TURKEY OF TO-DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 136, 9 June 1911, Page 7

TURKEY OF TO-DAY.

FAMILY LIFE AND GOVERNMENT. Miss Garnett's is a name honoured among travellers, and some years a°-o she was awarded a Civil List pension In recognition of her services to literature, so that a book from her pen is always something worth possession. This latest ("Turkey of the Ottomans") is one of a series of books of travel, by various trustworthy writers, that Sir Isaac Pitman and Son "are bringing out, and is a most interesting exposition of life in modern Turkey, excellently illustrated. All sides of life are touched on educational, religious, pastoral, urban social, political, etc., and of especial value to women is the authors information concerning the women of the heterogeneous collection of races that are comprised under the general term of ''Ottoman." It is surprising to find that, in a race that has been characterised a nation of aristocrats, the institutions are so essentially democratic as are those of the Turks. Even the connections of the Imperial family, we learn, do. not form a class apart. Sultan's daughters marry subjects, and the genealogy of their descendants is, in a few generations, lost sight of I According to a local adage, it is said that no Turk goes to bed happy unless he has during the day cracked a joke at an Armenians' expense. This state of things the Armenians take as a matter of course, living contentedly and trading contentedly with the Turks, though a deal of distrust, born from experience, I exists between the two peoples, and Arimenians are an undoubtedly' inferior caste. It is the custom among the Hebrew Ottomans to marry early, girls being usually wedded at fifteen and youths at eighteen years of age. The young couples —with a fine disregard, apparently, as to numbers'.—then, till they have attained years of discretion, reside under the roof of the bridegroom's father, tie consequence being that, surrounded by numerous olive branches, the head "of the house is often old when he is still young. POLYGAMY AND DIVORCE. The Oriental Jews countenance polygamy, but only when the first wife is childless or fails to bear her good man sons- The first wife may. however, refuse to Teceive a second, in which case polygamy means the maintenance of a separate establishment, so that it is not common.

The Jewish customs regarding divorce are eminently practical. A Jewess cannot repudiate her husband save for a limited number of rea-1 sons, Dut she may for other reasons apply for a divorce to the Rabbinical Court, and if her case is a good one, the husband may be compelled to give her freedom. Under such cireumstanees i the man. besides returning the dowry, and any other property of which he has enjoyed the usufruct, pays a sum of money called the kethuba. promised in the marriage contract, to which she would have been entitled on his death. False pride in power, even though it be in kingship, is not encouraged in a Turkish Sultan, who at his Coronation we find, amid elaborate ceremonies, is the subject of a chant from Court pages (after he Jjas offered sacrifices in the sanctuary) in which he is admonished:— " Padishah, be not overproud, for there is One greater than thou, even Allah. Long live our Padishah!" I A fortunate individual in a royal household is the Valide Sultana, not the j Sultan's wife, as one may suppose, or his chief wife, but his mother. "The new Padishah requires all the persons composing his harem, from hi 3 wives down to the lowest menials, to take an oath of obedience to his mother. Henceforth she is invariably addressed as the " The Crown of Veiled Heads,* a title with which every petition addressed to her must begin. No one may venture to appear before her unless an audience has previously been sought and granted, nor sit in her presence; but all stand in the customary posture of respect with arms crossed on the breast, and accompany their every reply with a profound obeisance and the words ' Our Lady." Court etiquette also decrees the wearin" in her presence, as ' full dress,' the intarie. or travelling house robe, and whatever the weather, not even a Sultan's favourite wife would venture before her august mother-in-law otherwise garbed. In "the harem the Valide Sultana weilds absolute authority, and no one of its inmates, be she Kadin, or Ikbal, can leave her apartments without this lady's permission, or address any petition to the Sultan save through her intermission. GOVERNMENT OF COUNTRY. The Turkish Parliament consists of an Upper and Lower House, the first composed of Senators, the second of Deputies, the latter officers being elected by the nation, every 50,000 male Ottomans over the age of 25 who pay the taxes sending a representative to the Chamber. The Senators nominated by the Sultan, hold office for life, and draw an annual' salary of twelve hundred Turkish liras, a lira being worth about 18/4 of our money. In country districts the gendarmerie and the troops assist the meagre police forces to maintain order, but ; m towns, there exists an excellent police service, the constables being trained at a special police schoolA limited system cf conscription reigns, and for military purposes Turkey is divided into seven districts, each of which furnishes an Army Corps for the defence of the Fatherland.