" REPRESSION " IN THE HERZEGOVINA.
IT is quite impossible, we are aware, to interest Englishmen in the fate of the Herzegovina. It is true that the insur- rection is spreading, till the telegrams from Constantinople, which have been consistently false, at last admit that the means taken for its suppression have been insufficient, and that an army is to be despatched to the spot. It is true that the sympathy of the Serviaus has been awakened, until Prince Milano may be forced either to head his people or to quit his throne,—in either of which events there would be war with Turkey on one side, and her Slavonic population on the other. And it is true that the English and French Ambassadors have returned unexpectedly to Vienna, that all diplomatists there are astir, and that Turkey, when the revolution is suppressed, may find she has lost her Provinces; but still, it is only as a contribution to history that we republish this manifesto, issued on July 23, by the Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina' and Commissioner for the suppression of the insurrection. It has been forwarded to the Standard by its correspondent at Vienna, is obviously authentic, and if it referred to people within the limits of English tourists' visits would raise the most passionate indig- nation. As it is, it will not even be read, or if read, will be quoted as an illustration of Turkish energy. "Turks, Sir," says Major Pendennis, "are a ruling people. Stand no non-.
sense, bedag !"— •
" To the subjects of his Majesty the Sultan.—Called by the will of the Sultan to suppress the revolution, and in virtue of the powers which, by a decree of the Grand Vizier of 1st Tamus (July 16) were conferred on me, I command that every one who shall give aid to the insurgents be put to the sword. I command that the provinces under my authority (Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Novibazar) be declared in a state of siege. I decree that every believer in Mohammed has the right to arrest, or bring before me, whomever he may suspect of taking part in the insurrection, or aiding the enemies of our august Sultan. I further command that foreigners, so long as the state of siege lasts, conduct themselves in conformity to the laws ; and this state will truly be of short duration, for the sun of the insurgents is near to setting. Finally, I command still that all corporations be prepared to provide us with whatever we may find needful, without any complaint or opposition. The lightning of the Sultan will strike those who do not obey our commands, and reason demands that we should, then, be inexorable. I command that no asylum be given to an insurgent, and that whoever shelters one, as well as he who is sheltered, be put to death by the sword. I com- mand, too, that in all places of worship under my jurisdiction prayers be offered up for divine help and tho protection of the Prophet for our Sultan and his Government. I command that this edict (anir) be pub- lished in the three languages that are most general in the provinces under my authority—namely, in Turkish, Greek, and Sclavonian, and I request the Valis (governors) of the neighbouring provinces publicly to affix sufficient copies of it, that all may have knowledge of it, and not fall under the severity of its threats.
"Given at our Imperial gubernatorial palace, in the villajet of Bosnia, on the 7th of Tamus, 1292 from the Hegira (July 23, 1875).
" DERV-181i EILIR PAULL" This decree practically invests every Mohammedan with ab- solute power because he is a Mohammedan. The right of conveying any "suspect" before the Pacha, who would put him to death, involves the right of overcoming any resistance he may offer, and any Mussulman therefore is at liberty to offer fury insult- or any outrage to any Christian neighbont This prrselege, we need not say, will in such a land-produce worse scenes- than- even the soldiery will cause, though they are allowed to slaughter men and women for" harbonring rebels,"— that is, for helping their sons, brothers, and kinsfolk to escape immediate death from infuriated Asiatic soldiery. The people of the Herzegovina are in fact to be slaughtered down till the Turkish Governor is enabled to report that order reigns once more, and then England and Prance will resist the pro- position certain to be brought forward by the three Powers to raise Servia, Bosnia, and the Herzegovina into a Hospodarate. It is, in English judgment, better that iniquities of this kind should go on unchecked, than that Turkey should be beaten in a diplomatic contest. There is no question of weakening Turkey, or increasing Russian influence, or commencing war. Al! the people ask is that they may be let alone, that taxation may be modified into tribute, and that they may be freed from the government of men among whom this Dervish Emir Pacha is-probably by comparison a mild and enlightened specimen.
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