TURKEY IN ASIA.* IP books are a test, it would
appear that the old Eastern question—the question of the Near East, which has been so carefully hushed and stifled by anxious diplomatists—may again be coming to the front. Two such remarkable books as those of " Odysseus " and of Lord Percy, appearing within a short time of each other, may perhaps be taken in some measure as a storm-signal. Both are by men who have been at great pains to get at the truth, and both writers (with all respect to "Odysseus's" incognito) are men of influence. Lord Percy, as his earlier Diary in Asiatic Turkey showed, is not only an ardent traveller, revelling in risks and discomforts, but an acute student of political signs. His views on the prospects of Turkey in Asia—which cannot easily be separated from those of Turkey in Europe—are worthy of careful con- sideration. In his previous volume he displayed a marked bias in favour of the Turk as compared with the other races of Turkey—no unusual sentiment with travellers ;—in his present work his opinion is every whit as favourable, but it is balanced by a better comprehension of the mixed population and supported by a closer acquaintance with all classes. In every way his new book is more mature, thoughtful, and carefully weighed. The only point in which it does not com- pare well with the Diary is in the illustrations. These were extraordinarily fine in the former book; but in the new volume, though the photographs are clearly of great artistic and technical merit, they are not reproduced by the same admirable but expensive process which set off the earlier pictures to perfection.
It is not as a picture-book, however, though the illustrations, especially of the mountain gorges of the Hakkiari country, are strikingly good, nor yet as a record of travel—though much of the country was little known before, and there are many interesting accounts of the people and the antiquities —that Lord Percy's volume will chiefly be considered. In every chapter, whenever he gets an opportunity to diverge from descriptions of scenery or incidents of travel, he immediately plunges into a digression on the present state of the local administration, the conditions of prosperity, and the hopes of reform. These digressions are full of a real appre- ciation of the factors in the problem and a firm grasp of practical measures. Lord Percy sees as clearly as any one the manifold vices of the present system in Turkey, though he is more ready to find excuses for the "unspeakable" than most writers. The great point, however, is that he knows the Turk at home, be has watched him and talked with him in his provincial konak and his local office, in the most out-of- the-way places, and in the chief centres of the Armenian massacres; and, after all this, and in spite of every- thing, he still has hopes of him. He stoutly maintains, from personal knowledge, that there are plenty of able men fully competent to administer provinces and dis- tricts honestly and intelligently; it is not the material that is lacking, but the sense to employ it. He points to the new engineering scheme for utilising the waters of Lakes ICaraviran and Beyshehr for the irrigation of the plain of Koniya, as an instance of administrative capacity, and he frequently has occasion to speak well of the efforts of the local governors to develop their districts. The real fault, he says, lies at headquarters. If good governors were appointed without anticipating their salaries in bribes; if they were secure and firmly supported in their posts; and if the taxes— seldom very heavy in Asiatic Turkey—were honestly levied instead of being farmed out, he believes that there would be little to complain of. To secure this end, he would not attempt to supplant Turkish governors by Christians, even Europeans, though he would have a European inspection to adjust taxa- tion; but he would rely upon a judicial and ministerial Council at Constantinople—stiffened, no doubt, by Europeans —to advise the Porte in the selection, appointment, and main- tenance of efficient and honest governors, and he would make short work of the present bureaucratic clique of Yildiz, with its corruption, its extravagance, and its ineradicable intrigue.
• Highlands of Asiatic Turkey. By Earl Percy, M.P. Illustrated. London : E. Arnold. [lea. net.]
Reform must begin at the centre, in his opinion, and few will controvert it. Nor is he wrong in insisting that most reforms that have been attempted in Turkey in the last century have actually originated with the Turks themselves. To say nothing of Selim III., Mahmud undoubtedly was his own reform Minister, with no aid from any European adviser and hardly a single Turk; whilst if the gentle Abdu-l-Mejid had little strength of will to carry reforms when urged thereto by the fierce energy of Sir Strat- ford Canning, it must always be remembered that the Great Elchi's right-hand in every proposal for amendment was Reshid Pasha, whilst Anil and Fuad were unquestionably reformers of no little ability. Had these men and their suc- cessors enjoyed a fair field, had Turkey not been thrust by the selfish fears of the European Powers into a position of ignoble and enervated isolation, had British Ambassadors not abdicated their once predominant influence and contented themselves with keeping Turkey quiet for fear of European troubles, the present state of affairs might never have come to pass. What Lord Percy argues is that if such things have been, such may recur in the future; if a Reshid or a Fuad Pasha was possible in the past, such a statesman may yet come forward from among the able men who are still to be found in the service of the State. But if he is to do any good, Turkey must not be "sent to Coventry," as she now is, and Europe must not treat her as the irreclaimable Empire which the Treaty of Paris, whilst appearing to approve and support, in reality abandoned to the downward path.
It will be seen that the book suggests large and serious considerations. The fact that Lord Percy is young must not make one forget that he has enjoyed unusual oppor- tunities for seeing Turkey for himself repeatedly and inti- mately; and the fact that he is avowedly a friend to the Turk —at his best and when given fair play—should not prevent us from considering views which are advanced with moderation and in good faith. Though personally we do not take the view of the Turkish problem taken by Lord Percy, we frankly and fully admit his knowledge and his capacity, and we are glad to set before our readers a summary of his opinions. We must ask them to remember, however, that they are his views and not ours, that we do not share his optimism, and that we would not ask the British people to make any sacrifice to maintain the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire. If friendship for Turkey is to mean antagonism to Russia and a second Crimean War, then we would be free of such friendship.
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