Conversing, some time ago, with some highly educated Bulgarians, well versed in the affairs of their country, I was told that the chief causes of the discontent of their nation were the increase of the taxes, the harshness with which the payment was enforced upon them by the district officials, the extortion of the police, and the robberies and crimes committed by the Circassians. The people complained most bitterly of the insolent arrogance of the police, which they declared drove them to desperation, and made them ready to listen to any one who promised release, rather than continue to submit longer to such evils. There are, of course, some honest men in the police force who are ready to do their duty, but the generality are unquestionably immoral and unscrupulous, and, even if they were honest, their number is too small for the protection of the millions who depend upon them for their safety.
From time immemorial brigandage has played so prominent a part in both the political and social condition of Turkey that a description of life in this country would be incomplete without a few words about this lucrative profession.
I shall pass over the time, which may still be remembered by some of the oldest inhabitants, when brigands, mustering in overwhelming forces, composed of degenerate janissaries and malcontents from all the provinces of European Turkey, gathered under chieftains like Passvan Oglou and Ali Pasha of Joannina, defied the authority of the Porte, ravaged and devastated whole provinces, besieged towns, spread terror and bloodshed on every side, and left behind them nothing but misery and tears. The Greek Klephts were not more renowned for their bravery and patriotism than for the ravages and crimes they committed during and after the war of Greek independence.
Since that time great changes have taken place in Turkey, and brigandage lost its ancient power. The thousands that filled its ranks have, in our day, been reduced to tens. But the evil though deprived of its force, and even entirely eradicated in some parts of the country, has not been wholly suppressed.
Of late years, in Turkey, brigandage has ceased to clothe itself in the garb of politics; it is now represented merely by bands of cut-throats belonging to all creeds and nationalities. The chiefs, however, and the backbone of these bands, are Albanians. The number is made up by Greeks, Turks, and Bulgarians. The Mussulman Albanian takes to brigandage because he likes it, and willingly makes a profession of it; the others join in order to evade justice, or to avoid want and misery, or simply to respond to the dictates of a vicious and criminal disposition. It is generally in early spring, when the trees have lost their nakedness and the hedges are covered with green leaves and sweet-smelling blossoms, that this element of infamy and destruction makes its appearance, taking to the highway or lurking for its prey among the hills and valleys, and polluting with its blood-stained feet the freshness and purity of resurgent nature. Its victims may often be found lying dead on a bed of violets or lilies, gazed upon by the wild rose that hangs its head and seems to blush for man’s outrage. Such sights are of every-day occurrence.
The brigands have associates living in the towns with every appearance of respectability, who furnish them with timely notice when and where a good piece of business can be done. They have spies who give them warning when danger is at hand, and they often find protectors in high places to help them to escape the arm of the law. As for food, the flocks of the terror-stricken Christian shepherds are at their mercy, and the peasant, trembling for the safety of his home, dares not refuse to satisfy them with bread and wine. He dares not give notice to the authorities of the presence of those marauders, as that would expose him to their vengeance, and he would pay for his temerity with his life. But should the authorities suspect a countryman of having furnished provision or other necessaries to the brigands, he is forthwith prosecuted and cast into prison as their associate and a participator in their spoils. These are the causes that breed and rear brigandage in Turkey in defiance of laws and of the power of the authorities. The police regulations, theoretically excellent, are practically useless, and may be looked upon as one of the principal reasons of the continuance of brigandage, a scourge on the inhabitants and a disgrace to the administration.
When a band of brigands has taken up its quarters in a district, the country round is continually kept on the qui vive by its repeated crimes and depredations. A force of Soubaris (mounted police) is sent in chase, but the laxity with which their duty is generally discharged, the neglect of proper precautions to insure success, and the usual futile termination of such expeditions, are often caused by unwillingness to risk a dangerous encounter, or by interested motives for letting off the brigands.
The inhabitants, on the other hand, suffer in any case by the pursuit, for, when it proves fruitless, it does not save them from danger, and only aggravates the enemy; and when the chase is successful, the expenses of having these armed men and their horses quartered upon them, besides the suspicions and injuries to which they are often exposed under the pretence of having direct or indirect communication with the brigands, are so great as to render the remedy almost worse than the evil, and induce them to petition the authorities to withdraw the Soubaris sent for their protection.
If these policemen are headed by an honest and courageous chief, as occasionally happens, and he sets to work earnestly to do his duty, success is almost certain, and the brigands are either captured, destroyed, or dispersed. Those who are caught are disarmed, handcuffed, and, if numerous and of a desperate character, chained in couples and marched off to prison. Still the hardy freebooters are not dispirited, for if they are wealthy, or the proofs of their crime are not transparently clear, their chances of escape, especially in the interior, are not small, and bribery affords them a ready means of regaining their liberty.
When brigands disperse or retire in winter from the field of action, they find shelter in a well-protected refuge. Such places are easily found in the country chiftliks of influential beys, who, from motives of self-preservation or ignorance of their guests’ antecedents, allow their Albanian guards to harbor the malefactors who venture to seek shelter under their roof.