TURKEY. 



763 



ports of miscellaneous merchandise 19,618,000, 

 exports 4,840,000 piasters ; total imports, 1,931,- 

 404,000, total exports 863,209,000 piasters. 



Navigation. The tonnage entered at Constan- 

 tinople in 1882 was 6,535,797, of which 3,170,- 

 870 tons were English. The steam tonnage 

 was 3,165,366. The sailing tonnage entered 

 at Smyrna was 1,066,337, the steam tonnage 

 991,714; the sailing tonnage at Salonica 927,- 

 139, the steam tonnage 720,034. The merchant 

 navy in 1879 comprised 220 ocean-going sail- 

 ships of 34,500 tons, and 11 steamers of 3,350. 



Railroads. The lines completed in 1884 had 

 a total length of 1,432 kilometres, besides 274 

 kilometres in Asia Minor. 



The neglect of the Turkish Government to 

 carry out the railroad convention agreed upon 

 at the conference d quatre was the occasion of 

 remonstrances on the part of Austria. The 

 Porte declared that the complications with 

 the Hirsch syndicate were all that stood in the 

 way of the junction of the Turkish and Servian 

 lines. Baron Hirsch offered to build the lines, 

 but refused the condition insisted upon by the 

 Porte, that the company, whicli is now Aus- 

 trian, should become Ottoman, at least until its 

 old accounts with the Turkish Government 

 were settled. This proviso was unacceptable to 

 the court, because the complications with the 

 company are interminable, and would place the 

 railroad beyond Turkish jurisdiction for an in- 

 definite period. The agreement made with the 

 Eastern Railways Company, subject to the ac- 

 ceptance of Ottoman nationality, was to repay 

 the company gradually from the revenue of 

 the railroad, fixed at 45 percent, of the receipts 

 after deducting 7,000 francs per kilometre for 

 working expenses, at a rate not to exceed 1,500 

 francs per kilometre. The Porte threatened 

 to sequestrate the railroads and complete the 

 junction by a regie, or give the commission to 

 a new company. The neglect of Bulgaria and 

 Roumania to fulfill their obligations with refer- 

 ence to their share of the Turkish debt was 

 assigned as another reason for not carrying out 

 the railroad convention before October, 1886, 

 according to agreement. 



A new Asiatic railway, connecting the rich 

 districts of Adana and Tarsus with the port of 

 Mersina, was begun in May, 1884. 



Telegraphs. There were 27,497 kilometres 

 of telegraph lines, with 52,142 kilometres of 

 wire, in 1878. In Bosnia and Herzegovina 

 there were in 1880 1,982 kilometres of lines. 



The Army. According to the new plan of 

 military organization, approved by the Padi- 

 shah in May, 1880, the army is divided into 

 the nizam or active army, the redif or reserve, 

 and the mmtahfiz or levy in mass. The dura- 

 tion of service is twenty years, of which six 

 are passed in the active army and its reserve. 

 The war effective of the active army is to 

 be 610,200 men, with 1,512 guns. The actual 

 strength of the nizams in 1883 was 10,311 offi- 

 cers and 150,106 men, with 650 guns. 



The Navy. The fleet has been greatly weak- 



ened by losses of vessels and sales made to 

 England. In recent lists, 9 indifferent vessels 

 on the Danube and 9 in the Black Sea, includ- 

 ing 1 steam-frigate, are all that are mentioned. 



Finances. The budget estimates for the fiscal 

 year ending Feb. 28, 1881, make the receipts 

 1,615,584,000 piasters, and the expenditures 

 1,914,876,359 piasters. 



The foreign debt was scaled down by the 

 arrangement with the creditors, sanctioned by 

 the Sultan, Dec. 16, 1881, from 252,801,885, 

 including accrued interest amounting to 61,- 

 803,905, to 106,437,234, for the service of 

 which the salt and tobacco monopolies and 

 certain imposts and tithes are reserved. The 

 Galata bankers, whose claims for money ad- 

 vanced amounted to 8,170,000 Turkish pounds, 

 receive from the debt commission 590,000 

 Turkish pounds a year, sufficient to pay 5 per 

 cent, interest and provide a sinking fund, in 

 return for releasing the " six indirect contribu- 

 tions" for the service of the general debt. 

 Other loans are partly secured by a reserved 

 share of the Turkish tribute, over and above 

 which they demand 197,602 a year. The 

 floating and internal debts amount to about 

 20,000,000 Turkish pounds. The Russian war 

 indemnity of 32,000,000 pounds is payable in 

 100 annual installments, without interest. 



The Capitulations. The Sultan took a deter- 

 mined stand in 1884 against the most humili- 

 ating features of the international control over 

 certain functions of government. He pro- 

 claimed the intention of suppressing the for- 

 eign post-offices and establishing a Turkish 

 postal service. The first essay in the foreign 

 mail service, however, was a failure, the ex- 

 pensive steamers that were procured to convey 

 the mails to the railroad terminus in the Dan- 

 ube not being able to make the connection 

 with Varna. 



The Porte also insisted that its appointment 

 of seven new members on the Sanitary Board 

 should be admitted by the powers. This would 

 give Turkey the majority in the board. The 

 ground for the change was the danger from 

 cholera. It was supposed that Europeans, in 

 the commercial interest of their compatriots, 

 would disregard the sanitary interests of the 

 Turkish population. The Turkish physicians 

 were admitted to the meetings of the board as 

 consultative members, but, when they insisted 

 on full membership, all the foreign members 

 except the British left the hall. They then pro- 

 ceeded to assume the functions of the board, 

 and decreed an extension of quarantine. The 

 post-office and sanitary regulations were not a 

 part of the capitulations, yet the ultimate de- 

 sign of the Sultan was to do away with con- 

 sular jurisdiction and the other provisions of 

 the capitulations. 



Religions Difficulties. The election of the Ar- 

 menian Catholicos at Etchmiadzin took place 

 May 21. Since the majority of the dioceses 

 are in Turkey, the Turkish Armenians have 

 hitherto controlled the choice of their ecclesi- 



