[Inclosure 2.] The Ottoman land code was promulgated on the 7th of Ramazan, 1274 (April 21, 1858), and the following is a translation of article 110 (amended): "The land of an Ottoman subject does not pass by inheritance to his heirs who are foreign subjects; and a foreign subject can not have the right to tapu (possession) in the land of an Ottoman subject." Article III reads as follows: "The land of a person who has abandoned Ottoman nationality does not pass by inheritance to his children, father, or mother who are Ottoman or foreign subjects. It became escheated forthwith, and without seeking persons entitled to the right to tapu it is put up to auction and given to the intending purchaser (highest bidder)." 66 This article has been modified several times in order to make it conform with article 55 of the land code, article 1 of the law allowing acquisition of landed property in Turkey by foreigners (7th Saffer, 1284), and articles 5 and 6 of the law of Ottoman nationality, of which articles the following is a translation: Article I of the law allowing acquisition of landed property by foreigners. Subjects of foreign governments are allowed to take advantage of the rights to possess property within or without towns in every part of the imperial dominions, with the exception of the Hedjaz lands, in the same way as Ottoman subjects and without being under any other conditions in the manner stated below on complying with the laws that govern them in this matter. Those who were originally Ottoman subjects and afterwards changed their nationality are excepted from this rule. The provision of a special law will be in force concerning them." Articles 5 and 6 of the law of nationality (Shavval 6, 1285-January 19, 1869): "ART. V. Ottoman subjects who, being authorized, enter into a foreign nationality are, from the date when they changed their nationality, considered as foreign subjects and treated as such." "ART. VI. If the Ottoman Empire should so wish, it can reject from its subjection the person who, without authorization from the Imperial Ottoman Government, changes his nationality in a foreign country, or enters into the military service of a foreign government." The text of Article III of the land code in its amended form is as follows: "The land of the person who, without obtaining official authorization, abandons his Ottoman nationality, does not pass by inheritance to his children, grandchildren, father, mother, brothers, sisters, husband, or wife who are Ottoman or foreign subjects. It becomes forthwith escheated, and without seeking for persons entitled to the right to tapu it is put up to auction and given to the intending purchaser (highest bidder). In case, however, such person has changed his nationality by obtaining official permission, his land is not escheated but remains vested in him. This, however, on condition that the government whose nationality he has acquired should have signed the protocol attached to the law allowing the acquisition by foreign subjects of landed property." No. 58.] PROPOSED INCREASE OF CUSTOMS DUTIES. (Continued from Foreign Relations, 1905, pages 876, 877.) [Extracts.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, Constantinople, October 16, 1906. SIR: With reference to the proposed increase in the Turkish customs duties from 8 to 11 per cent, of which I have had the honor to write you on various occasions, I now have to inform the department that the recent imposition of fresh conditions by the powers, relative to the use to be made of the resulting revenues has again delayed the putting into execution of this measure. The Sublime Porte has objected to certain demands advanced by the European concert, consisting of the signatory powers to the treaty of Berlin, which arrogated rights to the so-called international financial commission in Macedonia detrimental to the sovereignty of the Imperial Ottoman Government. As the conditions demanded by the European powers have to do entirely with the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire, I have not ventured to associate myself with them in any way, feeling convinced that while the Government would be highly gratified to see practical reforms introduced throughout Turkey, it would not wish to depart from its traditional policy of noninterference in the internal affairs of any European state. I am making special efforts to secure the enforcement of numerous agreements already reached with the Porte. Nor have I as yet taken advantage of the instructions the department was good enough to send me in its cable of the 13th ultimo, directing me as follows: “If you are received as an ambassador and can obtain assurance that the pending school question will be taken up and promptly disposed of with due recognition of the President's long unnoticed letter to the Sultan, you may assent to the increase of Turkish customs duties." Although I would recommend not to attach any conditions to our assent other than those contained in the department's telegraphic instructions referred to above, it would yet be desirable for me to qualify my acceptance to the increase, with the understanding that American citizens and American commerce must not be placed at any disadvantage by reason of the Government's carrying out its policy of noninterference in refusing to follow the action of European powers in interfering with the internal affairs of a European state. In so doing, I trust that my action may meet with the approval of the department, for whose further information I have the honor to append a list of the