Page:Turkey, the great powers, and the Bagdad Railway.djvu/116

 *ing to 54,000,000 francs. With comparatively little difficulty the German share of the loan was subscribed, but the allotment of the Imperial Ottoman Bank and its associates was not so easily disposed of, because of the decision of the French Government to exclude the Bagdad Railway Bonds from the Bourse. Nevertheless, the entire loan was successfully underwritten, and by November, 1903, preparations had been completed for the construction of the line from Konia to Bulgurlu, a distance of 200 kilometres.[7]

Building of the railway went forward with great rapidity, and the rails reached Bulgurlu by early autumn, 1904. On October 25, the Sultan's birthday, this first section of the Bagdad Railway was opened to traffic with pompous ceremonies. And well might the concessionaires have celebrated! Not only had they passed the first mile-*stone of their great task, but they had made a comfortable profit on their operations. By numerous economies the Bagdad Railway Company had saved 3,697,000 francs of the 54,000,000 francs allowed by the Ottoman Government to defray the costs of construction. The commissions of the bankers in underwriting the bond issue, it was said, raised the total profit on the first section of the railway—before a single train had been operated—to about 6,000,000 francs.[8] This surplus, however, was not all available for distribution among the concessionaires. A reserve fund of almost 4,000,000 francs was established to provide for the subsequent construction of the costly sections across the Taurus and Amanus mountains. The promoters had to be reimbursed for preliminary expenditures, such as the expensive surveying of the entire line from Konia to the Persian Gulf. Included in these "out of pocket" payments was a large item for backshish—gratuities to Ottoman dignitaries. "Nobody," said Dr. von Gwinner, "having done business in Turkey ignores the fact that backshish