XXVII. CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
In the Mohammedan dominions of Turkey missionary institutions have graduated men who have in many instances occupied government positions on account of their superior capabilities, in spite of the fact that Christian officials are greatly handicapped by Moslem prejudices. In the case of the Bulgarian graduates of Robert College, it was said in 1902, by a missionary of the American Board then residing at Sofia, that “since the beginning of the national administration of Bulgaria, in 1878, there has been no government ministry without one at least, and often two or three, Robert College members. The present Secretary of the Cabinet, whose ability has preserved his position for him during ten years, and under eight successive ministries, is one of these men.” The judge of the supreme court, besides the mayor of Sofia, and many others in diplomatic, judicial, or clerical posts, are all Robert College men. The Syrian Protestant College at Beirut has graduated men who, as government appointees, occupy positions of responsibility, and exert no little influence in the administration of political and judicial affairs in Syria, especially in the Mount Lebanon government. Its medical graduates, moreover, are to be found in the military and civil service in almost all sections of Asiatic Turkey, and notably under the Egyptian administration.
—James S. Dennis
in “Christian Missions and Social Progress.”
Many causes have combined, many factors are present, many influences have turned the hearts of men through that empire [Turkey]; but if we ask ourselves what the governing and final factor is which has brought about the first of the world’s bloodless revolutions, which has seen a people divided and dissevered by creed, by race, by language, by every conceivable difference which can separate the sons and daughters of men, suddenly act together—we do ill if we forget that for eighty years the American missionaries have been laying the foundations and preaching the doctrine which makes free government possible.
—Talcott Williams, LL. D.,
editor Philadelphia Press,
in an address at Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1908.
Late in 1902 a plan for administrative reform in the Adrianople, Salonica, and Monastir Provinces of European Turkey was published. These included Macedonia where disorders and atrocities had become chronic. Under this measure the valis or governors were given new powers and an inspector general was appointed reporting directly to the grand vizier. The Powers compelled the addition of a financial commission representing them, which should examine the budget of the three vilayets and recommend improvements. With the aid of three Ottoman inspectors, the commission was to supervise the provincial finances and in other ways bring relief to the untoward conditions of the inhabitants. The gendarmerie was put under a foreign officer with an Italian general in command, and much improved in efficiency.
A three per cent increase in the customs duties provided funds for securing other reforms. These, however, it must be said, existed largely upon paper. While the Powers ostensibly had some responsibility and authority in the administration of affairs in Macedonia, the sultan was able in ways so well known to himself to thwart their exercise of it while the discordant elements in Albania and Macedonia made conditions for all classes more intolerable than ever.
Again, early in 1908, the Powers gave hesitating attention to this plague-spot of Europe as one united cry of distress arose from all tongues, the Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, and Albanian alike. It is impossible to say which race was the greatest sufferer or which the freest from oppression. Practically the entire country was in a state of anarchy and there was none to deliver. On March 13, 1908, the Porte reluctantly consented to the British proposal that the mandates of foreign officials in Macedonia be renewed for a period of seven years. A budget was adopted for the support of the army, the civil list, and the railway, which threatened a deficit of nearly $4,000,000. With all these arrangements no party to the transaction was satisfied, except those European Powers that hoped, in the end, to make political capital out of Macedonia’s affliction. These entered reluctantly into agreement as did also the sultan, who saw his personal power in the three provinces gradually wane; but his former experiences made him quick to read the signs of the times.
In the meantime the army in those provinces had been reenforced. Monastir, upon the border of Albania and connected by rail with Salonica, was made an important military post. The people themselves had no faith that these measures would assure them of safety of life and property, while the representatives of the Porte were anxious to demonstrate that the scheme of the Powers was not calculated to restore and maintain order. Matters went on from intolerable to worse until plunder, robbery, brigandage and murder became daily occurrences in practically all parts of the country. These were the conditions that prevailed in Macedonia the latter part of July, 1908.