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Persia and Trans-Caucasia (Russia), the chief stronghold near the Russian frontier being Erzeroum.

The boundary between the Aden British Protectorate and the Turkish province of Yemen has recently been delimitated.

II. ARMY.

In Turkey all Mussulmans over 20 years of age are liable to military service, and this liability continues for 20 years. Non-Mahometans are not liable, but pay an exemption tax of about six shillings per head, levied on males of all ages. Nomad Arabs, though liable, furnish no recruits, and many nomad Kurds evade service. The army consists of (1) the Nizam, or Regular Army, and its reserves; (2) the Redif or Landwehr; and (3) the Mustahfuz or Landsturm. Conscripts are divided into the first and second levies. The former serve 9 years in the Nizam-3 with the colours and 6 in the reserve; 9 years in the Redif; and 2 years in the Mustahfuz; 20 years in all. Those not drawn for the contingent form what is called the Tertib Sani constitute part of the reserve, undergoing from 6 to 9 months' drill in the first year of service, and 30 days' drill at their homes in subsequent years. muinsiz or those exempt for various family reasons are organised into battalions formerly called Ilave or supplementary but now Second Class Redif. They receive one month's training in the year, and in European Turkey are organised into Divisions and Brigades like the oeher Redif.

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The whole empire is divided into 7 army administrative districts or ordus, with which are associated 7 corps d'armée, with their headquarters respectively at:-1, Constantinople; 2, Adrianople; 3, Monastir; 4, Erzinjan; 5, Damascus; 6, Baghdad; 7, Sanaa (the Yemen), with the independent divisions of the Hejaz and Tripoli in Barbary. The troops of the 7th ordu district are recruited chiefly from the 4th and 5th districts, while the garrisons of Tripoli are recruited from the ist, 2nd, and 5th districts.

The Nizam infantry is organised in companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions. It contains 80 regiments of the line, each with 4 battalions; 2 regiments of Zouaves of 2 battalions each; 1 regiment of firemen of 4 battalions; and 20 battalions of rifles. Each battalion of the line, Zouaves and rifles, consists of 4 companies. Two line regiments form a brigade, 2 brigades and a rifle battalion form an infantry division, and 2 divisions form an ordu. Each line and rifle battalion, on a war footing, has 24 officers, 62 non-commissioned officers, and 836 men, the total being 922 men of all ranks, with 51 horses. The peace strength varies from 250 to 550, according to the locality. The total war establishment of a regiment of 4 battalions is 3,764 men of all ranks, with 207 horses. The infantry are armed with Mauser rifles; the first three ordu have received the small bore weapon (7 65 mm.); the fourth and sixth, the large bore (9.5 mm.). About 450,000 rifles have been distributed, 250,000 remain in the depôts in Constantinople, and it is proposed to purchase 222,000 more.

The Redif is organised in 4 Divisions of 16 battalions each in the first five ordus. Each Division has 2 brigades of 2 regiments of 4 battalions. The Second Class Redif in Europe are organised in a similar manner, 23 Divisions in the Second Corps, and 7 in the Third Corps. In Asiatic Turkey the higher organisation is only on paper, and only battalions have been formed. There are 374 First Class Redif, and 664 Second Class Redif battalions in the army.

The Nizam cavalry consists of 38 regiments of the line, 2 regiments of the guard, and two special Hamidie hussar regiments at Adrianople with some squadrons of mounted infantry employed near Aleppo, Baghdad, Nejd and Yemen; 4 Redif regiments of cavalry of 4 squadrons each have been organised in the first ordus. The line and guard regiments each consist of 5 squadrons. The guard regiments are quartered at Constantinople, and belong to the first ordu. Of the line regiments, 36 are formed into 6 cavalry divisions, one to each ordu, and 2 other regiments belong to the garrison at Tripoli. There are thus 203 squadrons of cavalry. The war establishment of a regiment consists of 32 officers and 745 men, 777 in all. Each regiment has 760 horses. In the fourth and fifth ordu districts 63 regiments of militia or Hamidie cavalry, commanded by tribal leaders, and associated with the regular army have been formed. The tribes find the men, horses, and equipment, and the Government the armament. Each regiment has from 400 to 800 men in from 4 to 6 squadrons.

