THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1906. IS ABDUL HAMID CALIPH?

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8316, 20 December 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1906. IS ABDUL HAMID CALIPH?

In the many statements which have appeared regarding the so-called Pan-Islamic movement, the question has constantly been asked whether the Sultan of Turkey is Calpih. The answer is of interest both as regards Egypt and India. It depends very much upon the definition of the word. Hejs not Caliph if it is used in the sense which attached to it in the days of the famous successors of the Prophet. Mohammed decided that his successor or Caliph should be a member of his own tribe, the Koreish, which Abdul Hamid is not. He was to be elected by Mohammed's followers, and to be a protector of all believers. This was the original meaning of the term, successor and protector, and the qualifications for the office were strictly defined. He was to rule with undivided authority over Moslems, and practically to be Pope and King combined. If the word Caliph is used in another and more limited sense Abdul Hamid is Caliph. The first who bore the title were the protectors, the rulers, supreme in all things temporal, as well as spiritual. With the marvellous spread of Mohammedanism in its early years, due mainly to the victories of the great Caliph Omar, the Moslems became divided, and fell under separate rulers. Each ruler claimed to be Caliph, successor of the prophet and protector of the faithful. In the course of centuries the tendency- developed to place the caliphate in commission. The warrior chief held the temporal, and the Sheik-ul-Islam the spiritual, succession. Among learned Moslems it has always been taught that the Caliph must have the qualifications above mentioned, because these qualifications of the Caliph are given in the Sacred Traditions. In practice no head, either of the temporal ors spiritual body, is elected. In certain Ilamic lands the indispensable qualification of being of the Koreish is put forward

in support of the claim to be Caliph. The Sultan of Morocco makes such a claim. Apart from this qualification,' he has less right to the title than the Sultan of Turkey, who, as the ruler of the largest independent Moslem nation, is the most important successor of Mohammed. In the sense in which the first followers of Mohammed understood the word there is no Caliph at the present time.

The world's most gigantic gamble, according to Mr Fredesric Penfield, who writes in the "Century" on "The Lure of the Pearl," is unquestionably the Ceylon pearl-fishery. The Gulf of Manar, the arm of the Indian Ocean that separates Ceylon from India, has given the world more pearls than all other fisheries combined, it having been prolific as a pearling-ground for thousands of years. The industry is a splendid instance of successful British organisation. Biologists in the employ of the Ceylon Government examine the oyster beds twice a year, and if the number and quality of the oysters warrant it, proclaim a fishery. The news is sent throughout the East, and divers, pearl buyers, speculators, money-lenders, and coolies, flock from all parts to Marechchikkaddi, the pearl metropolis of the world. When a fishery is proclaimed Marechchikkaddi is only a name —"a sanddrifted waste lying between the jungle of the waterland and the ocean"; a little later 40,000 people are dwelling there under shelter of roofs, and struggling for gain as people do in all cities. The centre is only 115 miles from Colombo, but it is very difficult for a white man to get there, consequently it is not yet on the track of tourists. For ten or twelve weeks, it is one of the busiest markets in Asia. Over three hundred boats set out at daybreak for the beds, six or eight miles from shore, and race back at two in the afternoon. The boats carry from seven to thirty-four divers, who can stay under water forty-five of eighty seconds at most, according to ality. When the boats return the oysters are carried to the Government "kottti," where each boat's take is divided into three piles, of which the Government takes two for itself. Gamblers in oysters crowd round the boats to count the sacks and secure hints from obliging divers as to whether the oysters are "thick" or "thin,"' in order to form some idea of the day's take, and the chances of the oysters being fairly pearliferous. Each oyster is a lottery ticket, for it may contain a gem worthy to be put in a crown, or a seed pearl worth only a few rupees. Perhaps one oyster in a hundred contains a pearl, and not more than one pearl in a hundred is valuable.