Agricultural Products--Cereals--Misapplication of
Soil--Tobacco--Current Prices--Vine Disease--Natural Capabilities
of Land--Price of Labour--Dalmatian _Scutors_--Other
Products--Manufactures--Commerce--Relations with Bosnia--Able
Administration of Omer Pacha--Austria takes Alarm--Trade
Statistics--Imports--Exports--Frontier
Duties--Mal-administration--Intended Reforms.
The agricultural products of the Herzegovina are wheat, barley, rice,
linseed, millet, tobacco, and grapes. Of the cereals, Indian corn is
most cultivated, and forms the staple article of consumption, as is also
the case in Servia and the Danubian principalities. The little wheat
that is grown is found in the northern and eastern parts of the
province, where the soil is better adapted for it; but nowhere is it
either abundant or of good quality. The best which is sold in the towns
is imported from Bosnia. Barley is more extensively grown, and horses
are fed upon it here and throughout Turkey generally. Linseed is only
grown in small quantities in the northern parts, while the district of
Gliubinski is almost entirely devoted to the culture of rice. As the
quantities produced barely suffice for home consumption, no exportation
of cereals can be expected to take place. This circumstance, together
with its rugged appearance, naturally procures for the province the
character of being sterile and unproductive, and such it doubtless is
when compared with Bulgaria, Roumelia, or the fruitful plains of
Wallachia; but it has certain resources peculiar to itself, which, if
properly developed, would materially change the aspect of the country,
and obtain for it a more desirable reputation. It is eminently adapted
for the cultivation of those articles of Eastern necessity and Western
luxury, tobacco and the vine. Numerous patches of land, now either
fallow or sown with grain, for which they are neither suited by their
size or the nature of their soil, might be turned to good account for
the growth of tobacco; and such would doubtless be the case were there
an outlet for its exportation, which at present, unfortunately, does not
exist. Only a sufficiency, therefore, is grown to meet the local
demands, and to supply the contiguous Turkish provinces. Three qualities
are produced, the prices of which have been for some time fluctuating.
Previous to the Christian outbreak the best of these, grown in the
district of Trebigné, sold for about 11_d._ per pound, while the
cheapest was to be procured at 3_d._ per pound.
In alluding to the capabilities of the province for the production of
the vine, I might also have mentioned the olive and the mulberry, both
of which would thrive. Of these the vine alone, however, has as yet
occupied the attention of the agriculturalists; and though it is largely
cultivated in the southern and western parts, not one-tenth part of the
land adapted to it is thus employed.
The same obstacle which impedes the more extensive cultivation of
tobacco, is also in a measure applicable to the manufacture of wine, at
least as far as regards its quality. At present quantity is far more
considered, and the result is that, in place of manufacturing really
valuable wines, they poison both themselves and all who have the
misfortune to partake of it. It is only fair to add that one
description, which I tasted at Mostar, appeared to be sound, and gave
promise of becoming drinkable after some months' keeping. The vine
disease, which showed itself some years back, has now disappeared; and
the crops, which during six or seven seasons deteriorated to an
astonishing degree, have now reassumed their former healthy appearance.
The numerous hills which intersect the province might also be covered
with olive groves, and it would be of great advantage to the country
could the people be induced to follow the example of their Dalmatian
neighbours, who have covered almost inaccessible points of their country
with that useful tree.
The climate is well adapted to the nurture of the silkworm, and the
mulberry-tree flourishes luxuriantly throughout the province: were these
turned to account there can be little doubt that in a few years large
quantities of silk might be exported. A few of the natives have reared
worms successfully for several years, and the silk thus obtained has
been employed for domestic purposes. The disease, which for so many
years inflicted such serious loss on the silk producers of Europe, is
unknown in the Herzegovina. Whether this immunity is to be attributed to
the climate, or the nature of the leaf upon which the silkworm feeds, it
is impossible to say, but it is none the less a veritable fact. Cotton
might also be grown to a small extent, but the same drawbacks would
apply here as elsewhere in Turkey, viz. the difficulty of obtaining, and
the high price of labour.
