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PERIOD VI.

The War in the Balkans-How Turkey Entered the Conflict-The Watchful Waiting of Greece-Servia and Its Neighbors-A " Scrap of Paper "-The Kaiser at Donchery-Holland's Future-Unconquered France Seizure of American Cargoes-Italy and the Triple Alliance -Correspondence of Soldiers From the Front-King Albert of Belgium.

Caldron of the Balkans How Turkey Went to War

By Ottoman Authorities

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a declaration of war. In fact, The Hague Conventions demand a formal declaration in both cases. But if the formal declaration of Turkish neutrality cannot be made before she has received an official notification of the existing war, it is nevertheless true that the head of the Government, in his conversations with the Ambassadors, has given them to understand what the opinion of the people is here. And even without this, the efforts of the Turkish Government, the desire, and the policy of Turkey, are so expilicit that there is no ground for doubt as to the significance of the declarations of the Grand Vizier.

Turkey has never asked for war, as she always has worked toward avoiding it. But we must not misunderstand the meaning of certain terms. Neutrality does not mean indifference. The present

Austro-Servian conflict is to a supreme degree interesting to us. In the first place, one of our erstwhile opponents is fighting against a much stronger enemy. In the natural course of things Servia, which till lately was expressing, in a rather open way, her solidarity as a nation, still provoking us, and Greece will be materially weakened. In the second place, the results of this war may surpass the limits of a conflict between two countries, and in that case our interests will be just as materially affected.

We must therefore keep our eyes open, as the circumstances are momentarily changing, and do not permit us to let escape certain advantages which we can secure by an. active and rightly acting diplomacy.

The policy of neutrality will impose on us the obligation of avoiding to side with either of the belligerents, but the same policy will force us to take all the necessary measures for safeguarding our interests and our frontiers. If it be true, as reported, that the pacifist tendencies of Turkey constitute one of the safest guarantees of peace in the Balkans, then we must hope that on the day when a general settlement of accounts will be made Europe will be willing to recognize the important part played by Turkey in the preservation of peace in the Near East, and will be eager to rectify, if not all, at least one part of the wrongs she has caused to our country.

TURKEY LEARNS OF THE WAR

Turkish mobilization was still at its first stages when the European war began on Aug. 1, 1914. The Turkish Government in particular and the Turkish population in general were overwhelmed by the unexpected turn of European events, and it was at the height of the crisis that Turkey received the news of her two battleships building in British yards being taken over by England. A correspondent of The Daily Atlantis of New York, writing in Constantinople on Aug. 10, said:

The European war makes the Turks think that this is their golden opportunity

for Turkifying the empire from the one end to the other. All non-Moslems, mere boys and young men of 25 to 30 years of age and grown men up to 45, are being arrested by the police and secret service force, and dragged to the barracks, like convicts, and if they fail to pay the fifty or eighty pounds Turkish ($230 or $350) for exemption from military service, they are forced to work as "assistantsoldiers."

The soldiers thus designated are not given rifles, nor are they trained for service, but are simply employed as servants to the regular soldiers. It is easy to understand that no one can endure such conditions of military life, the result being that each and every one of these non-Moslems sells whatever property he has in order to pay the ransom and get away from the army, and from Turkey as well. In ten days, since this peculiar recruiting began, fully ten thousand Greeks found a way of escaping from Constantinople, many of them finding a refuge in the free and hospitable United States. This getting away is not so easy, writes the same correspondent, because officials of the various ports are exacting heavy sums from the fugitives before letting them go.

Graft and extortion in this

case reign supreme, and it costs anywhere from three to fifteen pounds ($13 to $70) to"buy" a police or port official. This process, originating in Constantinople, is widespread in the provinces, and the sums paid in this way by the non-Moslems to escape military service amount to millions. "Let the infidels pay!" say the Turkish officials. "They have taken our ships, and they have to pay for it."

The popular feeling against England in these first days of the European war is fiere. Numerous manifestations, in which the younger element was largely represented, proceeded to to attack the British stores and British subjects, and there have been serious attempts against the British Embassy in Constantinople and the British Consulate at Smyrna.

CONSTANTINOPLE IN AUGUST

Another letter from the same source, dated Constantinople, Aug. 6, gives the

following picture of the Turkish capital in the early days of the European war:

It is impossible to describe the way in which the Porte is trying to put the country on a war footing, notwithstanding the terrible odds she has to fight against. God only knows what the Turks are expecting if the Austro-Servian conflict turns out according to their desires, or if the European conflict takes the form of a decisive Austro-German victory. We now have ample proof to show that the Turkish mobilization is in such a way conducted as to be ready to act in common with Bulgaria, in a simultaneous attack against Greek and Servian Macedonia, as soon as the Austrians have a first decisive victory over the Servians. This scheme, however, seems to be doomed since the entry of Great Britain into the general war, and there are indications that Turkey, warned by England and Russia, will disband her already mobilized army. On the other hand, the news reaches Constantinople that the Russian forces have crossed the frontier into Turkish Armenia, and occupied Erzeroum, while Enver Pasha was seen yesterday (Aug. 5) paying hasty visits to the Russian and British Embassies. While such is the political situation, matters are still worse in the business world of the Turkish capital. It is almost impossible to give an idea of the general upheaval brought about by greedy speculators, who are taking advantage of this anomalous situation, and by the Government itself, requisitioning everything they can lay their hands on, regardless of reason or necessity.

