AN "AMIABLE TUSK."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 249, 17 October 1908, Page 11

AN "AMIABLE TUSK."

By far the most interesting of the recent arrivals in London from foreign climes is Zia Bey, the fallen head of the Turkish secret police. Zia Bey's downfall synchronised l with the proclaiming of the Constitution on July 21st. He knew his official career was ended, and that if he stayed in Turkey he would for a certainty " wake up one morning to find himself stabbed to death " (as the Irishman put it), or dying from the effects of bullets. Zia Bey knew, his danger, and so did the Sultan, whom he had served! faithfuiiy (according to his lights) for niany years. " Abdul thd —a s " Punch" now calls the Sultan in graceful recognition of his " spontaneous" revival of a Constitution which has been in abeyance for forty years—showed his gratitude to his old servant by giving Zia what racing men would call the "straight tip"to clear out of Turkey, and stand not upon the order of his going. On July 24 the Sultan sent Zia a short •but very explicit note. " Flee without aa hour's delay! " was Abdul's command, and Zia, who had been in hiding for a couple of days as a precautionary measure, lost no time in obeying th e ro_val behest. Disguising himself with n. clean shave, a straw hat in place of bis fez, and the name of "Mr. Gray," Zia crept out thai night and made his way to a quay where he knew a German vessel bound for Smyrna was lying. His "disguise " proved somewhat faulty right at the start, for one of his enemies who was watching the quay, promptly walked up to hinj and tried to give him a dose of cold steel. Zia, however, was ready for this emergency, and ere the attacker could drive his knife home, the fugitive dropped him with a bullet in the brain. Zia got safely away, and without further molestation travelled by devious routes to London. Here, he says, lie feels '" quite secure," and the sense of security has loosened his tongue. On his own showing he has been a shocking villain. He openly boasts that during his tern, of office as cliief of the Sultan's secret police he has ruined ministers, officers snd civilians, and made away with scores of people. To an interviewer he said that 170 Turks, mostly members of good families in the Empire, had " disappeared " during his regime. Under his directions a body of well paid secret agents, over 400 in number, have been constantly at work, some Turks, mostly Armenians and Greeks,, a few women, and two Maltese. It mattered not who were the persons to be removed. Orders from Yildiz were implicitly obeyed. False reports were submitted to the Sultan, and from them there was no appeal. To be denounced by Zia or his creatures was sufficient to ruin anyone. Asked what his opinion of the new administration was, Zia Bey said: — * : It has been a success from the moment it was inaugurated. I can tell you — ruined man and exile for the rest of my days that I am—that it is the work of honest patriotic men, mostly army officers, who clearly saw that the remnant of the Turkish Empire was slowly being devoured by the Sultan and the Palace regime. I do not blamy the Sultan entirely, or the chamberlains entirely. Their power rested in a sort of working agreement, which enabled them to manipulate the resources of the Empire solely in th e private appropriation of the revenues, no matter how gained, in the interests of themselves. Izzet Pasha is reputed to have saved from his perquisites one and' a half millions of Turkish pounds, the bulk of which he has invested in the United States of America. But the .Sultan himself has at least three millions of pounds invested in Germany, Austria, and France, because he received heavy percentages on the bribes obtained from contractors for war stores, supplies, ;inrt clothing for the array and navy. These men used mc because they found mc pliable. I accepted the post at the Jralace because it suited mc to be well paid and live und<r the protection of the SuJtan. In reality, I truly believe that we should have served equally well an honest administration if it had existed, but it did not exist, and we must not complain new that an end has come to our cheers." Zia,. who has, of course, " feathered his nest," cannot go back to Turkeys *mj contemplate;: settling ift Oinwfa,