Turkey; the Awakening of Turkey; the Turkish Revolution of 1908Knight, E. F. (Edward Frederick)
History
Turkey; the Awakening of Turkey; the Turkish Revolution of 1908
Knight, E. F. (Edward Frederick)
Eastern question (Balkan); Turkey -- History -- 1878-1909; Turkey -- Politics and government -- 1878-1909
But Turkey cannot maintain a great army without money, and money
she can only obtain by developing her vast mineral and agricultural
resources with foreign capital. Under the old _régime_, Court intrigue
made all industrial enterprise precarious, and foreign capitalists
were chary of ventures in a country where rights of property were so
insecure. But by means of the good government which the Young Turks are
introducing they hope to gain the confidence of foreign investors. They
realise that, to quote from a Constantinople paper, “Turkey cannot have
reform without money or money without reform; foreign capital she must
have in order to carry out the reforms, and foreign capital will not
come in until there is a satisfactory assurance that the reforms will
be carried out, that the money provided will be spent properly and not
be stolen and wasted as it was under the old _régime_.”
The programme of the more necessary reforms was set forth with
some detail by the press of the Young Turk party during its
electioneering campaign, and the abolition of the old corrupt system of
administration, whereby bribery and _bakshish_ had to supplement the
inadequate pay—often years in arrears—of the servants of the State, was
of course insisted upon. The following are among the more important of
the projects recommended by the Young Turk party: (1) The construction
of many thousands of miles of roads to open out the country; at the
present time some of the railway lines are of very little service,
as roads to bring to them the produce of the neighbouring country
at moderate cost are wanting. (2) The construction of four thousand
kilometres of railway; certain railways are urgently needed if
the enormous mineral wealth of the country is to be developed by
foreign capital; the difficulties of transport now prohibit mining
enterprise in most richly mineralised districts. (3) The bringing under
cultivation again of the formerly productive arable districts in the
Vilayets of Salonica, Smyrna, etc. (4) The construction of commercial
ports at Dedeaghatch, Samsoun, Mersina, etc. (5) The construction of
irrigation works in Mesopotamia and elsewhere; there are thousands of
square miles of uncultivated land in Turkey only awaiting irrigation to
make them exceedingly productive. (6) The engaging of French engineers
to make navigable waterways of the Vardar, Maritza, Boyana, and
Kizil-Irmak. (7) The foundation of an engineering college, coupled with
a scheme for sending students who have gained diplomas to Europe to
gain practical knowledge. (8) The formation of navigation, commercial,
and industrial companies, with the object of forwarding the prosperity
of the country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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