The field artillery was reorganised in 1891, and quick-firing batteries of the modern Krupp system added in 1904. Each of the first 5 ordus have one battalion with 3 batteries of horse artillery, and six regiments of field and mountain artillery, comprising 30 batteries of field and 6 batteries of mountain artillery, each battery having, on war footing, 6 guns. Each of these groups of 6 regiments will form 3 brigades of which one will be attached to the Nizam, another to each of the 2 Redif Divisions of their respective ordus. The sixth ordu has two regiments of artillery with, altogether, 12 field and 2 mountain batteries. The seventh ordu has 3 field and 4 mountain batteries. Tripoli has 4 field and 2 mountain batteries. Turkey has, in all, 18 batteries of horse artillery, 194 field, 51 mountain and 12 howitzer batteries with a total of 1,650 guns. To the first ordu there are two ammunition trains, to the other five only one. The transport consists generally of pack animals. On a war footing, the establishment of a field battery consists of about 120 officers and men with 90 horses. Of fortress artillery there are 38 battalions, of which 18 belong to the ordus, located chiefly at Constantinople and Erzeroum, and 20 to the Ordnance Department. Of these, 12 companies are in the Bosphorus batteries, 8 in the Bulair lines, and the remainder in Mediterranean fortresses.

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There are 19 engineer companies (pioneers), and telegraph companies distributed among the 7 ordus, the first and second ordu having, besides, a pontoon train. There are also 12 engineer companies and 4 torpedo companies belonging to the Ordnance Department. The train service, so far as it exists, consists of 13 companies. The supply service is almost entirely staff; extraneous transport would be required for commissariat supplies. inedical service consists only of medical officers and apothecaries; there are no bearers nor cadres for field hospitals. There are 117 battalions of gendarmerie, a military organisation under civil control in time of peace. The following is a summary of the effective war strength of the Turkish Army:

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Besides, there are a certain number of unorganised troops of the Mustahfuz

or Territorial Army.

III. NAVY.

A reorganisation of the Turkish fleet has taken place within the last three years, and two new vessels have been constructed at Elswick and Philadelphia. There are protected cruisers of 3,250 tons, carrying two 6-inch and seven 4.7-inch guns with 2-inch armour decks. The designed speed is 22 knots. The old cruiser Messoudie has been thoroughly reconstructed in Italy. She now carries two 9.2-inch, twelve 6-inch, and ten 14-pounders, and on trial exceeded 17 knots speed. Three other cruisers have been reconstructed by an Italian firm working in the Government Dockyard on the Golden Horn, and have similar armament. Thus the modern navy consists of 6 cruisers of about 3,200 tons. There are old iron

clads in the fleet, but none of them have any fighting value.

There are two torpedo-gunboats, launched in 1890, and four large torpedoboats, of which two are quite modern. There are also 21 old boats of no present utility.

For the navy of Turkey the crews are raised in the same manner as the land forces, partly by conscription, and partly by voluntary enlistment. The time of service in the navy is twelve years, five in active service, three in the reserve, and four in the Redif. The nominal strength of the navy is 6 viceadmirals, 11 rear-admirals, 208 captains, 289 commanders, 228 lieutenants, 187 ensigns, and 30,000 sailors, besides about 9,000 marines.

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Production and Industry.

Land in Turkey is held under four different forms of tenure-namely, 1st, as Miri,' or Crown lands; 2nd, as 'Vacouf,' or pious foundations; 3rd, as 'Mulikaneh,' or Crown grants; and 4th, as 'Mülk,' or freehold property. The first description, the 'mìri,' or Crown lands, which form the largest portion of the territory of the Sultan, are held direct from the Crown. The Government grants the right to cultivate an unoccupied tract on the payment of certain fees, but continues to exercise the rights of seigniory over the land in question, as is implied in the condition that if the owner neglects to cultivate it for a period of three years it is forfeited to the Crown. The second form of tenure, the Vakuf,' was instituted originally to provide for the religion of the State and the education of the people, by the erection of mosques and schools; but this object has been set aside, or neglected, for several generations, and the Vakuf' lands have mostly been seized by Government officials. The third class of landed property, the 'mulikaneh, was granted to the spahis, the old feudal troops, in recompense for the military service required of them, and is hereditary, and exempt from tithes. The fourth form of tenure, the 'mülk,' or freehold property, does not exist to a great extent. Some house property in the towns, and of the land in the neighbourhood of villages, is 'mülk,' which the peasants purchase from time to time from the Government.

Only a small proportion of arable land is under cultivation, owing principally to the want of roads and means of conveyance, which preclude the possibility of remunerative exportation.

