The Times of Tuesday publishes an extremely interesting article on
the Sultan of Turkey in the unfamiliar light of a patron of land settlement and a company promoter. Under the once familiar name of the Daira-es-Sanieh—borrowed from Ismail's notorious scheme—the Sultan has established a Company or autocratic Trust to exploit Mesopotamia for his own benefit. The modus operandi has for its cardinal feature the control of the irrigation in such a way as to expropriate the native landholder and convert the best land into the Sultan's domaine privge. It is only fair to the Sultan to 'say that as a commercial Sovereign he compares most favourably with King Leopold. The expropriated peasants are apparently provided with regular work and wages. The towns created by the Daira are the best built in the country, and progressive schools have been established in the chief centres. More than that, the affairs of the Company are 30 efficiently administered that it is an immense commercial success, and furnishes the Sultan with a generous income. It enjoys great preferential advantages by being able to sell its produce at a handsome profit on the spot and pass it duty free. Moreover, "up and down the river the Mullahs receive baksheesh and instructions k) preach a boycott of all but Moslem boats," exceptional hostility being displayed to the British. The political significance of the enterprise resides in the fact that it explains the otherwise inexplicable ability of the Sultan to find the wherewithal not only for his personal needs, but for his pet schemes—e.g., the Hejaz Railway—while Turkey as a whole is sunk in poverty.
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