Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 3, 1877
No. 321.
Mr. Maynard to Mr. Evarts.
Constantinople , April 7, 1877. (Received May 14.)
Sir: The new constitution for Turkey proclaimed the 23d of December last (see my dispatch, No. 113, dated December 26, 1876), has made such progress that the General Assembly, a legislative body contemplated by it, has convened and commenced deliberations.
The opening was announced for the 19th of March by an invitation from the Sublime Porte, of which a copy is inclosed. As a spectacle the ceremony was grand. The palace stands on the European shore of the Bosporus, just opposite the Seraglio, and is the same occupied by the late Abdul Aziz and Murad V. The hall of the throne is lofty and very rich in its architecture, and capable of holding on the floor at least one thousand persons. On this occasion there were five hundred or more present, two hundred of whom probably were soldiers of the imperial guard.
In front of the throne stood the members of the two houses, the Senate on the right and the Delegates on the left, strips of carpets laid on the polished floor for the accommodation. At the right were ranged the grand vizier and the ministers; at the left the Sheikh-ul-Islam and the Ulemas, or doctors of theology and law. All present were in high costume, except the delegates, the chosen of the people, who wore the ordinary dress.
The Sultan entered by a side door, bearing his address in manuscript, which, after mutual salaams, he delivered to the grand vizier, who gave it to an under-secretary to be read. During the reading, which occupied perhaps thirty minutes, the Sultan and all present remained standing. At the close, the Sultan retired with renewed salaams, and the assembly dissolved. The address was translated officially from the Turkish into the French and published. I inclose a copy with an English version; also some articles from the press, descriptive of the affair.
The senators are appointed by the Sultan, and for life; their number not to exceed one-third the number of deputies. The number at present is thirty-two, twenty-four mussulmans and eight non-mussulmans. The deputies number one hundred and four. The president of the deputies, appointed by the Sultan, is Ahmed Vefik Pasha, reputed to be the most learned of the Osmanlis. (See the imperial hatt, inclosed with my [Page 563] dispatch No. 130, dated February 10, 1877.) By article 53 of the constitution, all bills must originate with the ministry. The inclosed extract from one of the journals gives a list of those already contemplated and various other information pertinent to this novel organization. Up to this time the deliberations of the two houses have been chiefly directed to a. reply to the address from the throne, which, though completed and presented to His Majesty the Sultan, has not, I think, been published.
To-day I have attended for the first time the session of the House of Deputies. The Turkish is the official language, and, as I was unaccompanied by a dragoman, the proceedings were unintelligible. Decorum and order prevailed and strict attention was observed. The discussions were marked by brevity and apparent point. The arrangements for the accommodation of the members are analogous to those of the old hall of our House of Representatives. Such a body is a great innovation upon the traditionary usages of this government. I shall watch the experiment with great interest. I have not yet attended the sessions of the senate.
I have, &c.,
Note of invitation from the ministry of foreign affairs to the United States legation.
March 18, 1877.
The minister of foreign affairs has the honor to inform the minister resident of the United States of America that His Imperial Majesty the Sultan will open the chambers to-morrow, Monday, at seven o’clock, Turkish time, in the hall of the throne at the palace of Dolma-Baghtché.
Reserved places are put at the disposal of the heads of missions who desire to witness, in full dress, this ceremony, with their first secretaries and first dragomans.
Address of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, at the opening of the first session of the Ottman Parliament, the 4th of Rebi-ul-ewel, 1294, 7, (19) March, 1877.
Senators and Deputies: It is with the greatest satisfaction that I open the Parliament of my empire, which meets to-day for the first time. You all know that the development of the greatness and strength of states, as well as of people, depends upon justice. My imperial government has derived, from the beginning, its strength and influence in the world from the regard it has shown to justice, both in the administration of the state and the rights and interests of all classes of its subjects.
