THE SULTAN'S POLICY.
The Sultan's personal power--The unimportance of
territories--"Après moi le deluge"--Interested
Europe--The poor native Christians--'Squeezability' of
the Sultan--Every man has his price--Bakhsheesh and
decorations--The Sultan's vast ability--His favourite
literature.
THE object of the Sultan in sacrificing so much money, and in making
such strenuous efforts to concentrate all the ruling power in his own
hands, is simply that he may satisfy his extraordinary and insatiable
lust of tyranny. To gain this end he deceives, bribes, and intrigues,
and to this end also he exiles, imprisons, and even makes away
with anyone who seems likely to be an obstacle to his ambition of
absolutism. He has lost the fairest provinces of his empire through
persisting in carrying on his tyrannical misrule, and he will not
mind losing more in the same manner so long as there are enough
territories to keep him going during his lifetime, for his motto is
"Après moi le deluge." He has destroyed all semblance of personal
liberty in the country. There can be no longer any hope of checking
his oppression, which is becoming more and more severe as the years
go by, as any united movement of opposition is impossible among so
many communities as are found in Turkey, whose aspirations, thoughts,
and racial tendencies are so widely different. On the other hand, the
Foreign Powers would not tolerate the outbreak of an open revolution
in Constantinople, whatever the grounds or reason for it. Some of them
even are much interested in assuring the existence of the Sultan's
rule, and would probably actively interfere in case of a movement to
upset it. For the purpose of Turkey's ruin this Sultan has been much
more useful to Russia than, all her great armies of Cossacks.
There are now new factors in the old Eastern Question, which also
serve the Sultan well in times of political trouble. That is, there
are certain Powers which are much interested in the continuance of
the Sultan's personal rule, and whatever the Turkish subjects lose
through misgovernment is a gain for these interested friends of the
present ruler. The Emperor of Germany, in one of his numerous friendly
telegrams to the Sultan, prayed that the Almighty might preserve his
'precious person,' doubtless that the Teutonic concession-hunters and
fortune-seekers in Turkey might continue to reap the harvest his life
assures to them. If there is really any justice in heaven, I feel
sure l that the Kaiser will be arraigned before the heavenly bar to
answer for his responsibility in assisting Abd-ul-Hamid to increase
the sufferings of Turkey. His telegrams and visits to Constantinople
have been the principal factor in encouraging Abd-ul-Hamid in the
continuance of his oppressive policy. These visits and telegrams have
been purposely represented to the unenlightened population of Turkey,
who have no longer any means of learning the real position of the
Sultan, as the payment of homage due to their master's greatness. If
the head of a great European nation pays homage to Abd-ul-Hamid, his
simple-minded subjects will naturally be impressed by his mighty
influence, and consequently submit to his autocratic will.
There are other Powers which are equally to be condemned for conniving
at the Sultan's tyranny. From time to time they hypocritically take
up the cause of this or that Christian population of Turkey for their
own political purposes, and put pressure upon the Sultan, because
they know well his 'squeezability,' as a London paper once termed his
manner of receiving pressure. In individuals such conduct would be
regarded as a species of black-mailing, but it is perhaps compatible
with the political morality of civilised States. The conduct of France
in the temporary occupation of Mitylene, and of Italy in making an
intimidating naval display off Tripoli, in bombarding an Ottoman
town on the Red Sea, and in forcibly opening Italian post-offices in
Albania, are the most recent examples of this international morality.
However, Abd-ul-Hamid will never be much affected by Turkey having to
submit to such indignities so long' as his precious person is left
untouched and his personal rule unchecked. Never did a self-respecting
man carry selfishness so far!
The Sultan has many ways of making his person safe against
responsibility and reproach. Among other things, I may mention here his
employment of agents of many nationalities in Europe, who constantly
write and say nice things about him. Even his oft-quoted presents to
other Oriental dignitaries and his innumerable gifts to Europeans are
offered from the same calculating motive; no sentimental generosity
could be expected from so practical and selfish a man. In order to
give an idea of how largely the Sultan employs this method, I will
say something about the nature of his presents and gifts. From the
moment of his accession up to the present time, Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid has
constantly believed that he can win the golden opinions of the humbler
and gain the sympathy of the higher members of the political circles
with whom he is brought into contact by presenting them with some sort
of grants or gifts. In fact, he is firmly of the opinion that everyone
has his price, that every person may be bought, if not always by offers
of gold, then indirectly by honours or gifts. In order to make his
officials submissive, he gives some of them Government appointments
of much higher grade than they really deserve; he grants them purses
of bakhsheesh, and he decorates them lavishly. To gain some idea of
how much the Sultan spends in keeping his creatures submissive, one
would have to pay a visit of inspection to the Privy Purse Department
at the imperial palace of Yildiz; there one could see greedy-eyed,
yet gratified-looking individuals carrying away in white linen purses
quantities of the precious metals. Then, if one glances at the pages
of the Constantinople papers, one will see that dozens of unknown
and probably undeserving creatures are decorated, promoted, or else
appointed to some newly created posts. A correspondent of a certain
French journal at the Turkish capital once counted the numbers of one
particular order distributed, that called _Shefekat Nishani_, which,
like many other decorations, has been created by the present Sultan,
and is given to ladies of distinction, whether Ottoman or foreign.
