Moreover, Americans never give relief which they cannot themselves administer. Maybe the implied affront to Turkish competency is unintentional, but Kiazim Kara Békir Pasha (who looks after five hundred orphans without a penny from the State, and has established many “professional” schools) has a right to resent it. His compatriots are often tempted to exclaim, “Keep your dollars,” for American charities are always administered with a business manner that scarcely conciliates the recipient; and one must wonder, for example, how the Armenian priest can provide for his flock of seventy on four hundred liras (3,000 francs) a month. They do not evangelise with much tact, and Turkey can hardly be expected not to sense the Armenian behind the missionary. Nevertheless, America has done a great deal for education, and one sincerely hopes that her colleges will keep out of propaganda. Every Turk will acknowledge the supreme value of the institutions that have produced brilliant pupils like Halidé Edib Hanoum, and they will know very well how much the women of Turkey can gain from them, _not_ to be gained from their own system of education. I admire Turkish women very much, and have enjoyed their company in their own homes, but I am none the less ready to honour the work of their American teachers that has already given them so splendid a start towards real progress and complete freedom. One must not forget the Imperial Ottoman Bank, now destined, by decree of the Assembly, to become the Bank of Turkey. The fact will, I hope, be freely advertised, so that all over Anatolia its origin may not be forgotten, whilst its increased power becomes well known, and the people may learn to regard it as what the French call a real _Maison du bon Dieu_. Already to-day, even in remote places like Angora, you can “inquire within for everything” at its well-organised branches. Whether with or without directions from headquarters, the Bank of Angora is always ready to supplement one’s stores, and supply extra beds or special information, and any traveller in the heart of Asia Minor will know the value of such little courtesies! Of course, its financial backing of Anglo-French capital forms the surest possible passport for universal confidence. We may hope, too, that its official position in the State may soon have the indirect result of diminishing our foolish jealousies of French influence. France asks, and deserves, some gratitude for her courage in admitting the error of her ways at Sèvres, but she has no ambition to undermine British interests. Turkey needs capital, and American help involves interference from men too far away for understanding. Anglo-French capital, the more the better, means good terms in the East between us, and real friendship towards Turkey, for “where their treasure is, there is the heart also.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XXIV