Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1430

 1308 TURKEY AND TRIBUTARY STATES

supplemented and modified by that of September 1, 1903, A Council of Administration at Constantinople was appointed, and to it were handed over for distribution among the bondholders the funds derived from the excise duties, from the Bulgarian, Eastern Rumelian, and Cyprus tribute, and from the tax on Persian tobacco. The net revenue in 1911-12 available for the service of the debt was £T4, 126,598, compared with £T4, 066,312 in 1910-11. 'i

The condition of the Turkish debt was as follows on March 14, 1912 :—

£T Secured on Egyptian tribute. , . . 17,342,990 Secured on administered revenues. ., 85,174,931 Various loans 24,062,808

Total 126,580,729 ;.

The following loans have been authorised by the Government but had not' been issued up to the end of 1912 :— Four per cent, loan of 1910 from Germans and Austrian banks (second portion, for £T3,960,000) ; Four per cent, loan of 1911 from Baiique Francaise, for £T2, 500,000 ; and Four per cent, loan of 1912 from the Ottoman Bank, for £T10,000,320, Total, £Tl6,460,320.

Defence.

I. Fortresses.

The principal fortress in European Turkey is the entrenched camp of: Adrianople. Constantinople is defended by the lines of Chekmedje. Thei Bosphorus and Dardanelles are strongly fortified, although the guns are out of: date. Salonika and Smyrna are defended by batteries. Erzerum, in Armenia, t is an entrenched camp.

II, Army,

Until recently military service had been theoretically compulsory on all Moslems, but Christians had not been allowed to serve. As the Christians ini European Turkey exceed in number the Moslems (by 3,500,000 to 2,500,000),' and there are also nearly 3^ millions of Christians in Turkey in Asia, this religious distinction has cramped the Ottoman Empire in the development of; its military strength. Further, compulsory service cannot be enforced ini Arabia, while the Kurdish and Arab tribes in Asia Minor are exempt ; so- also is the district of Constantinople and that of Skodra (Skntari), in Albania.: The burden of defence has therefore fallen on about 11 million Moslems out of a total population of about 25 millions of all creeds and races, ^, J

Under the new regime, the advisability of incorporating Christiafis in thffl army has been recognized, and in August, 1909, a decree was promulgated extending the obligation of military service to non-Musulmans ; but thei practical difficulty of fully reforming the recruiting law has been found very considerable.

Liability commences at the age of 20 and lasts for 20 years. Service in the first line, or active army, called the Nizam, is for 9 years, viz. :— in the case of the infantry, 3 in the ranks and 6 in the reserve; for cavalry and artillery, 4 in the ranks and 5 in the reserve ; but in practice the men are often kept for longer periods with the colours. The soldier next passes to the Eedif, or second line, and remains in it for another 9 years. Finally he completes his service with 2 years in the Iluftafiz. The reservists are