According to the Frenchman's reckoning, about twenty-five thousand
gifts of this order have been made up till now. The old Turkish
orders of the _Medjidieh_ and _Osmanieh_ are nowadays being so freely
distributed, that the breasts of even the most ordinary Government
servants are ornamented by one or other of them.
Decorated people are so numerous among the members of the Sultanic
bureaucracy that it is hardly possible to meet any official, high or
low, without one decoration or more. It is not surprising, then, that
there is a class of persons, honest, educated, and of good birth,
outside the circle of the Palace favourites, who boast, and very
rightly too, that "they are honoured by being undecorated."
Decoration and promotion are not the only methods by which his Majesty
imagines that he can gain attachment to himself. He takes a different
way when it is the sympathy of foreigners he desires to win. It may,
perhaps, be possible for the Sultan to induce foreign correspondents
and the editors of some Continental journals to write nice things about
him by offering them bakhsheesh or stars, or by giving them commercial,
industrial, or other concessions in Turkey. But how is he to gain the
golden opinions of the foreign rulers and statesmen interested in the
Eastern Question? Is it possible to make an incorruptible British
Minister, for example, speak favourably of his Majesty's rule, by
conferring on him some order set with brilliants, or by quietly
offering him a big bakhsheesh? Certainly not But the Sultan has an
unshakable belief in the wisdom of an Arab proverb, which says, "Man is
the slave of favours"; and so, if he cannot offer money or decorations,
he will request the acceptance of some keepsake, with a hypocritical
affability peculiar to himself.
The presents of the Sultan vary, of course, both in quality
and quantity. Decorations set in brilliants, gold snuff-boxes,
cigarette-cases and holders, watches initialled and ornamented with
precious stones, magnificent Arab horses, richly worked Oriental
swords, daggers, and pistols from the imperial Treasury, which was most
sacredly preserved intact by all the former Sultans of the House of
Osman: such things form the greater part of the gifts sent to European
potentates and notabilities. Others are made in the imperial factories.
Among the great personages who get presents from the Sultan, the German
Emperor is the most highly favoured. Besides having received numerous
and valuable keepsakes during his two visits to the Ottoman capital,
the Kaiser gets from time to time Arab horses and objects of the rarest
Eastern skill and art The Emperor of Russia also receives presents from
the Sultan every now and then, but his Russian Majesty is generous
in sending presents to the Sultan in return. A summer mansion on the
Bosphorus was given by the Sultan to the Prince of Montenegro about ten
years ago, and a steam-yacht, which was built in the State dockyards
on the Golden Horn, was recently sent to the Adriatic for the use of
the same petty ruler. Lord Salisbury received some two years ago a very
large and magnificent vase, which was brought to England by a special
aide-de-camp of the Sultan, and was presented to the Prime Minister by
the late Turkish Ambassador.
Whether these various devices had any real effect or no, the Sultan
has certainly succeeded in attaining the object he desired; he still
remains on his throne, and his power is absolute. This alone, when
one reflects upon the history of the reign of the present Sultan,
makes one fully admit that he is a man of vast ability. His ability
has, however, been productive solely of evil. If he were a good as
well as an able man, his country would be powerful and prosperous.
His indifference to insults and hatred, his calmness in dealing with
difficulties of the most perplexing kind, and his tenacity of purpose
are remarkable. Unlike many of his predecessors, he is not much under
the influence of women; nor does he care for their company, though
he still maintains m his palace the old system of the harem, with
its numerous inmates and slaves, possibly only for the purpose of
impressing the uncultivated section of his subjects with the sight of
barbaric splendour. His phenomenal shrewdness is shown by his making
the Mussulmans believe that the misfortunes endured by Turkey under
his caliphate are entirely due to the hostile interference of grasping
Europe with Turkish affairs. To Europeans, on the other hand, he often
succeeds in conveying the impression that the people in whose name
he rules are incapable of appreciating the value of progressive and
constitutional government, and in order to justify this, he puts every
obstacle in the way of their making progress in industry, science and
literature. Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid, although he has played so notable a
rôle in the preservation of his own personal sovereignty, is a man of
but poor educational attainments. It is said by those who know him well
that before his accession he was considered far inferior to the other
royal princes of his house in attainments and culture. In spite of this
drawback, he has for over twenty-six years shown himself superior to
all opposition, rivalry, and attack.
There is no doubt that he works harder than any man in Turkey, and that
he reads and makes his secretaries read to him a great deal; but what
he reads principally consists of the reports of his spies and agents,
which pour in in hundreds every day. Besides these, his favourite
literature, which is translated from many languages and read aloud to
him, is composed of biographies and historical sketches of the despotic
sovereigns of the world and their doings, and also of their enemies,
so that he is interested in accounts of the organisation of secret
societies and conspiracies. He is also passionately fond of all kinds
of detective stories.