One of my ancestors, Sultan Mehnud, the Conqueror, of glorious memory, granted certain immunities to secure individual liberty, the freedom of conscience and worship. Following his example, my august predecessor never permitted any restraint to be placed upon the freedom of conscience and worship. It is indisputable that it is by a nafcu3$ff consequence of this same principle of high justice that our different populations could preserve for six centuries their national character their language, and their religion.
It is by favor of the respect which then surrounded justice and the application of the laws that the wealth and prosperity of the state and of the nation had received so remarkable a development; but at length the provisions of the shéri and the established laws being no longer observed, the course of progress abated and the first strength turned into weakness.
But my grandfather, Sultan Mahmoud, of happy memory, having dispelled the disorder, the real cause of the weakness with which the state was afflicted for a long time, and averted the crisis provoked by the revolt of the janissaries, delivered the [Page 564] state and the nation from the bonds which hindered their scope, and he first opened the way to the introduction into our country of the civilization of modern Europe.
My illustrious father, the late Sultan Abdul-Medjid, following this noble example, promulgated the Tanzimat, which guarantees the life, the property, and the honor of our subjects. Since then the commercial and agricultural resources of our empire have developed, the revenues of the state have in a little time considerably increased, laws and regulations have been elaborated to favor the ameliorations, and finally the introduction into arts and sciences has acquired a remarkable extension.
The first attempts at reforms and internal security of the state were leading to the hope of a future of progress and prosperity for the empire; but unhappily the Crimean war broke out and arrested the efforts which were tending toward the amelioration of the condition of the empire and its inhabitants. Until then our imperial treasury had never contracted a foreign debt, but in view of the impossibility of meeting the urgent expenses of the war from our own revenues, it was necessary to resort to foreign loans. It is in this manner that the way to loans has been opened. It is true that the great allied powers, recognizing the justice of our cause, tendered us a complete and efficacious concurrence which will be accounted a grand page in the annals of history, and thanks to which a treaty of peace has been concluded which places the integrity and independence of our empire under the guarantee of the European powers. It was then permitted to believe that that place would assure in the future the time and means of re-establishing our internal affairs, of making the country surely enter upon the road of progress.
Unhappily, the events which succeeded brought about a result the reverse of that which would be expected; intrigues and blameworthy excitements, by creating successive internal embarrassments, not only have prevented us from devoting ourselves to the reorganization and reform of the state, but also have placed us under the necessity of each year mobilizing extraordinary army corps, and of keeping in active service an important part of the valid population of the country. The development of our commerce and agriculture has been trammeled. In spite of so many difficulties and hinderances the moral and material progress, however, has not stopped. The constant increase of the revenues of the state for twenty years is a proof of the improvement which has not ceased to operate in the condition of the country and the welfare of the populations.
Although our present troubles proceed from the circumstances which have just been enumerated, still it would have been possible to sensibly diminish their import, and to preserve the credit of the state, if, in the administration of the finances, the principles of a rigid honesty had been maintained. But the measures which were taken at that time, with a view, apparently, to improve the finances, could only augment the gravity of the situation for the moment, as, without regarding the future, the only care was to procure momentary relief.
The continuance of these difficulties, added to the necessity of providing ourselves with new war material and an iron-clad fleet, which have become the principal elements of the military power of states, and besides the non-observance of the rules of economy which ought to regulate the budget of receipts and expenses, have gradually introduced disorder in our finances, have increased our debts, and finally have brought us to the state of extreme embarrassment in which we find ourselves to-day.
Meanwhile, under the influence of intrigues and subversive practices, there were brought forth in the Herzegovina events which speedily assumed most considerable proportions.
Hostilities with Servia and Montenegro suddenly broke out, and serious complications arose in the political world. It is at the moment When this crisis attained its greatest intensity that, by the will of the Most High, I have been called to occupy the throne of my august ancestors.
The difficulties and dangers which our general situation presents cannot be compared to any other crisis my empire has sustained up to this time. I have been Obliged, in the first place, in order to guard the rights of the empire, to increase the effective force of my armies at different points, and to call to arms 700;000 combtants. Then I considered it my duty to search for the means of a fundamental reform, to put an end, with the aid of God, to the disorder of the situation, and also to so guarantee our future in a permanent manner.
