In the Mohammedan dominions of Turkey missionary
institutions have graduated men who have in many
instances occupied government positions on account of
their superior capabilities, in spite of the fact that
Christian officials are greatly handicapped by Moslem
prejudices. In the case of the Bulgarian graduates of
Robert College, it was said in 1902, by a missionary of
the American Board then residing at Sofia, that “since the
beginning of the national administration of Bulgaria, in
1878, there has been no government ministry without one
at least, and often two or three, Robert College members.
The present Secretary of the Cabinet, whose ability has
preserved his position for him during ten years, and under
eight successive ministries, is one of these men.” The
judge of the supreme court, besides the mayor of Sofia,
and many others in diplomatic, judicial, or clerical
posts, are all Robert College men. The Syrian Protestant
College at Beirut has graduated men who, as government
appointees, occupy positions of responsibility, and exert
no little influence in the administration of political and
judicial affairs in Syria, especially in the Mount Lebanon
government. Its medical graduates, moreover, are to be
found in the military and civil service in almost all
sections of Asiatic Turkey, and notably under the Egyptian
administration.
—JAMES S. DENNIS in
“Christian Missions and Social Progress.”
Many causes have combined, many factors are present,
many influences have turned the hearts of men through
that empire [Turkey]; but if we ask ourselves what the
governing and final factor is which has brought about
the first of the world’s bloodless revolutions, which
has seen a people divided and dissevered by creed, by
race, by language, by every conceivable difference which
can separate the sons and daughters of men, suddenly act
together—we do ill if we forget that for eighty years the
American missionaries have been laying the foundations
and preaching the doctrine which makes free government
possible.
—TALCOTT WILLIAMS, LL. D.,
editor Philadelphia Press, in an address
at Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1908.
Late in 1902 a plan for administrative reform in the Adrianople,
Salonica, and Monastir Provinces of European Turkey was published.
These included Macedonia where disorders and atrocities had become
chronic. Under this measure the valis or governors were given new
powers and an inspector general was appointed reporting directly to
the grand vizier. The Powers compelled the addition of a financial
commission representing them, which should examine the budget of the
three vilayets and recommend improvements. With the aid of three
Ottoman inspectors, the commission was to supervise the provincial
finances and in other ways bring relief to the untoward conditions of
the inhabitants. The gendarmerie was put under a foreign officer with
an Italian general in command, and much improved in efficiency.
A three per cent increase in the customs duties provided funds for
securing other reforms. These, however, it must be said, existed
largely upon paper. While the Powers ostensibly had some responsibility
and authority in the administration of affairs in Macedonia, the sultan
was able in ways so well known to himself to thwart their exercise
of it while the discordant elements in Albania and Macedonia made
conditions for all classes more intolerable than ever.
Again, early in 1908, the Powers gave hesitating attention to this
plague-spot of Europe as one united cry of distress arose from all
tongues, the Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, and Albanian alike. It is
impossible to say which race was the greatest sufferer or which the
freest from oppression. Practically the entire country was in a state
of anarchy and there was none to deliver. On March 13, 1908, the Porte
reluctantly consented to the British proposal that the mandates of
foreign officials in Macedonia be renewed for a period of seven years.
A budget was adopted for the support of the army, the civil list, and
the railway, which threatened a deficit of nearly $4,000,000. With all
these arrangements no party to the transaction was satisfied, except
those European Powers that hoped, in the end, to make political capital
out of Macedonia’s affliction. These entered reluctantly into agreement
as did also the sultan, who saw his personal power in the three
provinces gradually wane; but his former experiences made him quick to
read the signs of the times.
In the meantime the army in those provinces had been reenforced.
Monastir, upon the border of Albania and connected by rail with
Salonica, was made an important military post. The people themselves
had no faith that these measures would assure them of safety of life
and property, while the representatives of the Porte were anxious to
demonstrate that the scheme of the Powers was not calculated to restore
and maintain order. Matters went on from intolerable to worse until
plunder, robbery, brigandage and murder became daily occurrences in
practically all parts of the country. These were the conditions that
prevailed in Macedonia the latter part of July, 1908.
What were some of the general conditions in Turkey which led directly
to the uprising in Macedonia soon after the 20th of July, 1908,
resulting in the revival of the constitution for all Turkey which had
remained inactive since 1877? Sultan Hamid II has been an absolute
ruler. His pride has centered in his complete personal mastery over
every department of government and all officials, both civil and
military. As he advanced in years, he became increasingly suspicious
of every one holding office or occupying a position of influence. He
seemed so morbidly afraid of a popular uprising that any mention of
an Armenian revolution or reference to a constitutional government
or suggestion of a Young or New Turkey party, threw him into a state
of nervous panic. In order to protect his own person, to guard his
administration from corruption by men who thought in terms of modern
government, and to suppress any and all movements toward reform, he
gradually built up about him a cumbersome, cruel and expensive system
of espionage. Every official from the grand vizier at the Porte to the
postmaster in a remote inland village was watched and reported upon.
