TONGA. 



of implements and machinery at $364,000, that 

 of live stock at $2,955,000, and that of corn on 

 hand at $127,000, a total of $23,446,000, exclusive 

 of growing crops. This land, yielding in an ordi- 

 nary season a general average of three fourths of 

 a bale of cotton, or 40 bushels of corn, to the acre, 

 was submerged to a depth of 2 to 20 feet, during 

 about eight days, for the entire area of about 

 2,160 square miles. 



It was estimated that the actual destruction 

 included about 227,000 bales of cotton, represent- 

 ing, at an average price of 4J cents a pound, 

 about $5,100,000; 4,400,000 bushels of corn, worth 

 20 cents a bushel, $880,000; sugar cane to the 

 value of $355,000; and other crops estimated at 

 $235,000; a total loss of standing crops of $6,- 

 570,000. This amount, added to farm property, 

 made the total loss $7,414,000, or about $74 per 

 capita of the population of the district, which 

 was estimated at 100,000, negroes largely pre- 

 dominating. 



Lynching. In May there was a triple mid- 

 night lynching in Henderson County. George 

 Humphries, colored, and his two sons were taken 

 from their farm homes, which were within a few 

 hundred yards of each other, and all three were 

 hanged on one tree by a mob. It was charged 

 that the Humphries were concealing a man who 

 was suspected of killing a constable of the county 

 a year before. 



TONGA, a Polynesian kingdom in the Tonga 

 or Friendly Islands. There is a Legislative As- 

 sembly of 31 hereditary nobles and an equal num- 

 ber of elected members. The reigning King is 

 Taufa Ahau, styled George II. The Prime Min- 

 ister is Josateki Tonga. 



The islands have an area of about 385 square 

 miles. The population in 1897 was 20,917, in- 

 cluding 479 foreigners. The people profess Chris- 

 tianity, and have been taught by Wesleyan mis- 

 sionaries. The value of imports in 1898 was 

 35,176 and of exports 39,464. About one third 

 of the trade is conducted by Germans; most of 

 the rest of it by British houses. The chief ex- 

 port is copra, and next to that come fruits, mats, 

 combs, and fish nets. The revenue, amounting to 

 about $100,000, is derived from customs, a poll 

 tax, and leases. No lands can be sold to for- 

 eigners. In January, 1899, Germany made prep- 

 arations to establish a coaling station on the 

 island of Vavao. Debts due from the natives to 

 a German company were made the basis of the 

 claim. A British ship was sent with authority 

 to raise the British flag over the whole archi- 

 pelago, and in consequence of this the Germans 

 desisted from their purpose. By the Anglo-Ger- 

 man agreement conceding to Germany the right 

 to annex the Samoan Islands, with the exception 

 of the portion relinquished to the United States, 

 Germany renounced all claim to interfere in the 

 Tonga Islands, and recognize them as under Eng- 

 lish influence, besides ceding two of the principal 

 islands of the Solomon group. 



TURKEY, an absolute monarchy in eastern 

 Europe and western Asia. The Sultan is the eld- 

 est prince of the line of Osrnan. Abdul Hamid II, 

 the thirty-fourth Sultan of the Osmanli dynasty, 

 born Sept. 21, 1842, succeeded his brother Murad 

 V, who was deposed on Aug. 31, 1876, on the 

 ground of insanity. The Sultan is recognized as 

 Khalif, or temporal chief of Islam, not only with- 

 in the bounds of the Ottoman Empire, but by a 

 large proportion of the Sunnite Mohammedans 

 outside. In matters of religion and law the Sultan 

 is advised by the Sheikh-ul-Islam and guided by 

 the decision of the Ulema, a body of eminent 

 expounders of the sacred books that sits in 

 VOL. xxxix. 52 A 



TURKEY. 