It is evident, by reason of the resources which Providence has given to our country, and of the aptitude of my subjects, that a good administration would permit us in a little time to make considerable, progress. If we have not reached the level of the progress of the civilized world, we should look for the cause in the instability of the institutions necessary to the state, and in the laws and regulations Which result from it, which instability proceeded wholly from the fact that it was the work of an absolute government, which disowned the salutary principle of common deliberation.
The progress obtained by civilized states, the security and the prosperity they enjoy, are the fruit of the participation of all in the establishment of laws and in administration of public affairs. I thought it necessary to seek for us also in this manner the [Page 565] means of attaining progress by giving the general suffrage of the country for a base to our system of legislation, and it is to this end that I have promulgated the constitution.
By the creation of these new institutions, my object has been hot so much to invite the populations to assist in the general conduct of affairs as to make these institutions serve as a powerful instrument for reform in the administration, and for the uprooting of abuses and arbitrary practices.
Independently of the advantages inherent in it, the constitution is intended to lay the foundations of fraternity and union among my people, and to open also the way to prosperity to be equally shared by all.
My illustrious ancestors won great victories which united under their scepter the various populations which inhabit this vast empire. It remained, however, to rally the people, so different in their creeds and nationalities, under a law unique in the sentiment of a like existence. Divine Providence, in its inexhaustible bounty, has willed that this, work should be accomplished.
Hereafter ail my subjects, having become children of the same country, and being under the tutelary protection of one law, will be called by one name, that name so loftily borne by my ancestors for six hundred years, and which has left so many recollections of glory and grandeur in the annals of history. The Ottoman name, until the present time personifying the idea of force and power, will, I am convinced, symbolize in the future the maintenance in a single bond of the interests, henceforth identical, of all my subjects.
By inspiring myself with these principles and intentions, I have marked out the way in which I am resolved to persevere. I now expect, with your efficient and intelligent assistance, to receive from a constitution founded upon justice the results for which it is proper to hope.
I have concluded that it was of prime importance, in order to secure the liberty and equality of my subjects, to put an end to arbitrary rule; to place the enactment and the application of the laws and the conduct of affairs under the control of the will of the country, and, in short, to the rules of our administrative system to join the constitutional and deliberative principle.
In order to realize my most cherished wishes on this subject, I have determined our the meeting of a parliament, made up of a senate and house of deputies.
It is incumbent upon you at the present time to faithfully and righteously perform the legislative duties intrusted to your patriotism. In this task you should not allow yourselves to be influenced by any personal consideration, and in the faithful execution of your labors you should not have in view anything but the safety and well-being of the state and of the country. The improvements needed to-day and the administrative reforms expected from every side are of the highest importance. The gradual application of these measures depends upon the harmony which will prevail among you. On the other hand, the council of state is occupied with elaborating projects of law which will be submitted to you.
During the present session your attention will be occupied with the-scheme for the internal regulation of the chamber, the electoral law, the general law relating to the vilayets and the communal administration, the municipal law, the code of civil procedure, the laws relating to the reorganization of the tribunals, to the manner of promoting and pensioning judges, to the functions, and the right to pensions, of all public servants in general, with the law of the press, with the exchequer, and finally with the law on the budget. I especially desire that these different laws should be successively studied, discussed, and deliberated.
You will be urgently occupied with the reorganization of the tribunals, the only safeguard of individual rights, and the formation of a corps of gendarmery. This twofold object can only be attained by the increase of the amount of the special allowance.
Then, as you will perceive by the budget submitted to the chamber, our finances are in an extremely embarrassing condition.
I suggest that you apply yourselves first of all to the adoption in common of measures suitable for warding off the difficulty of the situation, and for re-establishing the state credit, always careful at the same time to take measures proper to secure the funds required by the urgent reforms.
One of the greatest needs of my empire and of my subjects is the development of agriculture and industry. This result, so indispensable to the progress of civilization and the increase of wealth, is closely united to the development of science and public instruction.
