RSI Dowco —— The Awakening of the Older Nations. | me— Personalities Behind the Transformed | o “January 26, 1912. Ottoman Empire—The Young Turk Organization Really a Masonic | Movemant-—The & Sultan as a Tool. By WILLIAM T. ELLIS. Constantinople.—At the back of | every movement must be men. The | transformation of Turkey from a mediaeval absolutism to a constitu tional government was not wrought without human agencies. Who did it? | At the time of the constitution and | the revolution there were stories of a! romantic secret committee in Paris, with a chief possessed of greater | statesmanship and more dictatorial powers than any crowned head im | Europe. The present Paris commit- | tee is disgruntled and in opposition, and it is rather generally admitted that there was considerable romanc- ing about the origina} committee. Admittedly the Young Turk move- ment was a bit of successful oppor- : Its leaders were quick to tunism. take advantage of favorable events, ‘which is certainly nothing to their dis- : credit. The men were ready for their chance when it came. A German on Top. But now, after the lapse of many months, who is the top man in Tur- key? Amid all the personalities here, | which one towers above all others? 1t is none other than Baron von Bee- berstein, the German ambassador. One searches in vain for this omals- scient, omnipotent Young Turk of | whom we read so much at the time of | the passing of the old order. Instead, | he finds behind the forces at work ! here this shrewd old diplomat, the | ablest in Europe, who has within a year recovered all the prestige that the German cause lost with the fall of | Abdul Hamid. In domestic affairs, as well as in foreign relationships the hand of von Beeberstein may be traced by those whose business it is to know the in- wardness of current events here. Since this wise old German is an extra- Turkish personality, perhaps it is not | fair to consider him in looking for the most influential figure in the present | regime. A Glimpse of the Sultan. It is easier to say who this man is First of all, it not than who he is. is not the sultan. He may be elim- inated at the outset. A high diplomat who has had to converse with the nresent sultan says that the ordeal is like talking to a wooden man. One encounters various terms in the dip- lomatic circles to describe the nonen- tity of Mohammed V, Doubtless, many of these are exaggerated, like the stories of his devotion to the flow- ing bowl. The sultan sees no for- signers, but anybody may see him at the Selamlik-—the weekly when he goes to the mosque to pray. With Abdul Hamid, this was an or- deal to be dreaded, and he sat cower- ing in his carriage in a coat of mail. | Apparently his brother is glad to have this weekly outing, for the poorest hamal that ‘otters over the Galata bridge beneath his monstrous load, sees more of life than does his Royal Highness. He likes the pomp of the lines of soldiers who line the high- way for the short distance from the palace to the mosque. These soldiers are part of the mod- ern army; on the whole, well armed and fairly well set up. Along with them one sees the archaic, red-hel- meted fire brigade, with the long leather guards at the back of their helmets. The lancers, who are the sultan's bodyguard, are plainly Mongo- lian, and fine fellows they appear. The sultan, himself, stares at the crowds as the crowds stare at him, or as a countryman gazes at the circus, He wears a fez, and but one decoration on his breast. His face is weak, with puffs under the eyes. His beard is grey and rather close cropped. He looks for all the world like the type of ge- nial old New England ne'er-do-well, whom one may see sunning himself outside the house, or sitting on a cracker box in the corner store, while his wife runs the family affairs. The day I saw the sultan an Amer- fcan girl in the carriage next mine was alming a camera at him. He was attracted by the fresh young fig- ure, and obligingly turned his face ‘toward her and smiled—and then kept on smiling and craning his neck toward her like a gay old flirt. It was not very dignified or royal, but it was .decidedly revealing, especially when one remembers that this man is “King of kings,” “Commander of the Faith- ful,” and “The Shadow of God om Barth.’ Incidentally, he is a political cipher, The Prisoner of Salpnica. Nor is Abdul Hamid any longer a possible factor in Turkish affairs. Wild rumors fly around occasionally of his escape from his imprisonment, in the garb of a woman servant, and of his being at the bottom of revo- lutionary plots. This is the last of the contingencies that the present government has to face. The best advised say that, while Abdul is mo- rose and sleepless, he none the less 3 too fond of life to take any chances with this committee. His supreme passion is to be permitted to die a natural death. For a generation he has been haunted by the nightmare of a violent death. Now he is guarded by the most trusted representatives of the commit. tee of union and progress. I am told —— function | | affairs has proved correct om other points that the jailers of Abdul Hamid | are men who have blood feuds with ' him—whose relatives the deposed | sultan has slain—and who would be | 6134 Of an excuse to square their aec- ! counts with him. Moreover, Salonica is the center of Young Turk senti- | ment, and the most difficult soil for , the growth of a reactionary plot. { That the common people expect nev- | er to see Abdul in power again is i by one whosg knowledge of Turkish shown by the way the press and the | | public deride and detest and make | i sport of him. The meanest loafer in i the sidewalk cafes is free to curse the | memory of the prisoner at Salonica. | ! resents the prison beguilements of | the late sultan. It is a portrait cun- | ' ningly created by the grouping of sev- | | eral houris, and a vision of the! | mosques and palaces of the Bosphoz- us within the tarboosh. The harmless diversions of the harem are all of his | former glory permitted to Abdul | Hamid. Is There a Man of Mystery? One searches in vain for substanti- ation for the early tales of the wonder- | ful dictator in Paris, who, unknown himself, rules Turkey through the There is no really great personality that there was absolutely nothing in | the rumored agreement between Rou- | on that body. Not all of the members are known, however, although all pos- | sible members have been appraised. to the situation in Constantinople to- | day. The real head of a department may be a man in the outer office. The | cabinet minister may be subject to ' his secretary in the anteroom. The inner circle of the Young Turk com- mittee is made up of men who, for the | purpose, occupy places high and low. | Some of the members of this inner | circle are in office, some are absolute- ly without official position. The com- mittee has a penchant for putting for- ward the men who look a part and who will fill the role of popular he- roes. This is the anomaly of present-day | Turkey. The committee of Union and Progress is supposed to have dis- | solved and passed out of existence. | It really runs parliament—an incon- gruity which makes constitutional government seem like a farce. Fur- | thermore, not all of the figurcheads { who themselves understand their lack of power can enjoy this empty show, The Sultan on a and they are one element of weakness in the new order. A Masonic and Jewish Body. Everybody in Constantinople seems to know that the committee which overthrew Abdul Hamid and brought in the new day for the empire is real- ly a Masonic organization. It differs from the masonry of the west in that it is non-religious—the name of the Deity is not mentioned in its docu- ments. It is affiliated with the Ital. fan masons and not with the British or American. This fact has incurred the special hostility of orthodox Mo- hammedans, who dislike the Masonic order even more than they detest Christianity. This fact may be borne in mind in any study of present con- ditions, for it is likelier to be a factor in the developments than some more apparent causes. Another charge brought against the committee of Union and Progress is that its membership is largely Jew- ish. Here one must try to master a strange condition, possible only in this romantic east, where the improeb- able and the incongruous are matters of every day. This particular story harks back more than 200 years, when the son of a Salonica rabbi announced himself as the Messiah and got a con- siderable following. His cause was so portentous that he was arrested and taken before the sultan, where, in his extremity, he renounced his claims and accepted Islam. So great was the confidence of his followers in this Messiah, that they too obeyed his lead and became Mos- lems. During the ensuing centuries they have remained a distinct commu- nity, with their own mosque. They never intermarry with other Moslems, and the genuineness and depth of their fidelity to Islam is a subject of scepticism among the faithful. Cer- tainly this Moslem-Jewish community has furnished some of the most ag- gressive men in the empire, and far more than its proportion of the lead- ers of the Young Turk movement. The Military “Dictator.”. I have Interviewed many of the lead- ers of the Turkish government, and shall have occasion to quote some of | them. Here it must suffice to give as representative the one most pictures- que figure in the government—Mah- moud Shevket Pasha, the minister of There is an Arabian Nights’ flavor war, the supreme commander of the Turkish armies, the “Saviour of Con! stantinople” and the man who has frequently been said to be the real dictator of the present regime in Turkey. Really, Gen. Shevket is practically subordinate to one cf his own aids | and associates. He ner circle of the committee of Union | and Progress, although a genuine Young Turk. It is perhaps an incon- siderate way of putting the case, but I am credibly informed that he is/ only a sort of puppet in the hands | However, he looks Tall, | - | bearded, with small