sir 



Constantinople. In civil and political matters 

 the Sadrazzam, or Grand Vizier, is the chief execu- 

 tive officer under the Sultan. These two func- 

 tionaries, together with ministers at the head 

 of the departments of state, form the Privy Coun- 

 cil, or Cabinet, which was composed at the be- 

 ginning of 1899 as follows: Grand Vizier, Halil 

 Rifat Pasha; Sheikli-ul-Islam, Jemaleddin Ef- 

 fendi; Minister of War, Riza Pasha; Minister 

 of the Interior, Memduh Pasha; Minister of For- 

 eign Affairs, Ahmed Tewfik Pasha; Minister of 

 Marine, Hassan Pasha; Minister of Finance, 

 Reshad Pasha; Minister of Justice, Abdurrahman 

 Pasha; Minister of Public Works and Commerce, 

 Mahmud Pasha; Minister of Public Instruction, 

 Zuhdi Pasha ; Grand Master of Artillery, Mustafa 

 Zeki Pasha; Intendant of Religious Endowments, 

 Galib Pasha; President of the Council, Said 

 Pasha. The Ministry of Public Works becoming 

 vacant, Zihni Pasha was appointed. 



Finances. The average revenue of the Otto- 

 man Government for the three years ending with 

 1895 was T. 18,927,745. The revenue for 1898 

 was estimated at T. 18,511,322. The yield of 

 the land and property tax was estimated at 

 T. 2,511,924, of the military exemption tax at 

 T. 886,210, of various direct taxes at T. 321,- 

 273, receipts from military departments at 

 T. 532,793, the Government's share in the 

 profits of the tobacco regie at T. 51,775, tribute 

 revenues, part of which are assigned to the Debt 

 Administration, at T. 1,136,316, and revenues 

 from salt, tobacco, spirits, stamps, fisheries, silk, 

 and other sources, mostly assigned to the Otto- 

 man Debt Administration, at T. 2,571,146. All 

 these are taken at the same figures as the aver- 

 age receipts for the years aforesaid, but tithes 

 were reckoned at T. 4,100,000 instead of 

 T. 4,332,338, income tax at T. 500,000 in- 

 stead of T. 742,135, the sheep tax at T. 1,937,- 

 849 instead of T. 1,737,849, customs at 

 T. 2,000,000 instead of T. 2,165,784, and re- 

 ceipts of civil departments at T. 1,962,036 in- 

 stead of T. 1,938,202. The expenditures for 

 the three years ending with 1895 amounted on the 

 average to T. 19,796,182, of which T. 932,550 

 were for the civil list, T. 6,483,253 for the 

 debt, T. 795,490 for pious foundations, 

 T. 5,296,953 for the army, T. 1,254,174 for 

 the gendarmery, T. 653,170 for the navy, 

 T. 552,122 for the artillery, T. 901,853 for 

 the Grand Vizierate, Council of State, and Min- 

 istry of the Interior, T. 583,939 for the Minis- 

 try of Finance, T. 450,541 for the Ministry of 

 Justice, and T. 1,892,137 for other civil de- 

 partments. The estimated total expenditure for 

 1898 was T. 18,429,411. The civil list was cut 

 down to T. 882,550, pious foundations to 

 T. 749,484, expenditure on the army to 

 T. 4,489,698, on the gendarmery to T. 1,013,- 

 944, on the navy to T. 546,209, and on the 

 artillery to T. 462,177, while the expenses of 

 civil departments were estimated at higher fig- 

 ures, the Grand Vizierate, State Council, and In- 

 terior Department at T. 989,322, the Ministry 

 of Finance at T. 668,011, the Department of 

 Justice at T. 461,441, and other departments 

 at T. 1,707,269. The debt charges are T. 750,- 

 059 for tributary debt, T. 2,661,991 for loans 

 under the Debt Administration, T. 1,204,839 

 for other loans, T. 523,523 for floating debt, 

 T. 868,894 for railroad guarantees, and T. 450,- 

 000 for the war indemnity to Russia; total, 

 T. 6,159,306. 



A loan of 5,000,000 sterling contracted in 

 1854 and one of 5,700,000 contracted in 1871, 

 both of which were converted into 3J-per-cent. 



