TURKEY’S ABROGATION OF THE CAPITULATIONS--ENVER LIVING IN A PALACE, WITH
PLENTY OF MONEY AND AN IMPERIAL BRIDE
Another question, which had been under discussion for several months,
now became involved in the Turkish international situation. That was the
matter of the capitulations. These were the treaty rights which for
centuries had regulated the position of foreigners in the Turkish
Empire. Turkey had never been admitted to a complete equality with
European nations, and in reality she had never been an independent
sovereignty. The Sultan’s laws and customs differed so radically from
those of Europe and America that no non-Moslem country could think of
submitting its citizens in Turkey to them. In many matters, therefore,
the principle of ex-territoriality had always prevailed in favour of all
citizens or subjects of countries enjoying capitulatory rights. Almost
all European countries, as well as the United States, for centuries had
had their own consular courts and prisons in which they tried and
punished crimes which their nationals committed in Turkey. We all had
our schools, which were subject, not to Turkish law and protection, but
to that of the country which maintained them. Thus Robert College and
the Constantinople College for Women, those wonderful institutions which
American philanthropy has erected on the Bosphorus, as well as
[Illustration: THE MARQUIS GARRONI, ITALIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE SUBLIME
PORTE IN 1914]
[Illustration: M. TOCHEFF, BULGARIAN MINISTER AT CONSTANTINOPLE IN
1914]
[Illustration: THE AMERICAN SUMMER EMBASSY ON THE BOSPHORUS
Not far away, across the Strait, which is here only a mile wide, Darius
crossed with his Asiatic hosts nearly 2,500 years ago]
hundreds of American religious, charitable, and educational
institutions, practically stood on American territory and looked upon
the American Embassy as their guardian. Several nations had their own
post offices, as they did not care to submit their mail to the Ottoman
postal service. Turkey likewise did not have unlimited power of taxation
over foreigners. It could not even increase their customs taxes without
the consent of the foreign powers. In 1914 it could impose only 11 per
cent. in tariff dues, and was attempting to secure the right to increase
the amount to 14. We have always regarded England as the only free-trade
country, overlooking the fact that this limitation in Turkey’s customs
dues had practically made the Ottoman Empire an unwilling follower of
Cobden. Turkey was thus prohibited by the Powers from developing any
industries of her own; instead, she was forced to take large quantities
of inferior articles from Europe. Against these restrictions Turkish
statesmen had protested for years, declaring that they constituted an
insult to their pride as a nation and also interfered with their
progress. However, the agreement was a bi-lateral one, and Turkey could
not change it without the consent of all the contracting powers. Yet
certainly the present moment, when both the Entente and the Central
Powers were cultivating Turkey, served to furnish a valuable opportunity
to make the change. And so, as soon as the Germans had begun their march
toward Paris, the air was filled with reports that Turkey intended to
abrogate the capitulations. Rumour said that Germany had consented, as
part of the consideration for Turkish aid in the war, and that England
had agreed to the abrogation, as part of her payment for Turkish
neutrality. Neither of these reports was true. What was manifest,
however, was the panic which the mere suggestion of abrogation produced
on the foreign population. The idea of becoming subject to the Turkish
laws and perhaps being thrown into Turkish prisons made their flesh
creep--and with good reason.
About this time I had a long conference with Enver. He asked me to call
at his residence, as he was laid up with an infected toe, the result of
a surgical operation. I thus had an illuminating glimpse of the Minister
of War _en famille_. Certainly this humble man of the people had risen
in the world. His house, which was in one of the quietest and most
aristocratic parts of the city, was a splendid old building, very large
and very elaborate. I was ushered through a series of four or five
halls, and as I went by one door the Imperial Princess, Enver’s wife,
slightly opened it and peeked through at me. Farther on another Turkish
lady opened her door and also obtained a fleeting glimpse of the
Ambassadorial figure. I was finally escorted into a beautiful room in
which Enver lay reclining on a semi-sofa. He had on a long silk dressing
gown and his stockinged feet hung languidly over the edge of the divan.