fresh conditions demanded by the European powers prior to granting their consent to the increase in customs duties. I have, etc., JOHN G. A. LEISHMAN. [Inclosure.] List of Fresh Conditions Demanded by the European Concert. I. The Porte must accept the conditions made by the embassies in their note of May 22, relating to the mining law, the organization of the customs administration, etc., the chemical analysis of imported goods, and the recently established petroleum depots, and must spend the sum of £T100,000 on the improvement of custom-house accommodation. II. The portion which falls to the share of the Government of the increase in the customs revenue due to the extra 3 per cent duty must be devoted exclusively to the financial needs of the three Macedonian vilayets. The council of the public debt must be instructed to pay the whole of this amount to the Macedonian budget, and to advance whatever further sums, not exceeding £T250,000 a year, may be necessary to meet the deficit. In case any measures taken by the Porte without the consent of the Macedonian financial commission increase the deficit beyond what can be covered by these means, the Porte must provide supplementary material guarantees sufficient to balance the budget. Further, if the financial commission, acting in accordance with article 6 of its "reglement," finds insufficient the sum set aside for the civil administration, including the gendarmerie" and the police, the Porte shall fulfill (se conformera) the demands of the commission. III. No fresh taxes, in the shape of stamp duties, etc., must henceforward be placed on the clearance if imports (opérations douanières). IV. The local authorities have hitherto ignored article 61 of the “gendarmerie reglement" giving the foreign officers the right to intervene in cases of crime. Instructions must be issued to secure the observance of this right, and the Government must take steps to provide more recruits for the "gendarmerie" and to hinder unauthorized persons from carrying arms. V. The increased duty must not be imposed until two months after the ratification by the powers of the agreement between the Porte and embassies. No. 967.] RESTRICTIONS UPON THE SALE OF THE BIBLE. (Continued from Foreign Relations, 1905, pages 898-911.) The Secretary of State to Minister Leishman. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 6, 1906. SIR: In connection with instruction No. 943 of November 24 last, I inclose herewith, for your information, a copy of a letter from the American Bible Society expressing its appreciation of the interest the department is taking in the society's work in Turkey, and pointing out obstacles that still exist in several places in Turkey to the free and unrestricted colportage of the Bible. I am, etc.. E. ROOT. [Inclosure.] Mr. Haven to the Secretary of State. NEW YORK CITY, SIR: I wish to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of November 24, with its accompanying copy of Mr. Leishman's letter to the Department of State of November 4, the letter from the Sublime Porte, ministry for foreign affairs, to Mr. Leishman under date of October 10, 1905, and his letter to Tewfik Pacha, under date of November 3, 1905, which you inform us you have commended in instructions sent to Mr. Leishman November 24, 1905. I have before me also a letter from the Department of State, under date of November 11, from Mr. Robert Bacon, Assistant Secretary of State, inclosing a copy of a letter to the Department of State from the legation in Constantinople, under date of the 9th of October, 1905. I wish to express, on the part of the board of managers of the American Bible Society, its appreciation of the interest the Department of State is taking in this matter. It is one which is most serious to the work of this society; which sets aside conventions long established; causes constant annoyance and threatens a paralysis of our work in certain parts of Turkey. Mr. Leishman's letter, under date of November 3, to Tewfik Pacha, is very much to the point, and if the position therein taken be pressed steadily upon the attention of the Sublime Porte it ought to relieve the situation. In asking for the protection of our colporteurs as they go about their legitimate business as appointed agents of the American Bible Society it is possible that the emphasis may have been placed so as to give justification to the communication of Mr. Bacon. It amounts to the same thing, however, if the request @ See Foreign Relations, 1905, p. 911. is put the other way and the American Bible Society expresses its desire that its work covered by the treaty conventions in Turkey may not be impeded. Of course I do not see any way in which the business of the American Bible Society can be protected without our colporteurs are allowed to get their books and to go about from village to village, as they have been for many decades, subject only to such arrest and surveillance as might properly occur if any one of them was an unworthy character. Our colporteurs are chosen with care and have official recognition given them by our principal representative in Constantinople, but, as I have already said, I need not dwell upon this. The important matter is that our business is in many places being brought to a standstill. We have reason to believe that the interference of local officials originates really in the central authorities in Constantinople. Our last communication from our agent, under date of November 28, 1905, informs us that the books seized at Nigde last August have not yet been surrendered. They