Schemes of law, having in view the improvement of scholastic institutions and the adoption of a fixed course of study, will be submitted to you at your next session.
As to what regards the proper application of the before-mentioned laws, as well as those which it will be necessary to provide later, the utmost importance should attach to the choice of State officials. My ministers will devote the greatest care, and at the same time will personally superintend the putting into effect, of the system of rewards and encouragements that the constitution has established in favor of worthy employés.
[Page 566]Since the day of my accession, penetrated with this truth, I have decided to found, at my own expense, a school destined in future to furnish the personnel of the general administration. Also, as it is said in the regulations of that school, the pupils coming from this establishment may aspire to the highest administrative and diplomatic positions, and their number will be recruited without distinction of creed from among all classes of my subjects, and their promotion will depend upon their attainments.
During two years we have had to face internal complications. In this period notably in the strife with Servia and Montenegro, my faithful subjects have given proofs of patriotism, and my troops, at the cost of great suffering, have accomplished feats of courage and valor that I highly appreciate.
In all these events, we have had nothing in view except the defense of our rights. The efforts we have put forth in this regard have resulted in the re-establishment of peace with Servia. The provisions to be adopted by reason of the negotiations undertaken with Montenegro will be submitted for your examination at your first meeting, and I strongly recommend you to hasten your deliberations on this subject.
My relations with foreign powers are always impressed with that amity and deference which constitute a most precious tradition for my empire.
Her British Majesty’s Government having proposed some months ago to gather a conference in my capital, and the other powers having supported the proposed basis, my Sublime Porte joined this conference. If the meeting did not come to a final understanding, we have none the less shown a desire to take precedence in the application of the wishes and counsels of the powers, provided they are in conformity with the treaties, the rules of international law, the imperious necessities of our situation, and our rights. The causes of this non-agreement are to be found rather in the form and the process of application than in the question itself.
I highly appreciate the imperious necessity of carrying to a still higher degree of perfection the progress already so considerably realized, from the origination of the Tanzimat until to-day, in all branches of the administration, and in the general situation of my empire. All my efforts will be consecrated to this endeavor. However, I consider it one of my chiefest duties to see to it that no prejudice of whatever character should be wrought to the dignity and independence of my empire. Time will demonstrate to all the loyalty and purity of my intentions.
My purpose being to persevere in the maintenance and defense of our rights and in dependence, I shall in no case be-diverted from it in my subsequent acts.
Both before and after the conference my government has constantly, given proofs of its sincerity and moderation, which I am pleased to think will contribute to strengthen more and more the bonds of friendship and sympathy which unite us to the great European family.
May the Omnipotent deign to accord success to our common endeavors.
Articles from the press descriptive of the opening of the General Assembly.
opening of the imperial ottoman parliament.—the sultan’s speech.
Yesterday afternoon the Sultan received, at the palace of Dolma-Baghtché, the members of the Turkish Parliament, assembled ii Constantinople for the legislative session, which opens to-day.
The ceremony was held in the great reception-hall of the palace, at one end of which was placed the golden throne of the Sultan. On either side of the hall were laid strips of rich carpet to mark the standing-places of the ministry and other high functionaries and dignitaries of the Ottoman Empire. In the center of the hall were laid transverse strips of carpeting, marking the place for the senators on the right and of the deputies on the left, facing His Majesty. Outside the carpet, the imperial men-at-arms formed a line of scarlet and gold, thrown into relief by a black line of riflemen behind. This frame-work was gradually filled up by those who had been bidden to attend the ceremony. The first to enter were the members of the press, to whom a place was allotted in the left transept. On the same side of the hall, nearer the throne, was the-’ diplomatic quarter, and in front of these two were ranged in line the Sheikh-ul-Islam, with the cazi askers, and ulemas of the highest rank, representing the judicial and ecclesiastical body, and behind them stood the generals of division. On the right of the throne, opposite to the foregoing, were ranged the cabinet ministers, members of the council of state, Under-Secretaries of state, and the ecclesiastical chiefs of the Christian communities and Israelites. Before these latter took their places, and as soon as the packing of the left side of the hall was completed, the deputies were ushered in with Ahmet Vefik Effendi, president of the chamber, at their head. Then followed [Page 567] the senators, and, as soon as they had taken their places, the right-hand side of the hall was filled, in the order mentioned above, the grand vizier taking his place nearest to the throne.