He looked much younger than in his uniform; he was an extremely neat and
well-groomed object, with a pale, smooth face, made even more striking
by his black hair, and with delicate white hands, and long, tapering
fingers. He might easily have passed for under thirty, and, in fact, he
was not much over that age. He had at hand a violin, and a piano near by
also testified to his musical taste. The room was splendidly tapestried;
perhaps its most conspicuous feature was a daïs upon which stood a
golden chair; this was the marriage throne of Enver’s imperial wife. As
I glanced around at all this luxury, I must admit that a few
uncharitable thoughts came to mind and that I could not help pondering a
question which was then being generally asked in Constantinople. Where
did Enver get the money for this expensive establishment? He had no
fortune of his own--his parents had been wretchedly poor, and his salary
as a cabinet minister was only about $8,000. His wife had a moderate
allowance as an imperial princess, but she had no private resources.
Enver had never engaged in business, he had been a revolutionist,
military leader, and politician all his life. But here he was living at
a rate that demanded a very large income. In other ways Enver was giving
evidences of great and sudden prosperity, and already I had heard much
of his investments in real estate, which were the talk of the town.
Enver wished to discuss the capitulations. He practically said that the
Cabinet had decided on the abrogation, and he wished to know the
attitude of the United States. He added that certainly a country which
had fought for its independence as we had would sympathize with Turkey’s
attempt to shake off these shackles. We had helped Japan free herself
from similar burdens and wouldn’t we now help Turkey? Certainly Turkey
was as civilized a nation as Japan?
I answered that I thought that the United States might consent to
abandon the capitulations in so far as they were economic. It was my
opinion that Turkey should control her customs duties and be permitted
to levy the same taxes on foreigners as on her own citizens. So long as
the Turkish courts and Turkish prisons maintained their present
standards, however, we could never agree to give up the judicial
capitulations. Turkey should reform the abuses of her courts; then,
after they had established European ideas in the administration of
justice, the matter could be discussed. Enver replied that Turkey would
be willing to have mixed tribunals and to have the United States
designate some of the judges, but I suggested that, inasmuch as American
judges did not know the Turkish language or Turkish law, his scheme
involved great practical difficulties. I also told him that the American
schools and colleges were very dear to Americans, and that we would
never consent to subjecting them to Turkish jurisdiction.
Despite the protests of all the ambassadors, the Cabinet issued its
notification that the capitulations would be abrogated on October 1st.
This abrogation was all a part of the Young Turks’ plan to free
themselves from foreign tutelage and to create a new country on the
basis of “Turkey for the Turks.” It represented, as I shall show, what
was the central point of Turkish policy, not only in the empire’s
relations to foreign powers, but to her subject peoples. England’s
position on this question was about the same as our own; the British
Government would consent to the modification of the economic
restrictions, but not the others. Wangenheim was greatly disturbed, and
I think that his foreign office reprimanded him for letting the
abrogation take place, because he blandly asked me to announce that I
was the responsible person! As October 1st approached, the foreigners in
Turkey were in a high state of apprehension. The Dardanelles had been
closed, shutting them off from Europe, and now they felt that they were
to be left to the mercy of Turkish courts and Turkish prisons. Inasmuch
as it was the habit in Turkish prisons to herd the innocent with the
guilty, and to place in the same room with murderers, people who had
been charged, with minor offenses, but not convicted of them, and to
bastinado recalcitrant witnesses, the fears of the foreign residents may
well be imagined. The educational institutions were also apprehensive,
and in their interest I now appealed to Enver. He assured me that the
Turks had no hostile intention toward Americans. I replied that he
should show in unmistakable fashion that Americans would not be harmed.
“All right,” he answered. “What would you suggest?”
“Why not ostentatiously visit Robert College on October 1st, the day the
capitulations are abrogated?” I said.
The idea was rather a unique one, for in all the history of this
institution an important Turkish official had never entered its doors.
