation of the revenues for debt, and espe- 

 cially the demand of the Russian Government for 

 the payment of the war indemnity, have hitherto 

 prevented the execution of such projects. 



Commerce and Production. Only 6 or 7 per 

 cent, of the total area of European and Asiatic 

 Turkey is cultivated, although a large part of 

 the land could be made very productive. The 

 chief drawback is the lack of transport facilities, 

 but even where these exist the tithes and taxes 

 levied by the Government and the collection of 

 duties at the provincial boundaries check agricul- 

 tural development. In different parts of the em- 

 pire are grown cereals of all kinds, coffee, opium, 

 madder, nuts, almonds, grapes, olives, figs, and 

 cotton. The production of opium in 19QO was 

 7,500 chests, equal to 105,800 pounds. Silk cul- 

 ture, which was checked by disease among the 

 silkworms, is again increasing in the provinces of 

 Brussa and Ismid in Asia Minor, which in 1900 

 produced 6,146,620 -kilograms of silk, against 

 4,950,315 kilograms in 1899, and 556,000 ounces 

 of silkworm eggs, of which 402,000 ounces were 

 exported. The production of attar of roses has 

 lately declined, being about 2,000 kilograms in 

 1898, against 3,900 kilograms in 1896, and to 

 give an impetus to this industry the Ministry of 

 Agriculture has furnished rose-bushes to the peo- 

 ple free. The mineral resources of Turkey are 



