TURKEY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 763, 11 March 1910, Page 8

TURKEY.

CHANGE IN GRAND VrZIEBATE, Daring the past week (writes the Co»t stantinopLe correspondent of "The Tunes'*' under date January 3) the OttomanPzaa--has very naturally devoted considerable < attention • both to the causes of. TTilmf Pasha's retirement and to the negotia-' tions- which immediately preceded it. With regard to 'the former the tone of. every journal is judiciously vague. A; similar vagueness marks the few appreciations or criticism's of the ex-Grand Vizier's achievements while in office. It is perfectly clear that the Parliamentary" party of- the Committee of Union and Progress, which had ; borno a. certain grudge against him' since' the outbreak of April 13, found 00-operation increasinglydifficult with a statesman whom it accused, rightly or wrongly, if not of djs. ingenuousness,' at any rate of exoassij© political opportunism. Hilmi, on' tha other hand, with all his diplomaticskllL could not always conceal his resentment at what he regarded as unnecessary interference with the Executive on tha Part of the Chamber of Deputies. He ras also aware that Ferid Pasha had been introduced into his second Cabinei as his- possible successor. Though h« contrived-thanks to the aid of the Com.' mittee, which had .its: own reasons to mistrust Perid-to shake off his'rival he must have realised'that his tenure of office was always somewhat precarious.

Hilmi Pasha as, Grand Vizier. . During the first period of his ffr,^ Uzierand;Minister of the Interior The If** P? I '"™]: dissensions which ma* ed that period' and culminated in the > mutiny of the First Army Corps, gave hint' little opportunity of proving his capacity nLt<= tT 3 ? Wlth Wto internai-' affairs. Indeed even if every allowance' ■be made for the .instability of the Government during those two, months, and tor its heritage of external ; difficulties, he cannot be altogether acquitted ofhaving neglected the first warnings -• of the ' storm which afterwards broke so terribly' over Adana. -Reappointed...Grand Vizier fii T peeks' interregnum-that' followed the outbreak, Hjlmi Pasha show- - capacity for. work : that he had'displayed in Arabia and- . Macedonia. His influence in ' foreign '?£ alr l as ot a PMifio nature,, aid though the manner m which the Cretan question was'handled by the Porte was at tunes'unskilful, the responsibility: for the tactical mistakes committed lies, not' with the ex-Grand Vizier, but with the< Chauvinistic journalists- of Stambul and.: the hot-headed organisers of patriotic de-< monstrations at Salonika and -Monastir s.y,P" bhcl r-announcing his conviction that the Armenians were not to blame for the disturbances and massacres in Cilicrfa,! he did something .to repair the conse-, ' jpences of his.previous remissness, butthe failure of his Government to prevent the escape of several of the instigators of these atrocities was the subject" of much bitter comment,, both among Moslems and Armenians. It was'this, together with the partiality shown by the-first; Adana courtmartial that caused the resignation of the Armenian Patriarch. HUmi Pasha cannot be held responsible for mistakes committed more recently in Macedonia, and his, suggestions, the fruit of great local.experience, as to the.best method of', dealing with, the Yemen-problem failed to. command the support of his' colleagues. Something of ah opportunist,: an honest, if perhaps a. narrow, patriot, an 'indefatigable worker, with considerable ' comprehension of , what was meant by "administrative reform," he met with greater success than many of his friends had anticipated,. and wlien the 1 end came retired with dignity.-:: . ,~' • .-..--.. The Grand.-Vizier and. the Committee.

• .' A variety of conflicting.'versions of the events that immediately preceded Hilmi Pasha's resignation ,have been published., ■The' "Tanin,"'in" "a"leading article entitled "Misunderstandings,,.asserts thati . no orders were given to him to resign, either by the Committee -Parliamentary Party-of'by the Committee. Yet it 'fol-. lows up this statement with the remark, "We must, however, to' be strictly truthful, add that the Union and Progress' (Parliamentary) Parjy ,had intended to; request the Grand Vizier- to retire and ; rest awhile. By chance the Grand Vizier fell in with this, request before it had been communicated' to him." In the same article it is stated that there is absolutely no. truth in tho.' renort that the Committee Party had.brought about' the Grand ■• Vizier's resignation by threatening him with ah interpellation on the subject of the Adana massacres and the subsequent executions of -Moslems.The version communicated to me by members of the Committee Party, at tho time of Hilmi's resignation—vizt, that the Committee Party had,met and decided to give no further support to Hilmi ; on general grounds and that this decision, had been communicated ' to- Hilmi,; who then' resigned after consulting some of his colleagues—has already been'published in "The Times." It has been stated by ' a member of the Cabinet that, after the Committee Party had resolved to inter-' pcllate the Grand Vizier with regard to the recent : executions •at Adana, Talait Bey communicated this decision to • Hilmi Pasha and informed-him, that he would, himself resign should the 'latter decide to face .the,interpellation. He expressed his conviction that a reopening -of this painful question could only lead to disastrous, consequences,, possibly .even tofresh, anti-Armenian. outbreaks in', Asia , Minor, and urged Hilmi to conjure theseperils by resigning office .without delay.There is good reason to believe that, this • version is correct. Whether the know-. ledge that a Grand Vizier has been driven from office for having recommended the infliction of a partial,and tardy punish-, ment upon the fanatical instruments of' certain unscrupulous provincial notables is likely to maike for peace in Asia Minor is auotiier question. It is certainly significant that tho Committee Party had not made up its mind to whom to offer the Grand Vizierate before Hilmi's resigna--tion, and that Hakki. Bey, despite the. support given : to his candidature by the' Young Turk Ministers, secured a majority, of less than-ten votes over Euchuk Said-' Pasha at the final ballot.. ■ V