776 



TURKEY. 



twenty-ninth since the capture of Constanti- 

 nople ; succeeded his brother Sultan Abdul- 

 Medjid-Khan, June 25th, 1857. The heir ap- 

 parent to the throne is not the oldest son of 

 the reigning Sultan, hut the oldest son of the 

 deceased Sultan, Abdul-Medj id-Khan. The 

 reigning Sultan is reported to have the in- 

 tention to obtain the consent of the leading 

 powers of Europe for a change in the law of 

 succession. 



The area and population of the empire is 

 estimated as follows : 



86,288 



87,430,000 



The following estimate of the religious statis- 

 tics is given by Kolb (Ifandbuch der terglel- 

 chenden Statistik, I860) : 



The budget for 1864-'5 shows a revenue of 

 14,737,231. The expenditure is estimated at 

 14,571,238. The increase in the latter over 

 that of last year is occasioned by the public 

 debt and the Circassian immigration. A re- 

 duction in the army and navy expenses to the 

 amount of 37,758 will be made. 



The Turkish army consisted, during the 

 Crimean war, of 105,325 nizam (active army), 

 103,827 redif (reserve), 7,741 militia ; total, 

 216,893. The duration of military service is 

 live years in the active army, and seven years 

 in the reserve. An order of the Turkish Gov- 

 ernment, issued in January, 1864, grants leave 

 of absence, during six months of the year, to 

 all soldiers who have served a sufficient time to 

 acquire the experience and practice necessary 

 for military duties. An important saving 

 which forms one of the temporary economics 

 promised in the report on the budget will 

 thus be effected. Better men will be secured 

 for the army, now that the soldiers will be 

 able for some months in the year to enjoy the 

 comforts of home. The suspension of the con- 

 scription is a corollary to the regulation. The 

 order provides that all soldiers and non-com- 

 missioned officers who, after having attained 

 the necessary degree of skill in their military 

 drill and instruction, may desire to spend the 

 winter season in their homes, shall be permit- 

 ted to leave their regiments during that period 

 of the year in which the rigors of the season 

 prevent the practice of military exercise. 



The press in Turkey has been hitherto com- 

 paratively free ; but an edict, issued in Decem- 

 ber, 1864, greatly restricts this freedom. The 

 following are the chief provisions of the new 

 ;aw: 



" Arts. 1, 2, and 3 provide that every papei 

 must be authorized by the Government tha 

 name of the responsible editor printed on every 

 issue that, if a native, he must be over thirty 

 years of age ; and if a foreigner, he must agree 

 to submit to Turkish jurisdiction. 



" Art. 8 provides that when any person is 

 mentioned by name in a paper he must be al- 

 lowed an opportunity to reply in the same 

 paper, occupying not more than the space 

 taken by the original article. 



" Art. 9 prohibits the entrance into the em- 

 pire of any foreign publications hostile to the 

 Tu rk i sh ^Government. 



" The' remaining twenty-sis articles comprise 

 its penal provisions, which are such as the fol- 

 lowing: 



' ; Art. 14 punishes every offence against 'pub- 

 lic morality, good manners, or any one of the 

 religions or creeds professed in the empire,' 

 with a fine of from 15 to 100, or with im- 

 prisonment of from one week to three months. 



''Art. 17 protects ' friendly and allied sov- 

 ereigns' against attack by a penalty of impris- 

 onment of from three months to three years, 

 or a fine of from $50 to $500. Every other 

 imaginable class is protected by similar pro- 

 visions. 



" Art. 26 forbids the publication or repro- 

 duction ' intentionally and in bad faith ' of 

 false news, and of fabricated or false docu- 

 ments, under penalty of from a month to a 

 year's imprisonment, or a fine of from $50 to 

 $250. Prosecutions may take place at any 

 time within six months. 



" Art. 33 provides for the doubling of all 

 penalties in case of a repetition of the offence." 



In July, 1864, the Turkish Government 

 closed all the Protestant missionary establish- 

 ments, and arrested several converts to Prot- 

 estantism. In consequence of the remon- 

 strances of the representatives of the United 

 States and other Protestant countries it per- 

 mitted, however, after a few days the reopen- 

 ing of the Bible and the American missionary 

 societies. In August all the missionary sta- 

 tions were reopened, but the converts in the 

 capital were for the present to be sent to the 

 provinces. The continuance of religious contro- 

 versy in the Protestant books was also author- 

 ized, provided that the Koran was not in- 

 sulted. 



K"o part of the Turkish Empire has attracted 

 for several years so much attention as the 

 United Dauubrian principalities (formerly Mol- 

 davia and Wallachia). In virtue of the treaty 

 of Paris of March 30th, 1856, and of the con- 

 vention of August 19th, 1858, each cf the two 

 principalities, contrary to the wish expressed 

 by the people, was to have its own prince, a 

 distinct assembly- and a distinct administra- 

 tion. The germ of a future union was, how- 

 ever, laid in the appointment of a joint com- 

 mission which was to prepare a legislative 

 union. When, however, both provinces elected 

 the same prince, Colonel Alexandre Couza, a 



