1 66 



The Review of Reviews. 



THE FUTURE OF THE YOUNG TURKS. 



There are [two articles in the Qtiarterly Revu-ui 

 which discuss the future of the Young Turks. Both 

 of them are written by pessimists. One, which is 

 anonymous, is cntitletl " Turkey under the Constitu- 

 tion ; " the other, which is called " Tripoli and Con- 

 stantinople," is by Ur. E. J. Dillon, who has cropped 

 up in a new place. Dr. Dillon says that all the 

 strategical positions in the Empire are in the hands of 

 Committeemen, although to-day there is not a single 

 club faithful to the Committee in all Syria. So long 

 as the army, or a noteworthy section of it, can be 

 counted upon by the Committee all will be well. 

 Dr. Dillon pays a tribute to the vigorous and 

 really splendid effort which the Committee made 

 to organise resistance to the Italians in the 

 invaded province. So long as the struggle con- 

 tinues the chiefs of the Opposition will accept 

 implicitly the government which the Committee 

 has given them, and loyally co-operate with it for the 

 prosecution of the war. The Opposition, equally 

 with the Committee, is energetically opposed to any 

 negotiations for peace with Italy that involved the 

 annexation of Tripoli. " As soon as the war is 

 over," says Dr. Dillon, "the Opposition will make 

 war upon the Committee [without mercy," which is 

 probably an additional reason why the Committee 

 has not the least intention of making peace with 

 Italy. 



The writer of the other article, " Turkey under the 

 Constitution," admits that the Young Turks have in 

 some respects done very good work. He says : — 



The overthrow of the old system could not but have in many 

 respects a beneficial effect. The abolition of local passports, 

 for example, now permits people to travel more freely about the 

 country. The legions of spies who once dogged the footsteps 

 of every resident and visitor have diminished in number and in 

 activity. Private property is somewhat less frequently exposed 

 to official rapacity. Trade by land and sea has received a 

 certain impetus. The working of old mines and the cxplor.y 

 tion of new mineral deposits, in Asia Minor especially, is 

 pushed on more vigorously than before. The greater freedom 

 enjoyed by Ottoman subjects is also illustrated by the multitude 

 of newspapers in various languages that have sprung up since 

 the proclamation of the Constitution. To the credit of the new 

 order of things may also be added the removal of many of the 

 obstacles which formerly rendered the investment of foreign 

 capital in the Ottoman dominions an undertaking of small profit 

 and great peril. 



Then, having said this, he proceeds to crab every- 

 thing else they have done, maintaining ewn that 

 brigandage flourishes and agriculture languishes as 

 much as ever. The only political items of the pro- 

 gramme that they have carried out are those which 

 conduce to naval and military efficiency. They 

 adopted a policy of unification antl centralisation 

 without scruple, insight,, or fear of conseciucnces. The 

 consequences have been very bad : they have divided 

 the Mohammedans and united the Christians. A 

 stratocracy has arisen on the ruins of the autocracy. 

 The palace camarilla has found in the Salonica C^om- 

 mittee a successor as unscrupulous and iniolcrant as 



itself. Many people, he tells us, have begun to 

 suspect 



that the revolution is nothing else than the product of a 

 Juda-o-Turkish intrigue on a gigantic scale— Jewish brains 

 directing Turkish brutality for the promotion of ends very 

 remotely, if at all, connected with the prosperity of the 

 Ottoman Empire. 



He admits that the successful resistance offered by 

 the Turks to the Italians in Tripoli has helped to 

 restore in a measure the reputation of the Committee 

 for the moment. 



A More 0"timistic View, 

 Mr. H. Charles WooqS contributes to the Fort- 

 in:^htly Review for February an interesting, well- 

 informed paper concerning the effect which the war 

 in Tripoli has had upon the internal situation in 

 Turkey. Mr. Woods has quite recently travelled 

 through Macedonia and .Mbania and has visited all 

 parts of the Balkan Peninsula. His conclusion is 

 that the war has rather strengthened the position of 

 the Committee and has succeeded in inaking the 

 Turks believe that on the whole the Italians are 

 getting the worst of it. In Macedonia, however, he 

 says, the present lot of the Christians is really worse 

 than it was before the re-establishment of the Consti- 

 tution, but the war has helped to make the lot of the 

 Christians better, for the Government, faced by 

 external dangers, has taken at least some small 

 measures in the hope of securing the support of the 

 Christians. The relations between Turkey and Greece 

 have certainly improved since the outbreak of the 

 Turco-Italian War. Nevertheless, Mr. Woods thinks 

 that Turkey will not be able to raise a loan if the 

 war is not brought to a close, and he thinks it is safe 

 to assert that the horizon of the Near Eastern Question 

 looks more cloudy than it has done for yeais. 



Mr. Woods' paper is followed by an interesting 

 sketch of the career of -Said Pasha, the Grand Vizier. 

 Said Pasha, the writer says, is altogether in favour of 

 making peace, for his wide experience, added to a 

 . profound knowledge of the real needs' of his country, 

 has convinced him that he ought not to barter the 

 welfare of the State for some dubious and shadowy 

 honours in Africa. The task is no easy one, for, 

 says " H." :— 



That Turkey has suffered any loss to her military prestige by 

 her Tripolitan campaign cannot be entertained ; in fact, the 

 desperate resistance made by a few thousand Turkish troops 

 and .Arab irregulars against a vastly superior foice,_ equipped 

 with every modern appliance. i> one of the most striking events 

 in history. 



Febru.\RV Cornhill overflows with good matter. 

 Apart from fiction, most of the articles have been 

 separately mentioned. .\ quaint and pathetically jj 

 interesting paper is contributed by the late Mr. Ken 

 Hoshimti on his dead sister, O-Tsune-Chan, giving 

 very direct glimpses of Jajianese home life. One of 

 his brothers became a Christian minister, and the 

 whole family finally followed iiilo the new faith. 



