Mr. Hirsch to Mr.
Blaine.
Legation of
the United States,
Constantinople
,
April 8, 1892
.
(Received April 21.)
No. 423.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a letter from the
Rev. H. O. Dwight, relating to the continued interference with the book
trade in the interior. I have frequently represented to the authorities that
a book once authorized by the ministry of public instruction must not be
interfered with by the provincial officials, but it seems that the latter do
not respect the rights conceded by the central authorities. Even when seized
books are finally returned to their owners, there has usually been so much
time lost during their unjustifiable detention that in many cases they are
no longer needed.
There is no justification for these actions of which Mr. Dwight
complains.
The authorities in Erzeroum, who two years ago seized and still have in their
possession some five hundred books, offer to surrender them with two or
three pages cut out of each copy. I have refused my consent to this
mutilation, as the books all have the required legal authorization.
The frequent ineffectual representations to the Sublime Porte on this subject
suggested the advisability of a claim for damages, of which I gave notice in
a note, a copy of which is herewith inclosed.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 with No. 423.]
Mr. Dwight to Mr.
Hirsch.
Bible
House,
Constantinople
,
March 29,
1892
.
Dear Sir: I desire to make known to you the
restrictions put by certain officials in the interior of the Empire upon
our book trade, which are of a nature to cause great loss and, in some
cases, to destroy a legitimate and beneficent business.
The difficulty of which I complain is the absolute refusal of officials
in the interior to recognize the authorization of the ministry of public
instruction for our books, even when the books are in the original
package, bearing the additional safeguard of the leaden seal of the
custom-house here. This seal indicates that the box has been examined
and prevents any possibility of its being opened by unauthorized
parties. Yet boxes of books protected in this way are stopped en route
to their destination, opened, examined as if there was ground to suspect
their contents, sent long distances for further examination at other
headquarters of the province, and even in some cases sent back to
Constantinople as suspicious works; and all the time they bear on the
title-page the statement of the number and date of the permit [Page 555] for their publication and the
further statement of the fact that they are published by the American
mission, so that the well-known standing of the publishing house is a
voucher for the declaration that the book has been duly authorized as
stated.
- (1)
- Books sent from here last September to fill orders from dealers in
Bitlis and Van have been detained at Erzeroum until the beginning of
this month.
- (2)
- Boxes sent from here via Alexandretta to Marash last November were
seized at Alexandretta after the censor had broken the seal of the
boxes and had examined the books, and were sent by the authorities
to Aleppo, the chief city of the province, and there remained at
last accounts. This proceeding just doubles the cost of
transportation of the books from Alexandretta to Marash.
- (3)
- We have received from our agent at Samsown formal notification
that it is useless to ship any more books via Samsown to our
agencies in Marsovan, Sivas, and Cosarea, since the authorities at
Samsown seize the books, remove the custom-house seal, which
guaranties the correctness of the contents, and then ship the whole
consignment as suspicious to the capital of the province, Trebizond,
which is 150 miles or more from Samsown. There they are subjected to
a conscientious examination by the censors to see if they are fit
for publication, and if we choose to send an agent to Trebizond and
to pay the cost of freight from Samsown to Trebizond and back we can
have such of the books as the censor seems to offer him no reason
for revoking the permit under which they were printed. The expense
of the extra 300 miles of transportation, together with the damage
and loss resulting from such and careless handling of the books
while in custody, exceeds the cost of printing the books. Hence the
sale of books is prohibited by these extraordinary
proceedings.
I have also to call attention to the conduct of the book censor at
Erzeroum in seizing our authorized books. He has in custody some five
hundred volumes which he has held for two years, offering to surrender
them in a mutilated condition, but declining to recognize the right of
the ministry of public instruction to authorize them for publication, as
it did in their present condition.
The utter needlessness of all this interference with our wares (both we
and our books being well known in this country for fifty years, and
everyone of our books being officially authorized for publication) leads
us to beg that you will point out to the Porte that authorized books are
mere merchandise, and interference with their sale by such restrictive
measures are an intolerable violation of our rights under the commercial
treaties.