At two o’clock precisely the doors of the Sultan’s retiring-room were thrown open, and, preceded by Kiamil Bey, grand master of the ceremonies, His Majesty took his place before the throne, Kiamil Bey standing in the body of the hall, between the throne and the deputies. His Majesty was followed by the Princes Mehemet Reshad Effendi and Ahmed Kemaleddin Effendi, Saïd Pasha, marshal of the palace, Hamdi Pasha, Serkis Bey Ballian, and other gentlemen of the household, who took their places behind the throne. On taking his place the Sultan looked around the room with a slight inclination of the head by way of recognition, and then motioned the grand vizier to approach and handed to his highness a scroll containing the imperial speech. This the grand vizier placed in the hands of Saïd Pasha, the Sultan’s first secretary, who, standing on a small separate carpet in advance of the ministers, read the speech aloud. The speech was long, and contained a good deal of historical matter, the following being the pith and substance of it:
The speech commenced by declaring that the basis of a good government ought to rest upon the reciprocal confidence of the governors and the governed, and upon the clear understanding of the respective rights and duties of the state and of the populations. The diminution of the strength of the Ottoman Empire has been the result of the non-observance of the laws. After an enumeration of the reforms introduced by Sultan Mahmoud and Sultan Abdul-Medjid, the speech went on to say that the Crimean war had diverted the Ottoman Government from its efforts at internal improvement, but that, thanks to the co-operation of the allied powers, the war ended in a peace which placed the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire under the guarantee of all Europe. The road to loans, however, became opened. It was hoped to reap advantage from the peace which followed the Crimean war, but internal embarrassments, fomented by intrigues, gave the Turkish Government no respite. Constantly kept on the alert, it was compelled to have recourse to armaments and movements of troops which withdrew from the laboring population every year a large proportion of its able-bodied men, and occasioned enormous expenses, the upshot being the disorganization of the finances of the state under the influence of a régime which did not attach to a proper balance of the budget the importance due to it.
The insurrection in the Herzegovina aggravated the situation, and, instead of endeavoring to provide for urgent financial necessities, while acknowledging the liabilities of the treasury, the step was taken of arbitrarily reducing the rate of interest on all the component parts of the public debt. Hostilities supervened with Servia and Montenegro, and it was in the very height of the crisis that the accession of the present Sultan to the throne took place. Convinced that the progress realized in European countries is the consequence of the liberal institutions which govern them, and that the evils from which Turkey suffers have their source in the system of absolutism, the Sultan had, he said, decreed and promulgated the constitution, and he esteemed himself happy in that day inaugurating the first session of the Ottoman Parliament. The laws with which the chambers would have to deal this year would relate to internal regulations, to the election of deputies, to the organization of the provincial vilayets and communes, to the pensions of magistrates and other public functionaries, to the press, and to the budget.
The speech recommends the deputies to invite to Constantinople representatives of the holders of Turkish bonds, and to come to an understanding with them as to an arrangement which would be advantageous to their interests, while enabling, at the same time, the urgent expenses of the Ottoman treasury to be met.
The Sultan announces the foundation and the maintenance, at his own expense, of a great administrative training-school for future public functionaries. He thanks the army for all the proofs of devoted fidelity it has given announces the restoration of friendly relations with Servia, and expresses the hope of soon arriving at a satisfactory arrangement with Montenegro.
The last paragraph of the Sultan’s speech refers to foreign relations. His Imperial Majesty says that these relations are characterized by that friendship and deference which constitute for Turkey one of his most precious traditions. Turkey had accepted the conference on the basis proposed by England. The conference did not succeed, but Turkey showed that it was ready to anticipate in practice the wishes and counsels of the friendly powers. The proofs of moderation and of sincerity furnished by Turkey will have served to bind still more closely the bonds of sympathy and friendship which unite the Ottoman Empire to the great European family of nations.
