Mr. Morris to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of despatch No. 110.
Since my last despatch important changes have taken place in the imperial cabinet; Fuad Pacha has been removed from the office of grand vizier and Mehemet Ruchdi Pacha appointed his successor. Riza Pacha, formerly minister of war under Abdul Medjid, has been made minister of war. The new grand vizier has of late held the post of president of the grand council of state. He has been minister of war, as well as grand vizier on two different occasions. He is well versed in military matters, having entered the army in the ranks of the regular troops instituted by Sultan Mahmoud. He is conversant with European tongues, and is distinguished for his liberal principles and superior capacity.
These and other changes in the ministerial offices are attributed chiefly to the recent return to power of Mehemet Ali Pacha, brother-in-law of the Sultan, and formerly grand vizier and captain pacha, or minister of marine. The latter post he now holds in the cabinet. He enjoys the unlimited confidence of the Sultan, and his influence at the present time is omnipotent. He is remarkable for his energy of character, force of will, and natural strength of mind. These traits in some degree supply his deficiency in culture, which is exclusively oriental.
The recent modification of the cabinet is generally interpreted as significant of increased energy in the action of the government on international questions, [Page 246] and of the final success of certain projects to which the Sultan is strongly attached, chief among which is the proposed change in the order of succession to the imperial throne, referred to in a previous despatch. It is also suggested that, owing to the necessities of the government, the issue of paper money will again he resorted to.
Notwithstanding the inaction of the Paris conference on the Danubian principality question, the Porte seems determined on a military occupation of Roumania and the expulsion of Prince Hohenzollern. A force of over thirty thousand troops has been despatched to the Danubian frontier in addition to that previously on duty there, and Omer Pacha has been appointed commander-in-chief. The entrance of the Turkish troops into the principalities give rise to grave complications. The Porte, however, has reason to believe that the security of the capital depends on the maintenance of its suzerain authority in Roumania, and it seems determined to enforce its supremacy at all hazards. It apprehends also that the conference about to assemble at Paris may propose the annexation of some of the frontier provinces to Austria or Russia in the scheme of territorial adjustment it is likely to adopt. To all such plans it is firmly opposed, and will not peaceably consent to the surrender or loss of a single province now forming part of the Ottoman empire. The Viceroy of Egypt has pledged to his sovereign all the military and naval resources which he possesses for the maintenance of the integrity of the empire, and already eight thousand of the Egyptian contingent has arrived. They will be followed in a few days by a much larger number of soldiers. The whole naval force of Egypt is also placed at the disposal of the Sultan.
The empire is in a critical state. Discontent prevails generally in the interior; the finances are in a sadly disordered condition; the treasury has not for many years been at such a low ebb as it now is. The extraordinary expenses to which the Porte is now subjected by the military movements on foot increase the financial difficulties, and oblige the government to suspend the payment of the army and navy and civil employes. With its credit shattered abroad, and its resources crippled at home, it is not in a condition to successfully sustain the burdens of domestic or foreign war—a fact of which its enemies are fully cognizant, and of which they seem disposed to take advantage.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.