This has been rapidly increasing during the last twelve years. In 1850,
a mason or carpenter received five piastres or 10_d._ a day, while a
common labourer obtained 6_d._ Now the former finds no difficulty in
earning 2_s._ per diem, while the latter receives 1_s._ 4_d._ for short
days, and 1_s._ 6_d._ for long days. The shorthandedness consequent upon
the Christian rising, has of course contributed to this rise in wages;
but the province was at no time self-supporting in this respect. A large
number of _scutors_ or labourers from Dalmatia cross the frontier in the
spring, and hire themselves out during the summer months. The decrease
in the number of these was, I am told, very perceptible during the
Italian war, in consequence of the demand for recruits.
The other products of the country are wool, hides, skins, honey, and
wax, which are exported to Austria. Large numbers of sheep and horned
cattle are, moreover, annually exported to the Dalmatian markets.
The only manufactures of which I could find specimens were coarse
woollen blankets, twist, and carpets. The blankets and carpets are
mostly exported to Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Servia. Besides these, a kind
of cotton cloth is made in the houses by the women, from imported
cotton, and is applied solely to domestic uses, and is not regarded as
an article of commerce.
In considering the question of the trade of the Herzegovina, the
attention should be directed, not so much to what it actually is, as to
what it might be under the fostering care of an enlightened government.
And yet, it is not to the producing and consuming capabilities of the
province itself that its possible importance in a commercial point of
view is attributable, but rather to its position on the confines of the
East and West, and to the fact of its containing within its limits the
natural outlets for the trade of that portion of the Ottoman empire.
It is, in fact, in its relation to Bosnia, that it is entitled to most
attention; and if we deplore that such natural resources as it
possesses have not been more fully developed, we have still greater
reason to lament that the world is thus debarred communication with the
most romantic and beautiful province of European Turkey. It is also the
natural route for the commerce of a portion of Servia, whose exports and
imports would thus quickly pass to and from the sea. Its value, however,
appears never to have been properly appreciated by the Turkish
government, and Omer Pacha, in 1852, was the first employé of that power
who ever appreciated its importance in a commercial point of view. He
appears to have indicated the measures necessary for developing its
resources, and for attracting the trade of the neighbouring provinces
from their expensive and indirect channel into their legitimate route.
The prospects of the province were rapidly brightening under his
sagacious administration, when Austria took alarm, and effectually
impeded all farther progress by closing the only port adapted for the
transmission of its mercantile resources. She thus secures for herself a
monopoly of trade, forcing the inhabitants of all the Turkish provinces,
in that quarter, to purchase their imports at high prices from her, and
to sell their produce to Austrian merchants, who, fearing no
competition, themselves determine its price. The object of Austria in
thus retarding the development of Bosnia is sufficiently obvious, since
that which would be a gain to Turkey would be a loss to herself. And
were events so to dispose themselves as to render this probable, she
would doubtless find a pretext to justify a military occupation of the
country. This she has done on several occasions, and the large force now
massed upon the northern bank of the Save only awaits some national
demonstration to effect an armed intervention. This is, however,
trenching upon another subject, to which I may have hereafter to allude.
Approximate calculations of the trade of the Herzegovina show that the
imports amount annually to about 150,000_l._, while the exports do not
produce more than 70,000_l._ This comparison proves that a very large
amount of specie must be extracted every year from the country, for
which no material counterpoise exists, since the merchandise imported is
to supply the wants of the people, and does not consequently tend to
enrich the province. It follows therefore, naturally, that it is
becoming daily more poverty-stricken, and in place of advancing with
advancing civilisation, it is stagnating or even declining in
prosperity.
These imports are computed to amount to about 70,000 horse-loads in
quantity, while the transit trade to Bosnia is estimated at 50,000 more.