black eyes that! | A popular postcard in the shops rep- | of stronger men. | the part of a popular idol flash, he is a veritable Beau Brummel. { He could readily be a cruel man and a dictator if he had the power, else I misread physiognomy. While we talked he twirled his nose glasses by | the handle, or rolled them on his fin- gers, or twiddled his nose—the right’ side of which bears a large vaccina- i { i t his green astrachan fez and scratched his iron-gray hair. | tion mark. Frequently he tilted aside | He is a charming gentleman to meet, and he speaks with an apparent openness that would disarm an umn-' | Tones of Insects. i An investigator, given c the collee ! tion of curious data, has observed that there are at least three different tones emitted by insects; a low one during ! flight, a higher one when the wings are held in such manner that they do not virbrate, and a yet higher tone when the insect is held so that none is not in the in- | of its limbs can be moved. This last, it is pointed out, is the “voice prop- er” of the insect. In some cases it | is produced by the stigmata of the thorax. i sm i - Flour and Feed. CURTIS Y. WAGNER, BROCKERHOFF MILLS, i BELLEFONTE, PA. | Manufacturer, Wholesaler and Retailer of Roller Flour Feed orn Meal and Grain —— —_ ih sceptical interviewer. He told me in | committee of Union and Progress. | all earnestness and apparent sincerity | Manufactures and has on hand at all times the mania and Turkey, although I had! | other more trustworthy information, which history has since confirmed, that the deal had been made. ~ He speaks with the greatest optimism | concerning the future of regime. the new The financial revenues in- creased by thirty-three million francs | during the first year and, because of ' | better methods of collection, a still | greater increase will probably be made during the present year. The situation throughout the provinces, he said, has very much improved, the turbulent Albanians have been paci- fled and disarmed. Parenthetically, I may remark that one who saw the | arms the government took in, says that they are only fit for a museum, and that the rifles and revolvers which can really do business are still within reach of the warlike Albanians. Shevket Pasha says he thinks the Al- banians will be a valuable asset to | Turkey when enrolied in the army, ‘and he spoke most magnanimously | of their defeat by the Turkish army ' sent against them. He said they Jacke Visit to the Mosque. ed good leaders and organization, and | = were overwhelmed by the mass of gov- ernment troops. He looks forward to 150,000 troops from Albania now avail | able. Moslem Versus Christian. When we got to talking about the possibility of further trouble between the Moslems and the Christians, he naively asserted that it was the Mos- lems who were in danger from the Christians, which would explain why Christians rather than the Moslems, are being disarmed. He said that what is being done in Albania in the way of establishing a suitable government with law and or- der, is being carried out also among the Druses. There is a reasonable percentage of Christians now in the army, according to the new order, and he says it is unthinkable that there should ever again be strife between Islam and Christianity. The first busi ness of Turkey is the development of her army for the sake of law and or- der throughout the country, as well as in the dealings with other nations. He stressed the idea of a strong Turk- ish army, ready for any emergency, but he looks forward to no immediate armed eventualities with any other country. The Government's Many Critics. So much for one cabinet minister's view. That he and many like him, in office and out, are real patriots can- not be denied. There are many ‘dis- affected persons in Turkey and for | various reasons, some of them obvi- ous. The foreigner is displeased, as he chronically is with any government carried on by those whom he likes to call his inferiors. There are various portentous elements of disintegration at work in the empire. 1 question whether it will ever be possible to in a new restlessness among all class- es of people, and Turkey, be it ever remembered, is a hodge-podge of na- tionalities. On one occasion I count: ed at least fifteen distinct and differ- ent peoples that go to make up this strange government. The ship of state was never so difficult to navigate as just now. (Copyright, 1911, by Joseph B. Bowles.) i i { have a homogeneous nation here. The new order of things has brought | Attorneys-at-Law. Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets work won- | ders in cleansing the sallow complezion, | === brightening eyes, sweetening | KLINE the foul breath. ie maigel merc, | § Ee font, £2 Peactices tn al Cour, not forcing Nature but coaxing her. Room 18 Crider” bee —"What ¢ do yo yu think of this od, if gy : world an yway? o¢ German, Office in Cridler's Exclunge Saver Gime to think, Six children | | Bellefonte, S. 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