TURKISH CORRUPTION. 49 



devious way to the capital, give up labouring to pro- 

 duce more than is sufficient to afford them a bare 

 livelihood, since there is little or no chance of their 

 securing any of the profits accruing from a surplus. 

 Nothing is done by the Government in the shape of 

 public works of utility, such as schemes for drainage 

 and irrigation ; nor is any encouragement given to 

 those who volunteer to inaugurate the very works 

 which those whose duty it should be to undertake them 

 so sadly neglect. 



It is now some years since a group of Europeans 

 interested in the Mersina - Adana railway sought a 

 concession for a scheme of drainage and irrigation. 

 A petition was drawn up in which it was stated that 

 a certain sum of money was to be paid for every acre 

 of land that could be irrigated were the concession 

 granted, and the vali was approached and asked to 

 co-operate with the promoters in granting facilities for 

 the acquisition of the signatures of the agriculturists 

 of the district. " Oh yes," replied the calculating 

 governor of the province, " but how much am I to 

 receive for my assistance ? " The promoters are still 

 biding in patience, and the land is still unirrigated and 

 undrained.^ The vali in asking how large his bribe 

 was to be was doing nothing unusual whatever ; 

 indeed he would hardly have been a Turkish gov- 

 ernor if he had not done so. A short time before my 

 arrival at Adana the public prosecutor, whose duty 

 necessitated his prosecuting a criminal for murder, 

 oddly enough found himself at that very time the 

 recipient of a handsome gift amounting to £200. The 



^ At the time of my visit a group of capitalists, possessed of great influ- 

 ence at Constantinople, were considering the advisability of pressing for 

 a concession. It is possible, therefore, that an improvement may ere long 

 be brought about in the condition of the agriculturists of Cilicia. 



D 