As soon as the reading of the speech was concluded the heralds shouted “Long live the Sultan,” and His Majesty saluted the assembly and withdrew.
The first sitting of the Turkish Parliament will take place to-day at the Dar-el-Founoun, with closed doors to arrange preliminaries. The day on and from which the public will be admitted to the sittings of both houses will be duly notified.
[Page 568]Of the thirty-two members of the senate twenty-four must be classed as Mussulmans and eight as non-Mussulmans. The Greek element is represented by four senators, namely: Musurus Pasha, Stavraki Bey Logotheti, Marco Pasha, and Kostaki Effendi Anthopoulos. There are two Armenians, Mihran Bey Duz (Catholic Armenians) and Dr. Servicen Effendi (Gregorian Armenian). Yorghaki Effendi Stoyanovitch represents the Bulgarian element, and Davitchon Effendi the Israelites. The oldest on the present roll of senators are Mustapha Nouri Pasha, Samih Pasha, and Halim Pasha, ex-mushir of Arabistan.
Yesterday witnessed an imposing state ceremony, which must be regarded as the solemn ratification in the face of the world of the great charter of the constitution. His Majesty the Sultan for the first time appeared in state as a constitutional monarch. The senators and the deputies, gathered together from all parts of the empire, were welcomed in the imperial palace, and, in an able and pertinent discourse, were invited solemnly to enter upon the great duties appertaining to their office. The ceremony was imposing; everything that could render it so was abundantly lavished, and in the presence of an inauguration so stately and so solemn the deputies will feel that at least the sovereign is profoundly impressed with the greatness of their mission.
Everything that could lend dignity and importance to their entrance upon their duties was gathered together yesterday in the great hall of Dolma-Baghtché. In that great hall, in itself a symbol and reminiscence of the absolutism of the past, the Sultan, who has made a free gift of the new constitution to his people, stood, and welcoming the first Ottoman Parliament, declared in an exhaustive speech the constitutionalism of the future. The exclusivism and mystery of the palace were swept away: the sovereign gathered his people about him in his Own dwelling-house and had them told in his own eloquent and well-considered words what were his Wishes and aspirations.
The speech was longer and more elaborate than are usually the parliamentary discourses of sovereigns, and much of it was devoted to historical statement. This was dictated by the fact that the constitutional assembly has no antecedents, and it was necessary therefore to lay down for it the political data upon which it was to take its start. The speech points out that the basis of good administration consists in a reciprocity of confidence between the governing arid the governed, and in the regulation of the rights and duties between the state and the people. The state thus acknowledges its duties toward the people, and, confident in their recognition of their duties toward the state, summons them to assemble in order to take intimate counsel with the executive power with the object of securing the efficient performance of the one duty as of the other. The Sultan has done his part in this first stage of the new constitutional régime. Deputies cannot fail to be impressed with the solemnity of their reception and with the vast importance that the sovereign attaches to their deliberations. It now remains with the deputies to do their work, and if they do it as they ought, the work of regeneration which all friends of the empire so ardently desire will go on gradually, steadily, surely.
But to this end, what is it that is to be hoped of the deputies? First of all, the most undisguised sincerity and the most perfect truthfulness. Not that factious opposition which only embarrasses those upon whom depends the working of the great machine of government, but perfect honesty in dealing With the questions which come before the chamber, frank and fearless expression of Opinion On all things.
