The Times of Wednesday contained a long and valuable communication
from its correspondent at Constantinople on the subject of the Baghdad Railway. Two years have elapsed since the first section was opened to traffic, and the Company now contemplates beginning the construction of the next section, and is endeavouring to obtain from the Turkish Government the necessary financial guarantees. An elaborate account is given of the financial arrangements originally entered into between the Government and the Company, from which it appears that the Company must have made a profit of about £800,000 on the construction of the first section, of which only £148,000 has been put to reserve. The Sultan's Government has not done so well by the enterprise, and is considerably out of pocket, though matters may change when subsequent sections have been con- structed. When the fourth section is finished there will be direct communication between Constantinople and Damascus, and consequently with the Hedjaz Railway, which, it is estimated, will reach Medina in about four and a half years.
