The correspondent of the Times at Constantinople gives, merely incidentally,
an account of a transaction in the Turkish islands which shows, better than a volume of argument, how Turks govern. The people of the Southern Sporades, about 115,000 in number, living by sponge-fish- ing, belonged in 1832 to the kingdom of Greece, but were handed over to Turkey at the final settlement They were, however, allowed to continue their self-government till, in 1867, the Porte suddenly subjected them to Turkish officials, and in 1869 deprived them, for no reason whatever, of all privileges, and imposed a variety of new taxes. The islanders fled almost en masse, the sponge-fishing boats sank from 450 to 150, and the prosperity of the islands disappeared. The people are ruined, and the Porte not benefited, the whole transaction resulting only in pay for a few officials. That is the way in which the Pashas eat up their own resources under the status quo in Turkey, which Mr. Disraeli calls upon all wise Englishmen to protect ! Suppose the Southern Sporades go back to Greece, who except Pashas will be the losers ?
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