The system of levying a tithe on all produce leaves no inducement to the farmer to grow more than is required for his own use, or in his immediate proximity. The agricultural development of the country is further crippled by custom dues for the exportation of produce from one province to another. The system of agriculture is most primitive. The soil for the most part is

very fertile; the principal products are tobacco, cereals of all kinds, cotton, figs, nuts, almonds, grapes, olives, all varieties of fruits. Coffee, madder, opium, gums are largely exported. The opium production in 1900 amounted to about 7,500 chests, or 105,800 lbs. The forest laws of the empire are based on those of France, but restrictive regulations are not enforced, and the country is being rapidly deprived of its timber. About 21 million acres are under forest, of which 3 million acres are in European Turkey. The forests consists of pine, fir, larch, oak, cedar and other timber trees. In 1903-04 there were in Turkey 132,304 vine-growers, and 96,755,915 kilogrammes of wine were produced. In the same year there were 158,556 distillers who produced 12,551,631 kilos. of spirits. In the provinces of Brussa and Ismid the production of cocoons in 1903 was 7,434,490 (value 104,508,038 piastres). In 1903-04, 304,989 ounces of silkworms' eggs were exported to foreign countries. The production of oil of roses was in 1901, 550,000 metikal (or about 2,642 kilogrammes). Turkey there is a Government agricultural bank, with 868 agencies, for assisting farmers usually on the security of real property. The capital, amounting to 2,629,6007. sterling, is supplied by a light tax on agricultural property During the year 1898-99 loans of about 67. on the average were made to 90,536 farmers; on March 31, 1899, the amount actually on loan was 2,208,7007.

In

The Turkish provinces, especially those in Asia, are rich in minerals which are little worked. In 1898 there were 84 mines in operation, but the number has now considerably increased. Chrome (about 15,000 metric tons annually) is found in Kutaia; silver-lead ore (20,000 tons) near Ismid and other places within Brussa-Khodavendikiar, in the Cilician Taurus and in Sivas; zinc (5,000 tons) at Karasu on the Black Sea and in Aidin; manganese ore (45,000 tons) at Salonica, in Konia and Aidin; antimony ore (200 tons) at Brussa; copper ore (1,500 tons) in the Armenian Taurus, at Tereboli, near Trebizond, at Arghana Maden near Diarbekr, said to be one of the largest and most productive mines in the world, and in the Xanthi district on the Dedeagatch-Salonica railway; borax (18,000 tons) at Panderma; meerschaum (150 tons) at Eskishehr; argentiferous pyrites, at Salonica; emery at Smyrna, in Aidin, Konia, Adana, and the Archipelago; asphalt, at Vanina, in Syria, and on the Euphrates; coal and lignite (400,000 tons annually) at Heraclea on the Black Sea; petroleum in the Middle Tigris valley and various isolated places in Asia Minor, also on the north coast of the Sea of Marmora. Both gold and silver are found in the Smyrna sanjak; mercury near Smyrna; kaolin in the island of Rhodes; arsenic in Aidin; iron in Aidin, Konia, and Adana. Many of these minerals are scarcely worked. Of about 160 mining concessions in 1902 only about 60 were in actual operation. Brussa quarries of lithographic stone are now extensively worked. A royalty of 5 to 15 per cent. is paid on all minerals exported. There is a good deal of brass-turning and beating of copper into utensils for household purposes. Concessions have also been granted for glass manufactories, paper mills, and textile looms. At Damascus about 5,000 hand-looms and 10,000 workmen are employed in weaving silk, cotton, and woollen fabrics. Carpets, which constitute a considerable article of export, are made on hand-looms, The fisheries of Turkey are important; the fisheries of the Bosphorus alone represent a value of upwards of 250,0007. The coast of the Mediterranean produces excellent sponges, the Red Sea mother-ofpearl, and the Persian Gulf pearls.

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Commerce.

All articles of import into Turkey are taxed 8 per cent. ad valorem, except tobacco and salt, which are monopolies; there is also an export duty of 1 per cent. on native produce, except cereals, sent abroad, but of 8 per cent. if sent from one part of the empire to another. In the year 1899-1900 the import duties amounted to £T1,788,026, and the export duties to £T142,665; total, £T1,930,692. In 1675 the commercial privileges granted under Capitulations to several foreign nations were extended to the English, and in 1809 these were confirmed by treaty. The total trade of Turkey for six years has been as follows (£T1 of 100 piastres 18 shillings, or £T10 91., or 10l. = £T11):

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The following has been the value of the trade for two years (March 13 to March 12) according to countries:

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Total

2,662,125,255 2,449,653,793 1,342,543,956 1,559,140,616

Tobacco imported and exported is not included in these tables; in the year 1899-1900 the imports comprised 4,937,542 cigars, valued at 318,933 piastres; 3,367 kilogrammes of tobacco (17,308 piastres); 9,935 kilo

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