Before concluding I would like to mention one farther matter. The
governor of Hadjin, of the province of Adana, on the 8th of March last
detained the letters arriving by post for Mrs. Coning, American
missionary, residing in that place. He said that he had received orders
to examine all private correspondence from abroad, and only desisted in
this case and gave up the letters on the plea that they were not from
abroad.
Rev. Mr. Meade, residing at Adana, also reports, under date of March 14
last that his letters are detained before delivery, sometimes for a day
or two. Yet he has no evidence that they are opened.
Very respectfully, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 with No. 423.]
Mr. Hirsch to the
Sublime Porte.
Legation of the United States,
Constantinople
,
April 8,
1892
.
The legation of the United States is informed of the continuation of the
difficulties which the American missionaries have so long encountered in
the delivery of their books to the persons in the interior to whom they
are consigned. This subject has formed the basis of several written and
many personal representations on the part of the United States minister
to the Government of His Majesty.
The Sublime Porte is aware that the American missionaries at
Constantinople are now, as they have been for many years past, the
publishers of various books for which there is a demand in the various
provinces of this Empire. These books are never published until after a
careful examination by the Ottoman authorities of their contents. The
official authorization by the ministry of public instruction is
invariably printed on the title-page of every copy of the book
published, thus notifying everybody of its legal character.
Before shipment into the interior these books undergo another searching
examination at the hands of the custom-house authorities at this
capital, who, after finding their contents in conformity with the legal
requirements, seal the cases with the leaden seals and permit them to be
taken to their destination.
[Page 556]
After having thus been subjected to searching examinations both before
and after printing, and having obtained the required legal sanction, and
the cases being sealed with the leaden seal of the custom-house in a
manner to prevent interference with the contents, these books, like any
other merchandise, are entitled to transportation and delivery to the
purchaser as owner without any further hindrance. But such, greatly to
the regret of this legation, has in many instances not been the
practice; for example:
- (1)
- Books sent from here months ago to fill orders from Bitlis and
Van have, by order of the authorities, been detained at Erzeroum
until the month of March, to the great loss of the
owners.
- (2)
- Boxes containing books shipped from here in November to Marash
via Alexandretta were seized at the latter place, the seals of
the boxes broken, the books examined, and, instead of being
forwarded to their destination, were sent by the authorities to
Aleppo, where, according to latest information, they were still
detained, to the great damage of their owner.
- (3)
- I am informed that the authorities at Samsown seize boxes of
books assigned to Marsovan, Sivas, and Cesarea, remove the
custom-house seal, which is a guaranty of the correctness of the
contents, and then send the boxes for further examination to
Trebizond, the capital of the province. If the Americans there
desire to recover their property, which has been without their
consent transported in an opposite direction from that intended,
they are required to pay for the transportation there and back
again. His Majesty’s Government will certainly no longer
tolerate such an injustice to American citizens, whose business
is virtually destroyed by such illegal proceedings.
- (4)
- The authorities in Erzeroum have now and have had for two
years in their possession about five hundred volumes of books,
the property of American citizens, which, notwithstanding the
authorization of the ministry of public instruction, said
authorities refuse to surrender to their owners, except in a
mutilated condition, thus setting at defiance the authority of
the imperial ministry.
The legation begs to call the attention of the Sublime Porte to the fact
that a book printed and published in conformity with law, with the
approval of the competent authority, is, like other merchandise,
entitled to every protection. Such protection has, however, certainly
not been granted, but, on the contrary, has been deliberately withheld
by the provincial authority mentioned herein.
The legation of the United States requests that immediate steps may be
taken for the correction of the evils herein complained of, and in view
of the fact that its numerous complaints have met with no result,
reserves to itself at the proper time to lay before the imperial
ministry of foreign affairs the amount of damages legally and equitably
due to these American citizens by reason of these and similar illegal
proceedings.