Policemen and Sheriffs, followed by military officers, are taking by force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the bakeries and other shops selling victuals, boarding ships with cargoes of flour, potatoes, wheat, rice, &c., and taking over virtually everything, giving in lieu of payment a receipt which is not worth even the paper on which it is written.

In this way many shops are forced to close, bread has entirely disappeared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital of a neutral country, is al

as

ready feeling all the troubles and privations of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible heights provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand combats are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries for the possession of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children in their arms are seen crying and weeping in despair.

Many merchants, afraid lest the Government requisition their goods, hastened to have their orders canceled, the result being that no merchandise of any kind is coming to Constantinople either from Europe or from Anatolia.

Both on account of the recruiting of their employes and of shortage of coal the companies operating the electric tramways of the city have reduced their service to the minimum, as no power is available for the running of the cars.

Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors of the various banking establishments, where large posters are to be seen, bearing the inscription: Closed temporarily, by order of the Government. The most popular of these institutions is the Wiener Bankverein. This bank, by making special inducements to small depositors and by paying a higher interest than the others, succeeded in concentrating the savings of many people of the working classes, and as this institution is in imminent danger the rush to its doors is exceptionally great and riotous.

The municipality has issued a number of ordinances fixing the prices of all necessary commodities, and the Government, after the first panic, declared that no further requisitions are to be made. At the same time the authorities took special pains in order to induce the various merchants to import goods from abroad, thus relieving the extremely strained situation of the market; but it is doubtful whether such measures will have any calming effect on the scared population.

Immediately after war was declared between Germany and Russia the Porte ordered the Bosporus and the Dardanelles closed to every kind of shipping,

at the same time barring the entrances of these channels with rows of mines. The first boat to suffer from this measure was a British merchantman, which was sunk outside the Bosporus, while another had a narrow escape in the Dardanelles. A large number of steamers of every nationality are waiting outside the straits for the special pilot boats of the Turkish Government, in order to pass in safety through the dangerous mine field. This measure of closing the straits was suggested to Turkey by Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against Russia, as it was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way into the Sea of Marmora and the Aegean.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT

PROROGUED

On Sunday, Aug. 2, the MedjlissiMeboussan, or Parliament of Turkey, was urgently called together, and the Speaker of the House addressed the members as follows:

Dear Colleagues: The imperial proclamation ordering the last elections has produced some uneasiness both within and without the empire. It was said at that time that the Chamber was to be convened only to give vent to partisan feeling and to disturb the quiet of the country. The elections, however, proceeded in as orderly a way as possible, and the Chamber performed its duty with great order and solicitude, having voted the budget and many other laws. The country accordingly is convinced that the Chamber has fulfilled its duty with relative calm, in view of the circumstances. We part today in order to meet again in November. The war between AustriaHungary and Servia has a tremendous importance in the general European situation. While until yesterday Europe was kept in a state of watchful waiting, now we are informed that war has been declared between Germany and Russia. In face of such an international situation, it behooves all us Ottomans to rally in a spirit of harmony around the imperial throne and to act with the moderation characteristic of our race for the preservation of our country.

Hoping that the great example given by Parliament to the nation as regards the working in a spirit of harmony and order will have its due influence on the country at large, I salute you and bid you farewell.

THE MOBILIZATION

One of the first schemes of the German General, Liman von Sanders, for the reorganization of the Turkish Army was to provide a system whereby a speedier mobilization of the forces could be made possible. According to this scheme, as far back as the first days of May, 1914, every Mayor and village President of the empire was provided with a sealed envelope, under orders to open it only on telegraphic notice from the Central Administration. These envelopes were opened on Aug. 3, and were found to contain the papers constituting the order of general mobilization, including a large poster in colors, bearing, under the imperial monogram, or Tougrah," two crossed green Turkish flags, with crossed sword and rifle, and underneath a gun and its carriage, and lastly the imperial edict in large letters, reading as follows: A general mobilization was ordered to start on

66

(To be dated on notice.)

Those liable for duty must report at their respective headquarters. First day of mobilization is on...

(To be dated on notice.) DIPLOMATIC SITUATION AND

PRESS OPINIONS

While Turkey in this way was preparing for war, Talaat Bey, the Turkish Minister of the Interior, and Halil Bey, President of the Chamber, were leaving Constantinople for Bucharest, where they intended meeting the representatives of the Greek Government, in order to find a way of settling the outstanding Greco-Turkish differences regarding the Aegean Islands and the question of refugees. The object of this political move was twofold. First, Turkey was bent on giving to Europe a proof of her pacific intentions, and, second, she was trying to convince the Hellenic Government of her willingness to reach an understanding regarding their mutual differences,

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