The Turkish method of retorting to Austria in the Near
East by a boycott of Austrian goods seems to be more effectual than one would have supposed. The Turkish Government says that it is doing all that is possible to protect Austrian interests ; but the boycott appears to be a popular movement which no Government could check. According to the Vienna correspondent of the Times, it affects the chief ports in the Turkish Empire. The Austrian-Lloyd steamer Tirol,' for example, was obliged to leave Salonika on Tuesday without unloading, and the 'Galicia' was unable to take six hundred passengers on board at Constantinople. At Jaffa the populace not only boycotted the Austrian mail steamer, but destroyed the mail-carts and letter-boxes. The movement extends to Austrian shops, which are picketed. No violence is used, but some Austrian firms trading in Turkey fear bankruptcy. The Austrian commercial world may well wonder if the shadowy advantages of annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina balance these material losses.
Previous page
