The Government of Turkey, having repudiated its bonds, is now
repudiating its paper-money. The Sultan, by an Imperial decree, of the 20th March, orders that calm& shall be received in payment of revenue only in the proportion of one-fifth, this fifth, again, being estimated at only one-quarter of its nominal value. The effect of this decree was to send down the cairn& to about a seventh of their par value, and to cause all shop- keepers to refuse them at any price whatever. The people still remain quiet, but the Turkish Treasury has so little coin that it is difficult to understand how anybody will be paid, except in orders, which are hardly more negotiable than the caimes. Very little money comes in, and that little is wanted for the troops, the truth being that the revenues have been anticipated till budgets are not worth the paper they are written on. The only hope in Constantinople is English money, and to obtain it, the plans for " regenerating " Asia Minor,—that is, for making a cesspool look clear,—are being revived. The result will depend upon the number of influential Frenchmen who wish to get rid of Turkish bonds.
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