But I knew enough of the Turkish character to understand that an open,
ceremonious visit by Enver would cause a public sensation. News of it
would reach the farthest limits of the Turkish Empire, and it was
certain that the Turks would interpret it as meaning that one of the two
most powerful men in Turkey had taken this and other American
institutions under his patronage. Such a visit would exercise a greater
protective influence over American colleges and schools in Turkey than
an army corps. I was therefore greatly pleased when Enver promptly
adopted my suggestion.
On the day that the capitulations were abrogated, Enver appeared at the
American Embassy with two autos, one for himself and me, and the other
for his adjutants, all of whom were dressed in full uniform. I was
pleased that Enver had made the proceeding so spectacular, for I wished
it to have the widest publicity. On the ride up to the college I told
Enver all about these American institutions and what they were doing for
Turkey. He really knew very little about them, and, like most Turks, he
half suspected that they concealed a political purpose.
“We Americans are not looking for material advantages in Turkey,” I
said. “We merely demand that you treat kindly our children, these
colleges, for which all the people in the United States have the warmest
affection.”
I told him that Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge, President of the trustees of
Robert College, and Mr. Charles R. Crane, President of the trustees of
the Women’s College, were intimate friends of President Wilson. “These,”
I added, “represent what is best in America and the fine altruistic
spirit which in our country accumulates wealth and then uses it to found
colleges and schools. In establishing these institutions in Turkey they
are trying, not to convert your people to Christianity, but to help
train them in the sciences and arts and so prepare to make them better
citizens. Americans feel that the Bible lands have given them their
religion and they wish to repay with the best thing America has--its
education.” I then told him about Mrs. Russell Sage and Miss Helen
Gould, who had made large gifts to the Women’s College.
“But where do these people get all the money for such benefactions?”
Enver asked.
I then entertained him for an hour or so with a few pages from our own
“American Nights.” I told him how Jay Gould had arrived in New York, a
penniless and ragged boy, with a mousetrap which he had invented, and
how he had died, almost thirty years afterward, leaving a fortune of
about $100,000,000. I told him how Commodore Vanderbilt had started life
as a ferryman and had become America’s greatest railroad “magnate”; how
Rockefeller had begun his career sitting on a high stool in a Cleveland
commission house, earning six dollars a week, and had created the
greatest fortune that had ever been accumulated by a single man in the
world’s history. I told him how the Dodges had become our great “copper
kings” and the Cranes our great manufacturers of iron pipe. Enver found
these stories more thrilling than any that had ever come out of Bagdad,
and I found afterward that he had retold them so frequently that they
had reached almost all the important people in Constantinople.
Enver was immensely impressed also by what I said about the American
institutions. He went through all the buildings and expressed his
enthusiasm at everything he saw, and he even suggested that he would
like to send his brother there. He took tea with Mrs. Gates, wife of
President Gates, discussed most intelligently the courses, and asked if
we could not introduce the study of agriculture. The teachers he met
seemed to be a great revelation.
“I expected to find these missionaries as they are pictured in the
Berlin newspapers,” he said, “with long hair and hanging jaws, and hands
clasped constantly in a prayerful attitude. But here is Dr. Gates,
talking Turkish like a native and acting like a man of the world. I am
more than pleased, and thank you for bringing me.”
We all saw Enver that afternoon in his most delightful aspect. My idea
that this visit in itself would protect the colleges from disturbance
proved to have been a happy one. The Turkish Empire has been a
tumultuous place in the last four years, but the American colleges have
had no difficulties, either with the Turkish Government or with the
Turkish populace.
This visit was only an agreeable interlude in events of the most
exciting character. Enver, amiable as he could be on occasion, had
deliberately determined to put Turkey in the war on Germany’s side.
