798 



TURKEY. 



of War ; Caratheodori Pasha, Minister for For- 

 eign Affairs ; Kadri Pasha, Minister of the In- 

 terior ; Said Pasha, Minister of Justice; Jevdet 

 Pasha, Minister of Commerce ; Sarvas Pasha, 

 Minister of Public Works ; Savfet Pasha, Min- 

 ister of Police. Raouf Pasha was dismissed 

 from his post as Grand Master of Artillery. 

 The Imperial hatt announcing the change of 

 Ministry recommended to the new Cabinet to 

 carry out really and without delay the pro- 

 jected reforms, and to do their utmost to re- 

 pair the evils of the war. The new Grand 

 Vizier was a Circassian, and had been a former 

 Prime Minister to the Bey of Tunis. He was 

 said to believe that modern ideas of liberty and 

 progress were not inconsistent with the cardi- 

 nal principles of Islam, and that if Turkey was 

 to be regenerated it must be done by the Mus- 

 sulmans themselves. Shortly after his ap- 

 pointment he sent a circular dispatch to the 

 representatives of the Porte abroad, in which 

 he stated that the object of the change of Min- 

 istry was to effect by energetic measures the 

 solution of the internal difficulties of Turkey, 

 as well as of the pending political questions, 

 including those relating to the treaty engage- 

 ments of the Porte. On the 28th of Decem- 

 ber the Sultan, replying to a speech of the 

 Grand Vizier on the occasion of the reception 

 of the Ministers and public functionaries, said 

 that he relied on the assistance of all in carry- 

 ing out the promised reforms. The new or- 

 ganic regulations of the Turkish provinces in 

 Europe would retain the administrative divis- 

 ions and subdivisions hitherto existing. With 

 the exception of the customs duties and the 

 land tax, the revenue of each province would 

 be devoted to the expenditure of the province 

 itself. He received M. Christies, the Servian 

 Minister, with marks of distinction, and ex- 

 pressed to him his desire for good relations 

 with Servia. In the reception to the diplo- 

 matic body, January 2, 1879, he said that he 

 desired the prosperity of the people and the 

 continuance of amicable relations with the 

 Powers. 



The Russians ostensibly began to evacuate 

 their positions around Constantinople in the 

 latter days of October. The movements were 

 conducted in a manner that failed to inspire 

 confidence in the sincerity of the Russian offi- 

 cers. They were delayed and countermanded 

 for reasons variously assigned, so that the ac- 

 tual position of the armies as regarded Con- 

 stantinople was but little different at the end 

 of the year from what it had been at the time 

 of the conclusion of the treaty of San Stefano. 

 On the 20th of October Prince Labanoff in- 

 formed the Grand Vizier that the Russian 

 troops would not retreat from the positions 

 they then held until some arrangement had 

 been made concerning the Christian refugees 

 who were following their army, and that they 

 would not retreat beyond Adrianople until after 

 the signature of a definitive treaty which should 

 embody those articles of the treaty of San 



TWEED, WILLIAM M. 



Stefano which had not been annulled by the 

 Congress of Berlin. In December the Em- 

 peror of Russia gave renewed assurances to the 

 British Government that the Russian troops 

 would evacuate European Turkey within the 

 time fixed by the treaty of Berlin. The nego- 

 tiations in reference to the definitive treaty of 

 friendship and perpetual alliance between Rus- 

 sia and Turkey were begun in September. The 

 draft of the treaty, as submitted by the Rus- 

 sian Ambassador, included clauses engaging 

 both parties to respect all the stipulations of 

 the treaty of Berlin ; confirming all the stipu- 

 lations of the treaty of San Stefano which were 

 not abrogated or modified by the Congress 

 of Berlin ; laying down the principles which 

 should be observed respecting the payment of 

 indemnities, the occupation of territories, and 

 the rights and privileges of the inhabitants 

 of both religions involved therein, including 

 stipulations for the security of inhabitants who 

 might have compromised themselves with the 

 Turkish Government; confirming all unabro- 

 gated previous treaties and stipulations; and 

 providing for the appointment of arbitrators in 

 relation to all matters of detail. The negotia- 

 tions respecting this treaty were continued 

 through the remainder of the year ; they were 

 completed, and the treaty was signed, on the 

 8th of February, 1879. 



Negotiations for a convention between Aus- 

 tria and Turkey, which had been begun and 

 interrupted, were resumed in November, with 

 especial reference to the occupation of Novi- 

 bazar. This question, it was stated at the be- 

 ginning of December, was settled by an agree- 

 ment for a mixed occupation. 



TWEED, WILLIAM MAKCY, died in New York, 

 April 12, 1878. He was born in that city in 

 1828. After receiving a common-school edu- 

 cation, he learned the trade of chair-making. 

 In 1852 he was made an Alderman of New 

 York, and was soon after elected to Congress, 

 where he served from 1853 to 1855. In 1856 

 he became a Supervisor of New York, and 

 Chairman of the Board. He was a School 

 Commissioner in 1856-'57, and a deputy Street 

 Commissioner from 1861 to 1870. From 1867 

 to 1871 he was a State Senator. In 1870 he 

 was appointed Commissioner of the Depart- 

 ment of Public Works in New York City. It 

 was while he was in this office that a corrupt 

 " ring " of which he was chief was formed, and 

 vast sums of public money were appropriated 

 to private use. The building and furnishing 

 of the new Court House in New York were 

 taken advantage of for these peculations, and 

 the money represented to be spent on this 

 work amounted to many millions of dollars 

 more than was actually devoted to this pur- 

 pose. These corrupt practices were exposed, 

 and on October 28, 1871, Tweed was arrested 

 in a civil suit on charges brought by Charles 

 O'Conor in behalf of the city. Bail was fixed at 

 $1,000,000, and was promptly furnished. Soon 

 afterward Tweed was again elected to the State 



