TURKEY. 



803 



the foreign creditors was the fear of an Inter- 

 national Financial Commission, which would 

 place Turkey in the position of Egypt. He 

 proposed to include in the arrangement the 

 Russian War indemnity and the floating debt. 

 His scheme for getting rid of the bondholders' 

 claims, the floating liabilities, and the war ran- 

 som together would not cripple the treasury, 

 since the only actual source of revenue which 

 he offered to cede to the creditors was that of 

 the "six contributions," which was already 

 sequestered and administered by the Galata 

 bankers. The others were patent dues and an 

 increase in the customs duties, revenues which 

 were not in existence, and which could not be 

 raised without the consent of the powers. The 

 delegate of the bondholders, Bourke, refused 

 to include the Russian indemnity, and insisted 

 that all the proposed revenues and something 

 additional must be reserved to secure the com- 

 promised foreign debt. The negotiations with 

 the bondholders' delegates were pushed to a 

 conclusion, and the danger of an international 

 commission and European tutelage removed. 

 The question of the Russian War indemnity, 

 which was before an element of danger, now 

 became an indifferent matter. The Russian 

 Government made great efforts to obtain a 

 settlement in the way suggested by the Porte. 

 The first precedent of the transfer of specific 

 revenues and their control to creditors was the 

 arrangement with the Galata bankers in 1879, 

 to which the Sultan was driven in his financial 

 straits. By the extension of like privileges to 

 the bondholders political dangers were averted 

 without financially embarrassing the Govern- 

 ment. An arrangement on similar lines with 

 the Russian Government would involve politi- 

 cal danger and pecuniary sacrifices at the same 

 time. The Turkish Prime Minister suspected 

 that Russia desired to obtain the financial ad- 

 ministration of some province in Asia Minor as 

 a preliminary step toward annexation. After 

 many months of tiresome negotiations, during 

 which the projects which the Sultan agreed to 

 in his palace he rejected through the Porte, 

 and the propositions of the Porte were shelved 

 at the palace, a convention was finally con- 

 cluded in May, 1882. Instead of the forty 

 millions of war indemnity, the Russian Govern- 

 ment agreed to accept an annuity of 350,000 

 Turkish pounds, secured on the sheep-tax of 

 the Vilayet of Aleppo and the tithes of the 

 Vilayets of Konieh, Adana, and a part of the 

 Vilayet of Sivas. These revenues are to be 

 collected by the Ottoman Bank, under the 

 supervision of an agent of the Russian Govern- 

 ment, who is not officially recognized by the 

 Porte. This peculiar Byzantine arrangement 

 will enable the Ottoman Government to evade 

 its engagements, if so disposed. 



The Prime Minister, Said Pasha, endeavored 

 to obtain the Sultan's consent to a programme 

 of reform which would rescue the administra- 

 tion from the degeneration resulting from the 

 interference of the corrupt retainers of the pal- 



ace, restore the Porte to its functions as the 

 exponent of the internal and foreign policy, and 

 regain the respect of Europe by a coi. 

 external policy and progressive internal im- 

 provements, including the Armenian reforms 

 provided for in the Treaty of Berlin. Said's 

 protest against the Sultan's irregular methods, 

 in which he had before pliantly acquiesced, 

 was provoked by the action of the Sultan in 

 the Russian indemnity negotiations in conclud- 

 ing arrangements with the Russian Minister 

 through a palace official without the partici- 

 pation of the Porte in any way. Said was 

 subsequently called into consultation, when he 

 vexed the Sultan by protracting the negotia- 

 tions. 



At the beginning of May, Said Pasha was 

 summarily dismissed from the premiership. 

 The autocratically inclined Abdul- 1 1 amid felt 

 thwarted and restricted by the independence 

 of judgment and decision of character of the 

 First Minister. He easily persuaded himself, 

 when Said's firmness in defending the interests 

 of Turkey brought him into collision with the 

 cabinets of Europe, that his vigorous but sup- 

 ple Minister was lacking in the right qualities, 

 and that he could guide the foreign policy more 

 ably himself. The succeeding First Minister, 

 Abdurrahman Pasha, was known as an efficient 

 and honest provincial governor in Asia, but 

 without experience in European diplomacy. 

 During his brief tenure of office, the intercourse 

 was entirely between the embassies and the pal- 

 ace, through the roundabout channels to which 

 Said Pasha had skillfully accommodated him- 

 self without allowing his functions to be super- 

 seded. After a few weeks, Abdurrahman asked 

 to be relieved. The statesman to whom the 

 Sultan now turned insisted upon the cessation of 

 palace interference. He was finally constrained 

 to recall Said Pasha, who was reappointed 

 Vizier in the second week of July. The Egyp- 

 tian crisis occurred during Abdurrahman's 

 brief ministry. The Minister advised the Sul- 

 tan to co-operate with Europe, and seek to 

 have the intervention in Egypt intrusted to 

 Turkey. Abdul-Hamid, set in his Islamic pol- 

 icy, and listening only to the palace party, lost 

 every opportunity of taking part in the settle- 

 ment of the Egyptian difficulties, and only tried 

 to repair his blunders when it was too late. 

 (See EGYPT, for account of the Constantinople 

 Conference, and Turkey's action in the Egyptian 

 affair.) 



The Armenian question was pressed upon 

 the consideration of the Porte before the Egyp- 

 tian crisis, but was then allowed to drop. Rus- 

 sia assumes the role in Armenia which she 

 played in Bulgaria ; but the Sultan is not afraid 

 of the Armenians accepting the Russian cham- 

 pionship when the choice lies between Turk- 

 ish rule and Russian. One of the antiquarian 

 national movements has been set on foot in 

 Armenia, looking to the re-establishment of 

 the ancient Armenian monarchy ; but it is even 

 more artificial than the similar movements 



