000 postal cards, and -2.1:14.000 internal. 1.2K 

 foreign, aii'l 1.27(>.0<IO transit journal-. 



< ommeree. Tin' trade with different 

 in 1*93 is >hown in the following table. \n\\.> 

 _iven in pi; 



Total 2.44t5.8<iO.<X":> 1.557.522.000 



The principal imports were cotton cloths for 206.- 

 500,000 piasters, sugar for 164.500.000. pique for 

 1415.1100,000. woolen and cotton dress goods for 134.- 

 000.000, cotton yarn for 112,600.000, drugs and 

 for 96,500.000. rice for 95.400.000. coffee lor S3.0oo.- 

 000. cereals for 81.200.000, hid id leather 



for 79.700.000, animals for 62.400.000, madapolam 

 for (>' iron for 48.100.000. broadcloth for 



47.4MO.Wi i. iron wares for 42.000.000, cassimeres for 

 40.500.000. timber for 34.700.000. paper for 30,100,- 

 000, clothing for 26.700.000, coal for 25.300.000. and 

 silks for 25,000.000. The principal exports were 

 raisins for 204.400.000 piasters, raw silk for 202.000.- 

 000, cereals for 183.600,000, cotton for 82.500,000, 

 mohair for 73.300,000. opium for 69.800.000. coffee 

 for 61.000.000. valonia for 57,500.000. wool for 48,- 

 900.000. figs for 48.300.000. skins and leather for 

 41.000.000, olive oil for 40.300,000. minerals fr 

 000.000. drugs and colors for 32.600.000. legumes 

 for 31.700.000. dates for 26.400,000, animals f< 

 300.000. seeds for 21.600.000. carpets for 21,500,000, 

 nuts for 18.900.000. millet for 29.900,000. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered and 

 cleared at Turkish ports during 1894 was 19O.274. of 

 34.137.321 tons. There were 151.377 sailing v 

 and 38.897 steamers. The merchant navy ii. 

 comprised 78 steamers, of 37,843 tons, and 786 sail- 

 ing vessels, of 189.643 tons. 



Armenia. On Sept. 23. 1*9.",. Lord Salisbury 

 proposed that the powers take coercive measures to 

 enforce their proposals for Armenian reforms stipu- 

 lated in the Treaty of Berlin, and that, in the event 

 of unwillingness on the part of any power to as- 

 sume its share in the coercive action, that power 

 should not oppose the action of any other. Austria 

 gave assent to the proposition without any qualifi- 

 cation. Later Germany assented with the proviso 

 that any coercive action of the powers against 

 Turkey must be unanimous and that the integrity 

 of the Ottoman Empire must be maintained. Italy 

 gave absolute assent to the proposal. Russia ob- 

 jected to any scheme that involved coercion, which, 

 M. Shishkin declared, was repugnant to the Czar. 

 In reply, Lord Salisbury expostulated with the 

 Russian" minister, saying that it would be u- 

 for the powers to make further concerted repre- 

 sentations to the Porte in regard to reforms unless 

 they were prepared to enforce their proposals. On 

 Nov. 24 M. Shishkin wrote to Lord Salisbury, say- 

 ing that the Czar agreed to consider the question 

 of coercion if the Sultan should prove recalcitrant 

 and the other powers were unanimously in favor of 

 resorting to coercion. Toward the end of Decem- 

 ber, 1895, France gave a similar assent to measures 



and Italy ivallirnn-d i hei 



:;. The renewal of d 



: 



the refonn- 

 uncheeked. and. whi! 



; unpunished, 



wi-iv committed nfrivoloi.- 



Redifs who had been cai',' 



and as the treasury wa> unable ' provide n. 

 for their pay. they were likely to s\\.-!l t: 

 robbers who preyed upon the unfortunate popula- 

 tion. Tlii- at Orfah, wh> 



ian archpriesi and four other <\ 

 were slain in front of the altar of their churci. 

 thousands of Armenians were butchered. ini| 

 the Marquis of Salisbury to renew hist ti of 



joint action in a note dated Jan. 7. 189(5. Sir Philip 

 Currie. the British ambassador at the i' 



-d the conviction that the disorder and di- 

 tent that reigned in all parts of the empire and in 

 all departments of the Ottoman administration 

 must, unless some remedy be found, lead inevitably 

 before long to a general breakdown of the machinery 

 of government, all the more that the Sultan ap- 

 peared to be powerless to bring about any improve- 

 ment, and that the men who surrounded him were 

 too corrupt and incapable to contribute to the task. 

 Prince Lobanoff, who regarded it as a hopeless and 

 impossible task to try to impose a new system of 

 government on Turkey or establish parliamentary 

 or representative government and responsibility of 

 ministers in Constantinople, saw nothing in the 

 situation to destroy his confidence in the good will 

 of the Sultan, who was. he felt assured, doing his 

 best. In a communication to Prince Lobanoff the 

 British minister at St. Petersburg on Jan. 15 con- 

 veyed the Marquis of Salisbury's opinion of the 

 grave responsibilities incurred by the powers if they 

 did not make some effort to amend the calamitous 

 state of things prevailing in the Ottoman Empire, 

 under which circumstances he considered it of the 

 highest importance that the ambassadors of all the 

 treaty powers at Constantinople should consult 

 together, not only as regards the protection of 

 foreigners in Turkey, to which their discussion in 

 concert had hitherto been limited, but also as re- 

 gards the general state of the empire, with a view 

 of devising some remedy, to be submitted to the 

 consideration of their governments, for the evils 

 which undoubtedly existed, and which, if unchecked 

 might possibly become a source of common danger 

 to Europe. Prince Lobanoff in his reply said that 

 an exchange of views between the representatives 

 of the powers at Constantinople was possible with- 

 out special instructions, but that Lord Salisbury's 

 idea evidently went further, proposing apparently 

 a direct interference in the internal affairs of Turkey, 

 an interference that was distinctly forbidden by 

 the Treaty of Paris and forbidden by implication in 

 the Treaty of Berlin. The practical results of such 

 an infringement of European public law would be 

 that the conferences of the ambassadors would be 

 looked upon as evidence of the imposition of a kind 

 of guardianship on the Sultan, and would certainly 

 lead to fresh disturbances and prepare the way for 

 a series of surprises, each succeeding one more dan- 

 gerous than the others. In the view of the Russian 

 minister it was desirable to assist the Sultan in the 

 arduous task of introducing the reforms obtained 

 from him by the powers, which could only be done by 

 giving him the necessary time and by increasing hi? 

 authority and prestige in the eyes of the different 

 rival populations that are subject to his rule. Lord 

 Salisbury, recognizing that Russia did not stand alone 

 in refusing to sanction a course of conduct that 

 would lead to European interference in the internal 