One official was directed to make secret reports upon a colleague and
all men of wealth and consequent influence, and especially all who
had received a degree of modern education were always under sleepless
surveillance from the watch-dogs of the palace.
No one knows how many of these men were engaged in the secret service,
but there were undoubtedly many thousands. Some drew salaries of large
proportion while others were paid according to the service rendered.
These spies well knew that they too were under observation by others
who had been commissioned to see that they were loyal to their chief.
The gates of the foreign embassies were guarded, and the names of
all Ottoman subjects who entered them were reported to the police.
Everywhere these sleuth-hounds of Yildez were doing their best to
justify their appointment, and, if possible, to secure a rise in salary
or a handsome bonus. It is reported that this large corps of secret
service men were the only officials who received liberal pay and who
got it regularly and in cash.
Through information thus obtained, strange things took place. Of
course there were never any hearings or trials. None were necessary
when trusted spies had reported adversely. Groups of students in the
government schools disappeared and the parents even did not dare ask
a question. Men of wealth found themselves bundled off to Arabia in
poverty, and officials in honor on one day were in exile, if not in
their graves, on the next. The only thing certain about the life of an
influential and intelligent Ottoman subject was his being under strict
surveillance by those who were mainly concerned to satisfy their chief
of their own efficiency.
During recent years the one horror of the sultan has been the “Young
Turks,” which meant Turkish subjects who know about good government
and are eager to see it tried in Turkey. All who were suspected of
harboring such ideas were summarily treated. Many such have been
banished into interior provinces such as Macedonia, Asia Minor,
Armenia and Syria. Some were given minor offices in their place of
banishment, but all have been diligent in promoting their ideas. There
is hardly a town of importance in Turkey to which one or more of these
intelligent, thinking Ottoman subjects has not been exiled and where
they have not propagated their principles of reform as opportunity
offered. This seed-sowing of modern ideas has been broadcast, and the
seed has fallen into rich soil. During these years, secretly and in the
dark, multitudes of Ottoman subjects have been studying the science of
government with the best educated in the empire as instructors. The
lesson has not been the less impressive because secret and the teacher
none the less in earnest because his profession was perilous. Wherever
these exiles went they found the people writhing under injustice.
Excessive taxes were assessed and then collected by extortionate
officials who, in the name of the sultan, carried on a system of public
robbery. Taxes paid in the spring were again demanded in the autumn,
the peasant having no defense in the absence of tax receipts. These
teachers of a possible new order of things did not need to take time
to persuade their hearers that a change was desirable. Restlessness,
approaching a state of sheer desperation, everywhere prevailed. In the
meantime, revolutionary committees or organizations among Armenians and
perhaps other nationalities had identified themselves sympathetically,
if not formally, with the New Turkey party.
Government by espionage and instruction of the masses by banished
reformers have been going on in all parts of Turkey for many years, no
one can say with certainty how many. It was inevitable that a crisis
must come. The additional fact that all public officials, especially
the army, were poorly paid on paper, if at all, brought things to a
pass that seemed to be waiting only for a leader or an occasion to
precipitate concerted action.
Such was the situation in Macedonia the latter part of July, 1908.
The large army, half starved and underpaid, was sent into the country
to put down lawlessness among a people made desperate by prolonged
oppression. Previous experiences had satisfied the soldiers that in
battling with the hardy mountaineers, many of whom were fighting for
their homes, they had little chance of success. Why should they throw
their lives away in a useless conflict with people of their own blood,
and for a sovereign who appeared scarcely grateful. This was indeed
an opportune hour to strike a blow for liberty. It is not yet known
how completely the New Turks—called in Macedonia, the “Committee of
Ottoman Union and Progress”—had organized, but subsequent events show
an excellent degree of cooperation.
In Monastir the army took oath of allegiance to this committee; the
troops in Salonica, Kortcha and other parts of the country followed
in their lead. A few officers who hesitated were summarily shot.
Proclamations in the name of the committee were posted in the leading
cities asking all to join the society. At Kortcha in Albania, for
instance, a time limit was set for joining the movement, after which
all outside were to be regarded as traitors. In all Macedonia there
seemed to be little hesitation. Other proclamations enjoining orderly
conduct were posted, and within five days Macedonia was more quiet and
life and property safer than for twenty years previously.
In the meantime, the leaders were in telegraphic communication with the
sultan at Constantinople. What had taken place was reported to him,
and he was asked to declare a constitutional government without delay.
