Mr. Leishman to Mr. Hay.
Constantinople, June 25, 1903.
Sir: Replying to your No. 376, of June 9, 1903, I think the President and the Department can safely dismiss any apprehension with reference to the procedure in the schools question, for I am quite convinced that neither the delay in securing audience to formally deliver the President’s message nor the fact that other unsettled business was brought to the attention of the Sultan during the interview detracted from the force or importance of the President’s message. * * * Nor can I assume for a moment that the President’s message failed in its influence, as the minister for foreign affairs informed me a few days after my audience that the Sultan had issued an iradé directly after my interview instructing the Sublime Porte to conclude the school question and all other matters at the earliest possible date.
No question has ever been raised as to the correctness of our demands, and both the grand vizier and the minister for foreign affairs have repeatedly assured me that I could consider the school question settled, the delay in concluding the matter being caused by the necessary investigation and examination by the interior departments of the large number of institutions distributed throughout the Empire; and certainly no particular importance attaches to the failure to carry out the Sultan’s promise more promptly, as could cite numerous instances where months and even years have gone by without the embassies being able to have the promises of the Sultan to the heads of foreign powers put into execution.
It is needless to say that it is equally difficult to secure a fulfillment of the promises made by the Porte. The greatest difficulty is not to adjust matters satisfactorily, but to have the agreements which are reached put into execution. * * *
It is to be regretted that my efforts to have the school question settled first in principle proved to be impracticable, but this should give the missionaries no cause for complaint, as their original idea was to take the matter up in detail. They delayed the presentation of the original demand for seven or eight months, preparing the list of schools, etc., which, when furnished, was so incomplete, owing to [Page 758] the difficulties experienced in securing proper information from the different religious and educational bodies, that I concluded it was best to make an effort to get the matter settled in principle before submitting the list, especially as I had discovered that at least one-half the schools were without American teachers, being officered entirely by native teachers, which placed them on a somewhat different footing from other foreign schools.
This position, however, proved to be untenable, and I was compelled to submit to the repeated demands of the Porte that a list be furnished, especially as I found that this course had been followed by the other powers, and I consequently did not feel warranted in demanding different treatment to that accorded other nations.
My previous dispatches upon this subject will have given the Department some idea of the difficulties experienced by the legation in its efforts to secure an amicable settlement. * * *
I fully appreciate the interest our Government takes in the settlement of the school question, and I shall continue to use every effort to secure an early settlement. No stone has been left unturned and every peaceable means has been exhausted to force an amicable adjustment, and if the present line of action fails to bring about a settlement within a reasonable length of time, I will be compelled to ask the Department for further instructions.
I have, etc.,