640 



TURKEY. 



ready given in answer to the latest demands of 

 France would end the conflict. On learning of 

 the landing, the Sultan resolved to give France 

 satisfaction on all points. Having already com- 

 plied with the original demands and accepted the 

 fresh demands of France, the Sultan issued an 

 trade recognizing the legal existence of the mis- 

 sion schools, hospitals, and religious establish- 

 ments which are French or under French protec- 

 tion, and according to them immunity from land 

 taxes and customs duties conformably to treaties 

 and conventions; authorizing the erection, repair, 

 or enlargement of schools, hospitals, or religious 

 establishments damaged or destroyed during the 

 events of 1894, 1895, and 1896 in Asiatic Turkey 

 .and in Constantinople; undertaking to consider 

 -as authorized any religious, educational, or other 

 establishments which France may like to found 

 in the future, or any erections or enlargements 

 to which the Imperial Government fails to make 

 objections within six months after being apprised 

 of the intention, and ratifying the election of the 

 Chaldean Patriarch. The French Government on 

 receiving these concessions, valuable to the reli- 

 gious communities and confirming the position 

 of France as protector of Catholics in the Levant, 

 recalled the squadron, which departed from Mity- 

 lene on Nov. 11. 



The desire of the Sultan to preserve the nation- 

 -al rights and existence of the Ottoman Empire 

 and guard against further privileges being claimed 

 on behalf of foreigners to the detriment of Turk- 

 ish sovereignty was shown by his attempt to 

 bring sanitary and postal affairs under Turkish 

 official management, by regulations regarding 

 Catholic missionary congregations, and by the re- 

 newal of a decree forbidding Jews of foreign na- 

 tionality to remain in Palestine longer than three 

 months, or to acquire land in that province. 

 The wholesale exodus of Jews from Russia and 

 their recent emigration from Roumania gave rise 

 to the apprehension that they might overcrowd 

 Palestine, and this apprehension was strengthened 

 by the increasing activity of the Zionists, who 

 were believed to be aiming to reestablish a Jew- 

 ish state in the ancient seat. The measure applies 

 both to traders and pilgrims. Great Jewish bank- 

 ers of Europe offered to loan money to Turkey 

 on condition that the Sultan should favor their 

 plans of the Jewish colonization of Palestine. 

 There were 43,542 Jews living in Palestine in 

 1898, of whom one-third were foreign settlers. A 

 school at Mihve-Israel, on the plain of Sharon, 

 which is supported by the French Hebrew Alli- 

 ance, is devoted to training Jews for agriculture. 

 The same society has schools at Jaffa, Haifa, 

 Jerusalem, Safed, and Tiberias, and it supplies 

 funds to give farmers a start. The settlers in 

 Sharon, Esdraelon, and north of Carmel produce 

 the best wine. 



German commercial schemes in Asia Minor 

 were approved by the Sultan, who relied much 

 on the political friendship of Germany. The Turks 

 looked with some alarm on the encouragement 

 given to foreign enterprises when legal obstruc- 

 tions and fiscal exactions prevented them from 

 developing the resources of their own country. 

 The Anatolian railroads have been slowly con- 

 structed and have been profitable as far as they 

 are completed to their undertakers. The Russian 

 Government, when the extension of the German 

 railroad to the Persian Gulf was a subject of 

 negotiation, objected to any concession being 

 .given to any but Russians for railroads within 

 the drainage basin of the Black Sea, offering, if 

 ihe Turkish Government thought a railroad on 

 the Black Sea littoral to be necessary, to construct 



one or to loan the money for its construction to 

 the Turkish Government. The Germans in Asia 

 Minor have in their extraterritorial privileges an 

 advantage over Turkish competitors and are aided 

 in their enterprises by their Government. The 

 Turkish Government has undertaken with the 

 aid of Turkish capital to build the railroad from 

 Hijaz to Damascus, and although subscriptions 

 of capital have been disappointing, soldiers have 

 been employed in leveling the line and the tribes 

 along the route have given assistance. To con- 

 tinue their line from Konia to the Persian Gulf 

 the Germans, who received the concession in 1899, 

 required a kilometrical guarantee. Disturbances 

 occurred early in 1901 in the region where the 

 terminus of the railroad will be. Mubarek, the 

 sheik of Koweit, who had overrun Nejd, in 

 central Arabia, and defeated Ibn Reshid, the 

 Emir, was attacked by the latter and in turn 

 defeated in a great battle in which the losses on 

 both sides were reported as amounting to 5,000. 

 Ibn Reshid was aided by the Turkish Government 

 in regaining his power, and in the name of the 

 Government he demanded from Mubarek the pay- 

 ment of taxes for Koweit. The Turkish vali 

 meant to move troops to Koweit, and marched a 

 force from Bagdad to Basra, but proceeded no 

 farther when he learned that a British war-ship 

 was at Koweit, whose sheik petitioned for Brit- 

 ish protection. The Vali of Basra offered the 

 protection of Turkish troops against any further 

 attacks of the Nejd men. The sheik of Koweit 

 declined to receive Turkish troops. Koweit was 

 practically independent from the time of the great 

 Solyman until its sheik, whose family had ruled 

 the country for two hundred and fifty years, was 

 induced to acknowledge Turkish sovereignty in 

 1870 by Midhat Pasha, Vali of Bagdad, who was 

 on an expedition to subdue Neshd, and who ap- 

 pointed the Sheik Mutasserif of his own terri- 

 tory. After the fall of Midhat the measures he 

 had taken for the welfare of the Bagdad province 

 were neglected. The Turkish officials continued 

 to wring taxes from the Arabs, but Koweit in the 

 course of time was left alone until recently at- 

 tempts have been made to collect taxes once more 

 from the districts on the Persian Gulf. The sheik 

 sent representatives to Basra to protest, and when 

 the general of the Turkish army corps proved 

 obdurate the sheik made application to the 

 British Government for protection, in consequence 

 of which a British gunboat was sent to Koweit. 

 Other Arab chiefs resented the reassertion of Otto- 

 man sovereignty, especially the collection of taxes. 

 The Sheik Saadon of Montefik resisted the pay- 

 ment of taxes, and to bring him and the sheik 

 of Koweit to submission 10,000 troops were as- 

 sembled at Basra and 20,000 at Bagdad. The 

 presence of an English man-of-war at Koweit de- 

 terred the general from at once despatching a 

 force to coerce Mubarek, as the only convenient 

 way of reaching that district was by sea. The 

 sheik has for many years kept the Turkish flag 

 flying, but this he declared was the flag of Islam. . 

 On Aug. 24 a Turkish vessel appeared at- Koweit 

 with the intention of landing 500 troops to garri- 

 son the place. The British cruiser cleared for 

 action, and the Turkish commander on receiving 

 the intimation that he would not be allowed to 

 land troops returned to Fao and telegraphed to 

 Constantinople for instructions. The Turkish 

 Government protested against the conduct of the 

 English commander as incompatible with the 

 friendly relations between Great Britain and 

 Turkey. While the Turkish force was still at 

 Basra the Emir of Nejd assembled 10,000 horse- 

 men on the border of Koweit. The British Gov- 