Germany had now reached the point where she no longer concealed her
intentions. Once before, when I had interfered in the interest of peace,
Wangenheim had encouraged my action. The reason, as I have indicated,
was that, at that time, Germany had wished Turkey to keep out of the
war, for the German General Staff expected to win without her help. But
now Wangenheim wanted Turkey in. As I was not working in Germany’s
interest, but as I was anxious to protect American institutions, I still
kept urging Enver and Talaat to keep out. This made Wangenheim angry. “I
thought that you were a neutral?” he now exclaimed.
“I thought that you were--in Turkey,” I answered.
Toward the end of October, Wangenheim was leaving nothing undone to
start hostilities; all he needed now was a favourable occasion.
Even after Germany had closed the Dardanelles, the German Ambassador’s
task was not an easy one. Talaat was not yet entirely convinced that his
best policy was war, and, as I have already said, there was still plenty
of pro-Ally sympathy in official quarters. It was Talaat’s plan not to
seize all the cabinet offices at once,
[Illustration: ENVER PASHA, MINISTER OF WAR
A man of the people, who, at 26, was a leader in the revolution
which deposed Abdul Hamid and established the new régime of the
Young Turks. At that time the Young Turks honestly desired to
establish a Turkish democracy. This attempt failed miserably and
the Young Turk leaders then ruled the Turkish Empire for their own
selfish purposes, and developed a government which is much more
wicked and murderous than that of Abdul Hamid. Enver is the man
chiefly responsible for turning the Turkish army over to Germany.
He imagines himself a Turkish combination of Napoleon and Frederick
the Great
]
[Illustration: SAÏD HALIM, EX-GRAND VIZIER
Saïd is an Egyptian prince, who provided campaign money for the
political activities of the Young Turks, and, as a reward, was made
Grand Vizier. In this position he was not permitted to exercise any
real authority. He was promised that when the Young Turks succeeded
in expelling England from Egypt, he should become Khedive
]
but gradually to elbow his way into undisputed control. At this crisis
the most popularly respected members of the Ministry were Djavid,
Minister of Finance, a man who was Jewish by race, but a Mohammedan by
religion; Mahmoud Pasha, Minister of Public Works, a Circassian; Bustány
Effendi, Minister of Commerce and Agriculture, a Christian Arab; and
Oskan Effendi, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, an Armenian--and a
Christian, of course. All these leaders, as well as the Grand Vizier,
openly opposed war and all now informed Talaat and Enver that they would
resign if Germany succeeded in her intrigues. Thus the atmosphere was
exciting; how tense the situation was a single episode will show. Sir
Louis Mallet, the British Ambassador, had accepted an invitation to dine
at the American Embassy on October 20th, but he sent word at the last
moment that he was ill and could not come. I called on the Ambassador an
hour or two afterward and found him in his garden, apparently in the
best of health. Sir Louis smiled and said that his illness had been
purely political. He had received a letter telling him that he was to be
assassinated that evening, this letter informing him of the precise spot
where the tragedy was to take place, and the time. He therefore thought
that he had better stay indoors. As I had no doubt that some such crime
had been planned, I offered Sir Louis the protection of our Embassy. I
gave him the key to the back gate of the garden; and, with Lord
Wellesley, one of his secretaries--a descendant of the Duke of
Wellington--I made all arrangements for his escape to our quarters in
case a flight became necessary. Our two embassies were so located that,
in the event of an attack, he might go unobserved from the back gate of
his to the back gate of ours. “These people are relapsing into the
Middle Ages,” said Sir Louis, “when it was quite the thing to throw
ambassadors into dungeons,” and I think that he anticipated that the
present Turks might treat him in the same way. I at once went to the
Grand Vizier and informed him of the situation, insisting that nothing
less than a visit from Talaat to Sir Louis, assuring him of his safety,
would undo the harm already done. I could make this demand with
propriety, as we had already made arrangements to take over British
interests when the break came. Within two hours Talaat made such a
visit. Though one of the Turkish newspapers was printing scurrilous
attacks on Sir Louis he was personally very popular with the Turks, and
the Grand Vizier expressed his amazement and regret--and he was entirely
sincere--that such threats had been made.