were sent from Konia to Nev Shehir, where our agent resides. The Kaimakam of Nev Shehir refuses to give them up until our agent secures permit to sell from Konia. That is, we are not even permitted to have possession of our own property, unless we can get a local permission from petty authorities to sell the same. The agent resident at Nev Shehir was forbidden to sell until he secured a local permit. He at once applied for one. After some hesitation the local authorities referred him to Konia, the capital of the province, at least three days' journey from the place of his residence. This is intended to obstruct a perfectly legal business. Our agent at Konia also has been forbidden to sell until he secures the local permit. He applied at once for this, but was informed that the local officials did not know exactly how to prepare such a permit and they must refer to Constantinople for instructions. He is still waiting for his permit, and no one knows how long he may continue to wait. Our agent at Trebizond is still forbidden by the authorities to do our work. They refuse a local permit and will not accept the Constantinople permit sent some time ago. They represent that they have strong instructions from Constantinople to prevent his working as a traveling colporteur. It is perfectly evident from the letter to Mr. Leishman from the Sublime Porte, ministry for foreign affairs, under date of October 10, 1905, that the Turkish Government is attempting to deal evasively with this whole question of the rights of the American Bible Society. In behalf of the board of managers I beg the most earnest consideration on the part of the Department of State of these difficulties. Very truly, yours, WILLIAM INGRAHAM HAVEN, No. 1290.] Minister Leishman to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, Constantinople, February 16, 1906. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 967 of January 6, 1906, inclosing copy of a letter addressed to the department by the American Bible Society regarding colportage of the Bible in Turkey. The Sublime Porte, while admitting in principle the free and unrestricted sale of the Bible in Turkey, imposes certain regulations which interfere somewhat with the free movements of the colporteurs, who are treated upon the same basis as peddlers of other articles, who are compelled to secure a local license. Theoretically no reasonable objection could be offered against this general regulation, but in practice the law is apt to be abused by the local officials, and for this reason the legation has been endeavoring to induce the Sublime Porte to issue a general permit that would be good in all districts, but without much hope of success. One of the greatest difficulties is that the Turkish Government can make no distinction between the colporteurs of the American Bible Society who sell nothing but Bibles and colporteurs engaged by the missionaries generally who also sell other books, etc., and as the men engaged in this service are all natives, of Greek, Armenian, or Bulgarian extraction, and principally prosecute their work in the disturbed districts of Armenia and Macedonia, the Porte insists upon each colporteur securing a local license, with a view of preventing ill-disposed persons from circulating revolutionary literature, etc., under the disguise of an innocent colporteur of Bibles. The trouble complained of would probably be avoided entirely if the colporteurs were Americans or Europeans, but as the Bible Society does not find it practical to engage other than natives for this class of work, owing to the question of language, etc., more or less trouble is apt to be experienced from time to time, varying with existing political conditions. The few isolated cases mentioned by Mr. Haven are receiving the necessary attention. I have, etc., JOHN G. A. LEISHMAN. IMMUNITY FOR POSTAL MATTER MAILED BY A CONSUL. No. 1020.] The Secretary of State to Minister Leishman. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 24, 1906. SIR: Referring to your No. 1220 of December 4 last, reporting a controversy between Mr. Bergholz, the consul-general at Beirut, and the Turkish postal officials, in which he assumed the position that anything forwarded through the post by a consul, even when acting in an unofficial matter, was not subject to inquiry, I have to inform you that a full report, under date of the 29th ultimo, has been received from Mr. Bergholz, by which it is learned that the book in question was forwarded to the legation, with a statement of the circumstances under which it was attempted to be mailed. Your conjectures in regard to the possibility of its having been mailed at the instance of a third party proves happily to be erroneous. The book proves to have been a popular novel, with the title The Garden of Allah, a title in itself calculated to excite Moslem curiosity and give rise to a misconception of its import, which could easily have been allayed by the explanation that it is the name said to be given, with poetic license, by the Arabs to the Saharan Desert. No attempt seems to have been made to explain the merely ludicrous character of the mistake. The department is inclined to take your view, that circumspection should be exercised in claiming immunity for postal matter not obviously official. The department sedulously guards against needless extension of the privilege of immunity to include matter for private parties. Even had the addresses been in the United States and the book been sent hither in a dispatch bag, it would have been ame a Not printed. |