804 



TURKEY. 



creditors of the Porte, the Sultan in 1881 issued 

 an irade ordering the emission of new certifi- 

 cates for the conversion and consolidation of the 

 Ottoman debt to the amount of 92,225,827, to 

 which must be added the reduced but non-con- 

 vertible capital of the Roumelian Railroad or 

 Turkish lottery bonds, amounting to 14,211,407 

 sterling, making a total of 106,437,234, in place 

 of the original sum of 190,997,980. Up to 

 March 1, 1887, 1,978,528 of the debt had been 

 extinguished, leaving 104,458,706 sterling. In 

 1890 Agob Pasha concluded an arrangement for 

 the conversion of the priority bonds of the Ga- 

 lata bankers, by which he effected an annual 

 saving of 146,000 liras, and for the retirement of 

 the internal debt of 600,000 liras, on which 60,- 

 000 liras of annual interest was paid. The loan 

 raised for this purpose left a surplus of 1,500,000 

 liras with which to meet the deficiency in the 

 budget. Before the operation a dissension arose 

 in the Cabinet in reference to the deficit, which 

 the Sultan ordered to be obviated by means of 

 economies. The Grand Vizier and the other 

 ministers suggested a reduction of the army as 

 the only means of effecting a considerable sav- 

 ing. Agob Pasha alone objected, and promised 

 to reduce the military expenses and still keep 

 the army at its present expense if he was given 

 control of the financial direction of the War De- 

 partment. This reflection on the Minister of 

 War was resented by him and by the Grand 

 Vizier, who did his utmost to bring about the 

 dismissal of the Armenian minister, whose ad- 

 ministration of the finances ha? given satisfac- 

 tion to the Sultan while it has made him many 

 enemies in every quarter. In November, in con- 

 sequence of a renewal of the quarrel in the Cabi- 

 net, Agob Pasha presented his resignation, but 

 the Sultan would not accept it. When the new 

 loan had been negotiated the Russian Govern- 

 ment presented a demand, more urgent in its 

 erms than usual, and accompanied by a threat, 

 lor the payment of the arrears of the war in- 

 demnity, amounting to 20,000,000 francs. The 

 Porte in June agreed to pay an installment of 

 5,000,000 francs. The conversion scheme was 

 sanctioned by the Sultan on April 13. In addi- 

 tion to 7,500,000 of 4-per-cent. bonds to replace 

 the 5-per-cent. priority bonds, a new loan of 

 4,500,000 was issued, the whole being taken by 

 a syndicate at 76. 



The Army and Navy. The peace effective 

 of the Turkish army is approximately estimated 

 at 12,000 officers and 170,400 men, organized as 

 follows : Two regiments of zouaves and 56 regi- 

 ments of infantry of 4 battalions each, 14 bat- 

 talions of rifles, and 1 battalion of mounted in- 

 fantry, numbering altogether 97,200 rank and 

 file ; 37 regiments of cavalry of 5 squadrons 

 each, numbering 29,600; 14 regiments of field 

 artillery, having 208 batteries of 6 guns, num- 

 bering 20,800 men ; 92 companies of foot artil- 

 lery, numbering 9,200 : 30 companies of artificers, 

 numbering 3,000 ; 50 companies of technical 

 troops, numbering 5,000 ; 21 companies of train, 

 numbering 2,100 ; and 3,500 men forming the 

 caders of "352 battalions of Redif. The reserve 

 troops on leave" number 27,000. The Redif, or 

 Landwehr, divided into two bans, is estimated 

 at 590,000, and the Mustahfiz, or Landsturm, at 

 262,000 men. 



The Turkish navy has 15 armored vessels (of 

 which 7 are frigates and 8 corvettes), 1 monitor, 

 2 gunboats, 27 torpedo gunboats, 25 torpedo 

 boats, 2 Nordenfeldt submarine torpedo boats, 

 and a large number of old vessels. There are 1 

 ironclad, 3 torpedo cruisers, 1 gun vessel, 5 tor- 

 pedo boats, and 2 corvettes in process of con- 

 struction. One of the older vessels, the frigate 

 " Ertogrul," foundered in a typhoon off the, coast 

 of Japan on Sept. 16, 1890, and 587 officers and 

 men were drowned. 



Commerce. The total value of imports re- 

 ported by the custom-house authorities for the 

 year ending March 1, 1889, was 1,945,665,364 

 piasters (the Turkish piaster, of which 100 make 

 a lira, was formerly worth 25 cents, but now has 

 an exchange value of only 4'4 cents). A uni- 

 form duty of 8 per cent, ad valorem is collected 

 on all imports excepting tobacco and salt, which 

 are monopolies assigned by the Government to 

 its creditors. The values imported from the 

 largest importing countries were 797,646,824 

 piasters from Great Britain, 345,523,796 piasters 

 from Austria-Hungary, 252,052,425 piasters from 

 France, 204,816,172 piasters from Germany, 96,- 

 576,772 piasters from Bulgaria, 55,487,899 pias- 

 ters from Persia, 46,837.888 piasters from 

 Italy, 47,313,683 piasters from Roumania, 38,- 

 817,782 piasters from Belgium, and 31,835,714 

 piasters from Greece. The exports, exclusive of 

 tobacco, were valued at the total of 1,354,653,- 

 989 piasters. The largest amounts exported to 

 individual countries were 500,348,993 piasters to 

 Great Britain, 426,472,890 piasters to France, 

 115,463,565 piasters to Austria-Hungary. 85,108.- 

 580 piasters to Egypt, 46,419.324 piasters to 

 Greece, 38,959,888 piasters to Italy, 36,986,333 

 piasters to the Netherlands, 31,598,253 piasters 

 to Bulgaria, and 29,416,109 to Germany. 



The principal articles of import were cereals 

 of the value of 188,639,000 piasters : cottons and 

 linens, 169,164,000 piasters; sugar, 125,951,000 

 piasters; coffee, 95,345,000 piasters; cotton 

 thread, 92,315,000 piasters; cotton and wool 

 stuffs, 68,471,000 piasters; rice, 65.432,000 pias- 

 ters ; animals, 62,496,000 piasters ; hides and 

 leather, 52,542,000 piasters; petroleum, 51,356,- 

 000 piasters; drugs and dyes, 47,754,000 pias- 

 ters ; butter and cheese, 33,092,000 piasters. 

 The largest exports were raisins of the value 

 of 201,747,000 piasters; cereals, 134,100,000 

 piasters ; opium. 80,431,000 piasters : raw silk, 

 80,200,000 piasters ; mohair, 60,536,000 pias- 

 ters ; wool, 56,272,000 piasters ; oak galls, 54,- 

 409,000 piasters ; coffee, 53,895.000 piasters : figs, 

 42,357,000 piasters; olive oil, 40,572,000 piasters; 

 cotton, 36,954,000 piasters; cocoons, 33,338,000 

 piasters; drugs and dyes, 32,534,000 piasters; 

 animals, 26,796,000 piasters ; carpets, 19,628,000 

 piasters; dates, 17,939,000 piasters. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 and cleared at Turkish ports in the year 1887-'88 

 was 174,338, of 27,581,927 tons. Of the 35,548 

 steamers, 13,010 were English, 7,448 Turkish, 

 4.264 Greek, 3,922 Austrian, 2,365 French, and 

 2,082 Russian. Of the sailing vessels, 130,044 

 were Turkish, 14,627 Greek, and 13,126 British. 



The merchant navy, in 1889, numbered 84 

 steamers of 100 tons and upward, having an ag- 

 gregate of 63,804 tons, and 791 sailing vessels, 

 having an aggregate of 153,264 tons. 