Of these about 10,000 horse-loads are of salt from Dalmatia.
The main source whence these provinces are supplied is Trieste, where
large depots exist, established expressly for this purpose. Thither the
traders proceed once a year, to lay in a supply of goods for the ensuing
twelve months. They purchase at credits varying from six to twelve
months, paying high prices for a very indifferent class of goods. These
consist for the most part of cotton and woollen manufactures, cotton
twist, silks, iron in bars sheets and plates, tin, lead, brass,
hardware, glass, sugar, coffee, and other colonial products. Gold lace,
velvet, and silks are also imported from Bosna Serai, and silks and some
kinds of cotton prints from Constantinople by way of Salonica and
Serajevo. Like most semi-civilised nations, the people of Herzegovina
are much addicted to showy colours in their dress. Those most in favour
are scarlet, green, and blue; but the dyes soon fade, and the cloth is
anything but durable. It is invariably of French or German manufacture;
is of coarse quality, and is worn next the skin by the country people.
In the towns, grey long cloths, dyed dark blue, constitute the principal
article of clothing among the Christians, the general character of dress
being the same throughout the province. The exports consist of sheep's
wool, hides, sheep and goats' skins, furs, and wax, to Trieste; cattle,
sheep, goats, pigs, tallow, and eels, to Dalmatia; woollen blankets, red
and yellow leather prepared from sheep skins, carpets, tobacco, wine,
and fruits, to the neighbouring Turkish provinces. Pipe-sticks are also
sent from Bosna Serai, to Egypt, through the Herzegovina, while knives,
manufactured at Foulcha from country-made steel, are also sent in
considerable quantities to Egypt. All imports and exports pay a duty of
three per cent. on their value, and until recently produce exported to
the neighbouring Turkish provinces paid the unreasonable duty of ten per
cent. This grievous impediment to commerce has, thanks to the efforts of
the European Consuls, been abolished, and they now pay the same duty as
exports to other countries.
It may be noted, as a symptom of the centralising policy which the Porte
is adopting, that the government now farms the customs of these
provinces, in place of selling the right of doing so to the highest
bidder, as was formerly the case.
Having thus contrasted the actual with the possible condition of the
province, we cannot but enquire the causes which lead thereto; and it is
impossible to disguise from ourselves, that to mal-administration is
primarily attributable this deplorable state of things. Add to this the
total absence of all means of internal communication, and we have quite
sufficient to cripple the energies of a more industrious and energetic
people than those with whom we are dealing. The first object of the
government, then, should be to inspire the people with confidence in its
good faith, and to induce them to believe that the results of their
labour will not be seized by rapacious Pachas or exorbitant landowners;
and, above all things, it is necessary that Turkish subjects, even if
they are not accorded greater favours in their own country than those of
other powers, should at least be placed upon a footing of equality,
which is far from being the case at present.
It would appear that the government is really sincere in its intention
of making roads through the country generally, and when this is done a
new era may be anticipated. In the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, only
one road has until very recently existed. It was made by Omer Pacha in
1851, and connects Bosna Serai with Brod, a town situated upon the
southern bank of the Save. From Metcovich to Bosna Serai, which is the
high road for the trade of the country, the line of route is but a path
formed by the constant traffic, and, while always difficult to traverse,
is in winter frequently closed altogether. It is indispensable that a
central high road should be made, and no point could be more
advantageously adopted as a base than the port of Klek, near which
asphalte is found in large quantities.
Were a good trunk-road established, connecting that point with Bosna
Serai, branch roads might soon be made throughout the province. The
nature of the country is not such as would render the difficulty of
doing this insuperable, and the rivers over which it would pass are
already spanned by good and serviceable bridges, the relics of better
days. That the expense attending it would soon be defrayed by the
increased traffic is acknowledged by all, and we may therefore hope ere
long to see the deficiency remedied.