It was intimated that the army was ready to march on Constantinople
if he refused. He hesitated for a while, but when he learned that the
Albanians were in the forefront of the movement, and that he could not
depend upon the troops, he yielded to a demand he could not resist.
Ferid Pasha, his Albanian grand vizier, was summarily dismissed. Said
Pasha was appointed to succeed him and Kiamil Pasha was placed upon
the Council of Ministers; both men of liberal ideas who had been saved
by Great Britain when there was a price upon their heads. Stormy
debates followed in the palace at Constantinople as to what could be
done to meet the demands of the formidable committee in Macedonia.
Honeyed words and paper promotions had proved unavailing and repeated
telegrams from the front spoke of urgency. At last the sultan yielded
and, on Friday, the 24th of July, issued an irade restoring the
constitution of 1876 that had been suspended since 1877.
The constitution which is now revived was sanctioned by Sultan Hamid
II soon after he came to the throne in 1876. At that time a European
Commission met in Constantinople to suggest methods by which the
sultan might set in order his European provinces. He desired to show
Europe that he was able to work out reforms of his own. He therefore
appointed a well-recognized reformer as grand vizier and proclaimed a
constitution. This provided for a responsible ministry, a senate, a
chamber of deputies, the right of public meeting, freedom of the press,
the appointment of judges for life, compulsory intermediate education,
religious liberty, and a long list of other rights and privileges
belonging to an enlightened and free government. Within two months,
Midhat Pasha, who drafted the constitution, was banished.
An election, however, was held and, in 1877, the Senate and the Chamber
of Deputies met in a Parliament House that had been fitted up by the
sultan in Constantinople. At that time in his speech from the throne,
he repeated his promise for social reforms and a reorganization of the
army and navy. The two houses were discussing this address when war
broke out in Russia. Martial law was proclaimed in May, and in June
parliament was adjourned. Once again that year it was assembled but the
sultan was not pleased with the independence exhibited, so in February,
1878, it was dissolved or “suspended” as he preferred to call it. It
never met again.
This is the constitution to which the thoroughly alarmed sultan turned
as the demand came up from his trusted troops, beloved Albanians and
faithful Moslems in Macedonia, for immediate and effectual reforms.
To this he solemnly swore fidelity in the most sacred way known to
the Moslem, namely, upon the Koran. The Sheik-ul-Islam, the supreme
high priest of the Mohammedan faith, exhibited to the people in
Constantinople the book upon which this oath was taken, and made public
declaration that it is the purpose of the sultan faithfully to carry
out his pledge. He even went further than this and said that it is the
spirit of Islam to give the fullest religious freedom to all subjects
of the empire and to guarantee constitutional justice and liberty. All
this committed the sultan to the constitution far more irrevocably than
he was committed in 1876. It made also the Sheik-ul-Islam witness and
sponsor to the people of the sultan’s promise.
The announcement that a constitutional government was granted was wired
to the impatient leaders in Macedonia and published in the papers in
Constantinople. The result was unparalleled in the history of any
country in any age. All Turkey gave way to a carnival of joy. An order
was issued abolishing the secret service, and freedom of the press was
guaranteed by the constitution. All political prisoners were released
and those in exile were invited back to their homes. Incidentally the
prison doors were thrown wide open and the criminal shared the common
joy of all. The occupation of the censors of the press was gone and
every paper in the empire spread the glad news that a new day had
dawned. New papers started like mushrooms in a night. Representatives
from the committee in Macedonia proceeded to Constantinople and
apparently came to an understanding with the sultan as to the
situation. He was plainly told, it is persistently rumored, that if he
did not appoint as ministers men of their choosing, his only safety
would lie in abdication. The old members of the cabinet, representing
the régime of oppression, disappeared or were imprisoned, and the new
men quietly stepped into their places. Isset Pasha, the much hated
secretary of the sultan, in spite of efforts by the new party to retain
him, succeeded in boarding a British vessel at Constantinople and
escaping to England.
The people of Turkey, with centuries of repressive discipline in the
political school of the empire, were supposed to have lost the faculty
of spontaneous exultation or general demonstration of joy. But impelled
by a sense of liberty never before experienced, the entire population
broke into an outburst of appreciation for the new order of things such
as Turkey had never before witnessed.
