25 OCTOBER 1873, Page 2

The efforts of the Turkish Government to Snd money are

really more sensible than we imagined. While taxing all Vacouf lands, the Sultan offers their owners a " Parliamentary title,"—a most valuable compensation. The tobacco regie, or licence for selling tobacco, hitherto only imposed on Constantinople, is extended over the Empire,—a really bright bit of finance if the Empire will stand it, which is doubtful, as Indian Viceroy's know well. The stamp taxes will be levied honestly, and the forests will be offered by auction, a most dangerous but tempting plan. The farmers will cut everything, from the cedars of Lebanon downwards, and the denudation will parch up Turkey as it has parched Babylonia. Still there will be money given for the farms, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs also promises a budget to which all departments must adhere, —a reform worth all the rest, if only the Sultan would bear it, which is impossible. No Ministry in Turkey would dare even to state the truth about the Civil List, far less to control it.