The Ambassadors in Constantinople are greatly disturbed at the decree
levying a special tax on Mahommedans for military purposes, and at the obvious intention to arm all Mussulmans of whatever class. They apprehend that it may be intended to let the whole Mussulman population loose, and have remonstrated. To this remonstrance the Palace replies that finding it difficult to pay the troops, it appeals to Mussul- mans for "a free subscription," but that Christians " may " also join in it if they please. That suggests a forced loan rather than a tax, and means, of course, that Christians who do not pay will find the consequences unpleasant. The answer is a most defiant one, but there is no doubt that the Government is in desperate straits for money. No revenue is coming in, or can come in, from the interior, and most of the Customs revenue is pledged for the payment of the national debts. The troops in Anatolia are unpaid, and if money is not forthcoming for the garrison of Constantinople, a military mutiny will not be far off. The emptiness of the Treasury may be, in fact, as provocative as it proved in France in 1789. Bankruptcy ends all shams.
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