The people gathered by thousands and by tens of thousands in the
public squares of their cities to listen to the proclamation of
liberty and the firing of salutes in honor of the occasion. These
crowds were composed of Christians and Moslems, who only a few days
before had seemed to hate each other with deadliest hatred. Now they
clapped their hands and joined their voices in shouting “Long live the
Fatherland,” “Long live the People,” “Long live Liberty,” “Long live
the Constitution.” Christian and Moslem leaders embraced and kissed
one another in public while tears rolled down the cheeks of thousands
as they took part in the festivities. Great assemblies were addressed
by Mohammedan and Christian speakers, all of whom exhorted the people
to unity and the maintenance of order, declaring that religious
distinctions were now done away, as all pledged their allegiance to the
new constitution and to the Ottoman empire. In an immense procession
in Salonica a float was drawn upon which rode a girl dressed as the
Goddess of Liberty. At Constantinople in one of the large Gregorian
churches, the assembly was addressed by both Mohammedans and Christians
and the Moslem band played the Armenian national air. For an Armenian
to have sung this air one month before would have meant exile or death.
In one of the principal mosques of the capital a memorial service for
the Armenians slain in the massacre of 1896 was held in which Moslems
and Christians fraternally joined. This was followed by a similar mass
meeting in an Armenian church in memory of the Mohammedans who had laid
down their lives for the freedom of their country. All united in the
declaration that the massacred Armenians and the Moslems dying in exile
were brothers in their common sacrifice for the freedom of Turkey.
These scenes of spontaneous celebration enacted in the great centers
of population indicated the universal readiness of the people for
the proclamation and their unanimity in the reforms. It is indeed an
uprising of the people for liberty and, by meeting their demands,
the sultan, for the time, has made himself the most popular ruler
sitting upon any throne. The carnival of joy gives hint of what their
disappointment will be should there be any breach of good faith in
securing to them all the privileges granted by the constitution. Not
the least of their joy is in the marvel that this revolution has
been brought about almost without the shedding of blood. A few in
Macedonia who hesitated to join the new party were executed, but in
Constantinople there was no loss of life in completing the transfer
from the old to the new régime.
The masses of Turkey know little of the duties and responsibilities
of a parliament. They are launching out upon an experiment, unknown
and untried. It remains to be seen how they will meet their own
expectations in the measure of self-government which the constitution
grants. There are many able, educated men among the Turks, Armenians,
Greeks, Bulgarians, and Albanians. The question is: Will these, laying
aside all national and religious jealousies, be able to work together
in the creation of a new government, and all under the leadership of
Sultan Hamid? It is also an open question whether the sultan himself,
after a life of absolutism, can adapt himself to the new order and
execute it in a way to insure a sympathetic following and substantial
success.
There is danger that the people may be unreasonable in their demands
and rebel against the collection of taxes adequate for the proper
conduct of the government. Only a beginning has yet been made. Much
remains to be done.
In all the history of Turkey a reform has never been inaugurated with
the same solemnity and religious sanction that attended the recent
declaration of constitutional government. The highest sanction of Islam
has been accorded it, and, so far as we can see, the sultan could not
materially alter his course without bringing himself personally in the
eyes of the people into open conflict with his own religion and the
faith of the great majority of his subjects. It is conceivable that,
if he should find it impossible faithfully to carry out the provisions
of the constitution, he will be asked to step aside and permit his
constitutionally proclaimed successor to fulfil his oath of loyalty.
Under a constitutional government well established and righteously
administered, there are boundless possibilities for the material,
intellectual, political, and moral advance of the empire, so long
regarded as decadent. This can be accomplished only by tireless
labors and great sacrifices upon the part of those who bear the
responsibility. But it can be done if all national and traditional
differences are buried, in the one patriotic purpose to restore the
country to something of its former power and glory, and to weld the
masses of its divergent population into a homogeneous nation.
It is to be sincerely hoped that the European Powers will not interfere
with this endeavor upon the part of the people of Turkey to establish
for themselves a safe and just government. They have the right to a
free hand in working out the problem of government for themselves, so
long as they do not plunge the country into anarchy.
There has never been a time when Western peoples have had a greater
opportunity to aid materially in making stable the new order of
things in the Ottoman empire. Under the Constitution, with compulsory
education and a free press, Turkey will require aid from without in
organizing and establishing schools all over the country, and in the
preparation of a literature of the widest range. These needs are at
once apparent. The colleges in the country should be immediately
enlarged and strengthened that they may be able to meet the demands
that will be made upon them. The entire country is in need of
normal schools to train teachers for educational institutions of
the preparatory grades. Turkey needs and deserves the sympathy and
cooperation of other nations, not by way of interference, but by way of
fraternal assistance and genuine help to the full realization of all
the benefits of a representative and a constitutional government. The
motto which seems to have been adopted by common consent is, “Liberty,
Justice, Equality and Fraternity.” Every friend of constitutional
government can sympathetically join with the people of Turkey in their
honest endeavor to establish a new order for themselves upon these four
corner-stones as their basis of union and mutual well-being.