TURKEY. 



G87 





the Gth has 44. Each army corps consists of 2 

 divisions of infantry, except the 3d and 4th, which 

 have 3 and 4 respectively; 1 division of cavalry, 

 except the 7th; and 3 brigades of artillery, of 2 

 regiments of 2 sections, each section consisting of 

 3 batteries, and 1 section of horse artillery, except- 

 ing the 6th, which has 1 regiment with 17 batter- 

 ies, and the 7th, which has 1 regiment with 7 

 batteries. In Arabia, 1 division of 17 battalions, 

 2 squadrons, and 2 mountain batteries, and in 

 Tripoli 1 division of 17 battalions, 1 brigade of 

 cavalry, and 3 regiments of artillery, are main- 

 tained, which are outside of the army corps. The 

 strength of the standing army in 1900 was about 

 350,000 men ; of the territorial army, 364,000 men : 

 of the nuistahflz, 120,000 men; of the general levy, 

 666,000 men; total war strength, 1,500,000 men, 

 half of whom have received a thorough military 

 training. 



The naval force in 1900 consisted of 3 casemated 

 ironclads, 2 turret ships, 2 old broadside ships, 9 

 old ironclad gunboats, 2 river gunboats, 2 de- 

 stroyers, and 15 first-class and 7 second-class tor- 

 pedo craft, with 2 unarmored cruisers, 6 corvettes, 

 10 gunboats, 3 yachts, and 3 avisos. There were 

 building 1 armored cruiser, 1 destroyer, 2 torpedo 

 boats, 6 cruisers, and 6 first-class gunboats. The 

 navy was manned by 2 admirals, 9 vice-admirals, 

 16 rear-admirals, 130 captains, 70 commanders, 300 

 lieutenants, 250 lieutenant commanders, 200 en- 

 signs, 480 mechanicians, 50 surgeons, 212 commis- 

 sary officers and paymasters, about 3,000 petty 

 officers and sailors, and 9,650 marines. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads in operation in 1899 was 2,796 

 miles, of which 1,240 miles were in Europe, com- 

 prising the Oriental railroads joining the European 

 system, 786 miles, and the lines from Salonika to 

 Monastir, 137 miles, and from Salonika, to Con- 

 stantinople, 317 miles. In Asiatic Turkey there 

 were 1,556 miles, the Anatolian Railroad having 

 a length of 634 miles, the Aidin line 320 miles, 

 the railroad from Smyrna to Cassaba 321 miles, 

 that from Beyrut to Damascus 96 miles, from 

 Damascus to Nazrib 64 miles, from Jaffa to Jeru- 

 salem 54 miles, Mersina to Adana 42 miles, and 

 Fondania to Brussa 25 miles. A line from Acre 

 to Damascus, 157 miles, was not completed. The 

 German company that built the Anatolian Rail- 

 road has contracted to build a line from Konieh 

 to Bagdad and Basra before 1908. 



The postal traffic in 1895 was 10,366,000 internal, 

 2,512.000 international, and 1,848,000 transit let- 

 ters, 225,000 postal cards, and 1,941.000 internal, 

 1,183,000 international, and 1,230,000 transit news- 

 papers and circulars. The receipts were 5,724,641 

 francs, and expenses 1,839,565 francs. The length 

 of telegraph lines is 21,800 miles, with 33,700 miles 

 of wire. The number of messages in 1895 w r as 

 3,124,168. 



Commerce and Production. The total value 

 of imports in 1898 was estimated at T. 24,- 

 070,000; exports, T. 13,750,000. The value of 

 imports in the financial year 1897 was T. 21,- 

 359,710, and of exports T. 15,428.460. The im- 

 ports of cloth in 1896 were T. 1,510,000 in value: 

 sugar, T. 1.400,000; grain and flour, T. 

 1.370.000; quilting. T. 1,116,000; yarns, T. 

 1.013,000; coffee, T. 933,000; hides and leather, 

 T. 568,000; animals, T. 544,000; petroleum, 

 T. 512.000; madapolam, T. 471,000; cashmere, 

 T. 401.000; iron manufactures, T. 393,000; 

 timber, T. 375,000; drugs and colors, T. 



2.000; butter and cheese, T. 284,000; paper, 

 T. 274,000; coal, T. 270,000: silks, T. 

 252.000; clothing, T. 258,000; glass, T. 

 227,000; wool and cotton goods, T. 221,000; 



carpets, T. 215,000. The exports of raisins were 

 T. 2,197,000; raw silk and cocoons, T. 

 1,991,000; minerals, T. 822,000; mohair, T. 

 767,000; opium, T. 752,000; oak galls, T. 

 578,000; cotton, T. 563,000; wool, T. 540,OCib; 

 hides and leather, T. 498,000; coffee, T. 

 439,000; grain and flour, T. 370,000; olive oil, 

 T. 349,000; sesame, T. 305,000; carpets, T. 

 277,000; drugs and colors, T. 262,000; figs, 

 T. 251,000; dates, T. 233,000; animals, T. 

 220,000; nuts, T. 211,000; seeds, T. 189,000; 

 oranges and lemons, T. 163,000. The imports 

 from and exports to various countries in the finan- 

 cial year 1897 were in value as follow: 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 and cleared at Turkish ports in 1898 was 173,739, 

 of 34,653,457 tons, of which 39,680 were steamers, 

 of 32,446,320 tons, and 134,059 were sailing vessels, 

 of 2,207,137 tons. The merchant navy in 1900 

 comprised 177 steamers, of 55,983 tons, and 2,205 

 sailing vessels, of 141,055 tons. 



Foreign Relations. On March 5, 1900, an 

 irade announced an increase in the customs duties 

 from 8 to 11 per cent, ad valorem. The powers 

 at once lodged a protest declaring that no such 

 change could be made without a previous under- 

 standing with all the powers concerned. The re- 

 ply made by the Porte was a circular note simply 

 stating that the increase of duty would take effect 

 on May 14. On March 27 the ambassadors pre- 

 sented another collective note reiterating with em- 

 phasis their previous declaration that the customs 

 duties are unalterable except with the consent of 

 the powers. To this the Porte replied on April 5 

 in a note defending the proposed increase upon the 

 grounds of the long delay in concluding the new 

 commercial treaties and the extreme financial pres- 

 sure from which the treasury was suffering. It 

 described the new tariff as simply provisional in 

 character, and pointed out that the duties imposed 

 were lighter than those which the commercial 

 treaties that were being negotiated sanctioned. In 

 these circumstances the hope was expressed that 

 the powers would not insist on their objections. 

 The ambassadors on April 7, while maintaining their 

 previous declarations, invited the Porte to formu- 

 late proposals to be forwarded to their respective 

 governments. The Porte answered by a circular 

 intimating an intention to adhere to its resolution 

 to raise the ad valorem duties to 11 per cent, on 

 May 14. The ambassadors thereupon warned the 

 Porte in a collective note that it alone would 

 have to assume responsibility for the serious con- 

 sequences that must follow from the action it 

 proposed to take. On June 20 the Porte requested 

 a reply to its proposals, having refrained from 

 putting its decree into execution. 



The United States minister, after the Sultan 

 had made three distinct promises to pay the in- 