The deputies must remember that they are beginning, not finishing, a great work; that, like all beginnings, the difficulties are very great; that evils are riot to be remedied by superficial treatment, but that they must be attacked at the root. They must, first of all, rally to their aid that perfect and patriotic confidence which the noble resistance of the empire to all the dangers of the past year is calculated to a Waken. They must be imbued with the conviction that the Turkish Empire is really great arid strong, and has only by artificial means become weak. To convince themselves of this, they need only weigh carefully the facts. A bankrupt country, made bankrupt by the stroke of a misguided pen, sapped by intrigues, harrassed by insurrections, assailed on all sides, deserted by friends, and yet amid all these crushing difficulties able to put more than half a million men in the field; able to hold its own against the united diplomacy of Europe; exhibiting all the while to the world a people docile and patient beyond all example, and a soldiery devoted and enduring beyond all praise. Out of these facts should come not an arrogant Chauvinism, but a patriotism inextinguishable, and an undaunted confidence. In the facts we cite, the proof lies before the chamber that the country possesses every element that a country needs in order to be [Page 569] great and powerful. The chamber is asked to aid a well-disposed sovereign, so to employ all these advantages as to realize that potentiality of greatness. Deputies, then, study well your work. Look at the world-wide distinction to which honest and patriotic representatives of their nations have attained in other countries. Vie with each other in honesty and steadfastness of purpose. Let no difficulties dismay you. Other countries have passed triumphantly through worse dangers than those which menace yours. Be true to your country, true to your opinions, loyal to the sovereign who has called you to his aid, and rest strong in the assurance that, in a year or two, notwithstanding the present depression, your country may and will, if you do your duty, hold up its head among the greatest.
the turkish parliament and the new laws.
The opening of the first Turkish Parliament under the new constitution is fixed for the 1st of March, old style (March 13), and active preparations are in progress for the event. The edifice which was formerly the seat of the old Turkish University in Stamboul, the “Dar-el-Founoun,” near the mausoleum of Sultan Mahmoud, is to be transformed into the new houses of Parliament. The staffs of the ministers of commerce and of public works, by whom the premises have been for some time past occupied, have found other quarters, and all necessary alterations are being made to fit the building for the debating-halls and committee-rooms of the new Ottoman legislature—Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
The various bills or projects of law, organic and incidental, specified in the constitution as requiring to be submitted for the consideration of Parliament when it meets are being framed by a special commission ad hoc, appointed in pursuance of the Sultan’s hatt, and divided into various subcommissions, the members of which are all public functionaries of mark, and many of them possessed of special knowledge on the various subjects treated of. The general commission has already prepared draughts of a law on the right of search on the part of the police and their power of entry into domiciles. These draughts are being considered and revised by a subcommission, which meets frequently, under the presidency of Djevdet Pasha, the new minister of the interior, sometimes at the council of state in the day-time, and sometimes of an evening at his excellency’s own house. The revision of the new law of the press has been completed, and the final draught of the bill has been submitted to the lanzimat-dairessi or law department of the council of state. The police law, when framed, will be similarly submitted to the same department; Other laws are being prepared by special subcommissions under the presidency, respectively, of Server Pasha, minister of public works, and Kadri Pasha, the hew president of the council of state.
The committee engaged in drawing up the Mudidjie, Or the new Ottoman civil code, has already prepared its code of civil procedure. We are assured that the draughting of the following bills or projects of law is nearly completed:
- 1.
- The regulations for governing the proceedings of Parliament.
- 2.
- The electoral law, to come into Operation next year
- 3.
- The law for the reorganization of the provinces On the principle of decentralization.
- 4.
- The law on provincial councils.
- 5.
- The law on communal administration.
- 6.
- The municipal law.
- 7.
- The law on the reorganization of the police.
- 8.
- The law on the establishment of the budget.
When the framing of these laws shall have been definitely completed, consideration will be given to the preparation of—
- 1.
- A code of criminal procedure.
- 2, 3, and 4.
- Laws relative to the judicial bench and the magistracy, the reorganization of the tribunals and the institution of procureurs généraux (procurators fiscal).
- 5.
- A law regulating the tenure of office and removability of public functionaries.
- 6.
- A law defining the powers and responsibilities of the various public departments, &c.
It appears clear, therefore, that if any considerable proportion of these measures be in readiness a month hence, the new Turkish Parliament Will not lack matter for consideration on assembling in the “Dar-el-Founoun” on the 13th of March.