Mr. Morris to Mr. Seward.
Sir:* * * * * *
Among the most useful of the latest reforms projected by the Porte is the creation at Constantinople of a tribunal of arbitration for the equitable settlement of all commercial disputes between the Porte and foreigners, and between Turkish subjects and foreigners resident in the Ottoman empire. This court, which is soon to be called into existence, will consist of three members, an English, French, and German lawyer, each with salaries of $6000 per annum, to be paid by the Porte. Such a tribunal, conducted with integrity and impartiality, will facilitate the settlement of many vexatious and important questions, which otherwise would be exposed to the long delays incident to diplomatic negotiation. The Turkish tribunals are all stained with the vice of venality, and their corruption is so notorious that recourse to them is avoided as much as possible. I regret to say that the lust of money, and the corrupting tendencies associated with it, overspread the whole surface of Turkish administration, corrupting every branch of it to such a degree as to stifle both the sense of honor and duty and the instincts of patriotism. The Greek empire, in the last stages of its decline, has had no parallel in corruption which approached it so closely as the Turkish government at the present time. Such wide spread political profligacy is a surer indication of approaching dissolution than any other evidence of weakness in the Turkish empire.
The Turkish government is, at present, in great distress for want of money. The income is not sufficient to meet the annual outlay, and hence the necessity of foreign loans. The troops have not been paid for several months in the capital, and in the provinces the arrears cover a much longer period of time. The civil employés in the capital have also not been paid for the last three months. It has lately attempted, without success, to obtain a loan of two millions of dollars from the New Ottoman Bank. A scheme for a forced loan is now being devised. The amount of the actual debt of the empire is distributed as follows:
| Miscellaneous debts, purses | 806,127 |
| War and navy debts, purses | 1,076,171 |
| Interior and finance debt, purses | 487,674 |
| Other debts, purses | 609,032 |
The purse is equal to 500 piastres, and 23 piastres represent an American dollar.
The hostile attitude of the Danubian Principalities, almost openly menacing war against the Suzerain power of the Porte, and the apprehension of a general [Page 378] European war, involve the necessity of new expenditures and an increase of debt. The army, which now amounts to 200,000 men, is being increased by calling a large proportion of the reserve force under arms. The Greek frontier is being covered with a line of defensive works, and the coasts of Albania and Epirus, adjacent to the Ionian islands, are also to be provided with formidable military works. The cession of the Ionian islands, always regarded with a hostile eye by the Porte, as seriously menacing the security of the western frontier of the empire, imposes the necessity of great vigilance and efficient measures of defence in that quarter. New fortifications, under the superintendence of distinguished engineers, are in course of construction along the Dardanelles, and every effort is making, in view of a rupture of the existing peace, to defend the approaches to the. capital and the Danubian, Adriatic, and Russian frontiers. The crippled state of the finances will render a defensive war of long duration next to impossible on the part of the Porte without the aid of large foreign loans.
I have deemed it my duty to persevere in the effort to secure the arrest of the assassin Kaleel, and for this purpose have requested new instructions from the Porte to the governor of Adana on the subject. The copy of these instructions, which I have the honor to enclose, will show the royal co-operation which I receive from the Porte in the effort to bring this criminal to justice. His late protector, the Caimacam of Payas, Mustook Pasha, has been deposed from office, a fact which will have a most salutary influence in deterring other provincial functionaries from covering the perpetrators of crime with the shield of official authority.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.